SUMMARY: Malcor III is a planet on the verge of achieving warp-powered flight which, once achieved, would trigger First Contact by the Federation. Riker has been on the planet co-ordinating the Federation's covert surveillance teams that collect information prior to First Contact. When he is injured and hospitalised the Malcorians realise from his different anatomy that he is an alien. Some Malcorians become suspicious and fear invasion. Picard contacts the planet's head of state, Chancellor Durken, and negotiates Riker's release. In view of the public's reaction, Durken decides to delay the spaceflight programme until the populace becomes happily ready for First Contact. On behalf of the Federation and in accordance with the Prime Directive, Picard accedes to his request to leave Malcor III alone.
In 2367, Riker is part of a Federation covert reconnaissance mission prior to First Contact on the planet Malcor III, whose government is ten months away from achieving the first warp-powered flight. But the mission goes disastrously wrong when Riker, in native disguise, goes missing. In fact, he is injured in riots in the capital city and taken to a native hospital, the Sikla Medical Facility. There doctors soon realise from his non-Malcorian anatomy that he is an off-worlder. When he recovers consciousness, Riker discovers that his combadge is missing and that therefore he is cut off from the Enterprise-D. His cover story is disbelieved, and he refuses to reveal the nature of the handphaser the Malcorians have confiscated.
at the Sikla Medical Facility on Malcor III, Malcorian doctors discover Riker's non-Malcorian identity
Chancellor Durken in conference with Krola, minister in charge of internal security, and Mirasta Yale, science minister and head of the space programme
As rumours spread about the mysterious alien, to prevent worldwide panic, Picard and Troi beam down and make contact with science minister Mirasta Yale who is in charge of Malcor's space programme. Having dreamed of space travel as a child, she is convinced by the Enterprise-D crew's message of peace and friendship, and she agrees to make enquiries in search of Riker. She gains Picard's agreement to refer the matter to Malcor's head of state, Chancellor Durken, but warns them not to mention the covert surveillance as it would be misinterpreted by conservative-minded Malcorians as a prelude to alien invasion.
Picard and Troi beam down to visit Mirasta, and return with her to the Enterprise and talk with her in the Ten Forward lounge
Durken is brought to the Enterprise, and gives Picard and the Federation a cautious welcome. During their meeting, Picard apprises him of the non-interference principles of the Prime Directive, thereby informing Durken that he has the right to ask the Federation to leave Malcor alone.
Durken aboard the Enterprise
Chancellor Avel Durken: "My world's history has recorded that conquerors often arrive with the words 'we are your friends'."
Picard: "We are not here as conquerors, Chancellor."
Durken: "What do you want? A beginning?"
Picard: "But how we proceed is entirely up to you."
Durken: "And if my wishes should conflict with yours?"
Picard: "There'll be no conflict."
Durken: "And if I should tell you to leave and never return to my world?"
Picard: "We will leave and never return. Chancellor, we are here only to help guide you into a new era. I can assure you we will not interfere in the natural development of your planet. That is in fact our Prime Directive."
Durken: "I can infer from that Directive that you do not intend to share all this exceptional technology with us."
Picard: "That is not the whole meaning but it is part of it."
Durken: "Is this your way of maintaining superiority?"
Picard: "Chancellor, to instantly transform a society with technology would be harmful; it would be destructive."
Durken: "You're right, of course. I'm overwhelmed, Captain Picard. I'm quite overwhelmed. I go home each night to a loving wife, two beautiful daughters, and eat the evening meal together as a family. I think that's important. And they always ask me if I've had a good day."
Picard: "And how will you answer them tonight, Chancellor?"
Durken: "I will have to say that this morning I was the leader of the universe as I know it. This afternoon, I'm only a voice in a chorus. But I think it was a good day."
[TNG: Season 4: First Contact]
Meanwhile, Riker tries to escape from the hospital. He is critically injured during re-capture when suspicious Malcorians beat him and aggravate his kidney injury. Picard keeps an appointment with Durken in the Chancellor's office, and asks for Riker's release. Durken says they will discuss it later, and Picard duly beams up. During this interview, information about First Contact procedures and implicitly about the Prime Directive is given.
Picard: "Chancellor, there is no starship mission more dangerous than that of First Contact. We never know what we will face when we open the door on a new world, how we will be greeted or exactly what the dangers will be. Centuries ago, disastrous contact with the Klingon empire led to decades of war and it was decided then we would do surveillance before making contact. It was a controversial decision. I believe it prevented more problems than it created."
Durken: "I can appreciate the logic of your position, Captain. But it would seem that full disclosure after contact would've been in order."
Picard: "In time there would've been full disclosure. I can only ask you to believe that. On other worlds it would not be an issue. But here, everything our observers reported indicated that the people of this world would almost certainly react negatively to our arrival. We could see that even surveillance might be interpreted as an act of aggression. I'd hoped that we would've found Commander Riker before you did so that this matter would not complicate our introduction. It was a mistake."
[TNG: Season 4: First Contact]
The head of Sikla Medical Facility, calls in internal security after Riker's attempted escape. Krola, the reactionary minister of internal security, arrives to interrogate Riker, ordering him to be brought to consciousness by using potentially lethal drugs. When the interrogation proves fruitless, Krola stages his own death and makes Riker appear to be his murderer by placing the discharged phaser in Riker's hand. Krola intends thereby to become a martyr and so inflame Malcorians against the off-worlders that the space programme would be aborted.
Krola forcibly holds the phaser in Riker's hand and fires it, and falls to the floor, but a doctor checks Krola and reports weak signs of life
However, with Durken's consent, Picard has Dr Crusher remove both Riker and Krola to the Enterprise sickbay. There she reports that Riker will recover and the Krola was only stunned, for the phaser, contrary to Krola's suspicion, is a defensive weapon only.
Worf and Crusher beam down to retrieve Riker, witnessed by two Malcorian doctors; Worf also retrieves the phaser.
Durken and Krola in the Enterprise sickbay
Although Durken is convinced about the Federation's good intentions, he realises that his people are not yet ready to accept that they are not alone in the universe. Accordingly, he puts the spaceflight programme on hold. On behalf of the Federation and in accordance with the Prime Directive principles they had earlier discussed, Picard accedes to Durken's request that the Federation leave Malcor alone. Durken says his people may not be ready for First Contact during his lifetime but expresses the hope that it will occur one day. He also grants Mirasta Yale's wish to leave with the Enterprise.
Chancellor Durken: "We're a good people, Captain, a society with much potential. Once we cross the threshold of space we shall have to give up this self-importance, this conceit that we are the centre of the universe. But this is not the time for that. For now, we will have to enjoy that sweet innocence."
Picard: "How will you keep a secret when so many have seen and heard so much?"
Durken: "Stories will be told for many years, I've no doubt: a ship that made contact, an alien who was held prisoner in a medical facility, there will be charges of a government conspiracy, some of the witnesses will tell their tales and most of the people will laugh at them then go back and watch the more interesting fiction of the daily broadcasts. It will pass."
[TNG: Season 4: First Contact]
DISCUSSION:
In [TOS: Patterns Of Force], Kirk and Spock beam down to the planet with subcutaneous transponders. In the earlier [TNG] story [TNG: Who Watches The Watchers], Troi and Riker beam onto a planet inhabited by a pre-warp civilisation with subcutaneous transponders. These devices should be made standard equipment for all members involved in Federation covert surveillance of a planet such as Riker is involved in here on Malcor III. (Chakotay has a subcutaneous transponder in [#162 and #163 Workforce] though he does not use one for Prime Directive reasons.) In addition, it strains credulity that there was not established long ago a standard procedure to be followed in the event that a member of a covert surveillance team should go missing or be captured, along with orders or at least guidelines on how to proceed. In this story either such orders/guidelines existed, as common sense suggests they do in order to meet with Prime Directive considerations, which would mean Picard either obeyed or disobeyed them. If he obeyed them, they are questionable. If he disobeyed them, it leads to innumerable speculations. In all events, Riker should have been retrievable, without Picard having to depend on the Malcorians either informing where Riker was and/or returning him.
It is not indicated in the story whether Riker's combadge is returned to the Enterprise but it is most likely that it got lost during the riots as Berel tells Riker that it was not found. If it remained intact, it being left behind violates the Prime Directive. The Malcorians might achieve warp travel and eventually enter the Federation, or they might not. Either way, if the combadge fell into the hands of someone technically minded or who could recognise the sophisticated nature of the technology, they would take apart the combadge, and they might be able to develop technology derived from it that they otherwise would not have done; that is what Kirk expects the Iotians to do with the communicator that McCoy accidentally left on their planet, in [TOS: A Piece Of The Action]. [Enterprise: The Communicator]'s premise is exactly that i.e. an NX-01 Enterprise communicator is left behind on a pre-warp planet and there are Prime Directive repercussions on returning to retrieve it. (By the [TNG]-era, the [TOS]-era transtator has been replaced. More information, regarding duotronics, in Richard Daystrom & the Daystrom Institute of Technology.) Chancellor Durken or his successors might or might not sanction such research. He knows of the Federation's Prime Directive, because Picard told him about it, but Durken is not bound by it.
Picard tells Durken: "Centuries ago, disastrous contact with the Klingon empire led to decades of war and it was decided then we would do surveillance before making contact." The television viewer learns more about First Contact protocols. Starfleet's current First Contact guidelines were written by Captain McCoullough, ref. [DS9: Move Along Home]. But also, in this way, Picard gives a non-Federation alien of a society that has not yet achieved spaceflight the name and a general indicator of size of an extraterrestrial species. It is a small piece of information compared with Picard's having taken Yale and Durken aboard the Enterprise. But Prime Directive caution suggests that the more he tells the Malcorians before they achieve spaceflight the better. Durken is not one to pre-judge, but "Klingon empire" would be enough to make him ponder the make-up of the interstellar community. Less wise leaders might draw erroneous or prejudiced conclusions, though what conclusions I am not sure. The disastrous first contact, by the way, is depicted in [TOS: Day Of The Dove], here following canon sources though I note that episode ends with the Enterprise crew on good-humoured terms with the Klingons that are seen in the story. The Klingon commander in that First Contact, Kang, is encountered by Sulu later in 2293 in [#44 Flashback].
The above point's line of thinking applies to Mirasta and Durken meeting Data and being informed of his nature (android). It seems the Malcorians do not have similar technology. Durken wisely says: "But it would seem that full disclosure after contact would've been in order." Despite the Riker complication, it would be wiser, and more in keeping with the Prime Directive, if Picard had limited Mirasta's and Durken's encounters on the Enterprise.
It is difficult to see how else circumstances could have played out, but two Malcorian doctors can attest to seeing three aliens suddenly appear in Riker's hospital room, and that these two aliens looked to be of different species. But perhaps all aliens look alike to the Malcorians. In addition, how will Durken explain Mirasta's disappearance except by lying and possibly with an elaborate cover story or cover-up?
NOTES:
For the first time in Star Trek's decades, this story's teaser is shown from the point of view of the aliens. The first time was [TOS]'s story [TOS: Tomorrow Is Yesterday]. It occurs again several times in [Voyager]. [#151 Critical Care] has a similar location as this story's teaser, that of a hospital. [#65 Distant Origin]'s first 13 minutes do not show any Voyager or even Starfleet personnel, with the story told from the viewpoint of the Voth characters.
Clever use is made of Malcorian medical and anatomical terms which sound authentic but also alien or different to the television viewer e.g. "cardial organ" (heart), "costal struts" (ribs), "terminus" (foot), "renal organ" (kidney). [#72 Nemesis] employs the same clever ploy for the Vori vocabulary.
It should have been possible for the Enterprise-D crew to locate a human lifeform amongst the Malcorians. They also knew which city he was last known to be in so that they could focus their search. If ever anyone goes missing, it is good practice to check the hospitals or morgues. With a society as advanced as the Malcorians our heroes could reasonably assume that hospital admission records would record the admission of a Rivas Jakara, this being Riker's alias. If that did not work because, say Riker was dead or unable to communicate his alias to hospital authorities, our heroes would not have lost anything.
Riker, using the fake Malcorian-sounding name Rivas Jakara, says that he comes from Marta community, a settlement on the southern continent of the planet. "Marta" should not be confused with Marta, a female character in [TOS: Whom Gods Destroy]. Another character in that [TOS] story named Garth should not be confused with the Garth system which is the Malcorian name for a solar system near Malcor III and was to be the destination of the first Malcorian warp-speed space flight in 2368. I wonder if a scriptwriter for this story had just watched [TOS: Whom Gods Destroy] and consciously or subsconsciously used two names from it.
It is not established in canon until [#20 The 37's] that the universal translator is incorporated within the combadge, but it is plausible that this would be its location at this earlier time. Since Riker no longer has his combadge, we have to assume that he can speak the Malcorian language fluently.
Since the Malcorians believe they are the centre of the universe (Durken refers to his people's "self-importance, this conceit that we are the centre of the universe"), I would have thought they would designate their planet Malcor, not Malcor III which is what the Federation call it, nor Malco with any number. It might be Durken's personal self-importance but, given his character and the traits exhibited by some of the Malcorians, we take him at his word. TNG Companion once erroneously calls the planet Malcoria III, otherwise correctly Malcor (III). This might be because "Malcoria" sounds more melodious than "Malcor" and is wishful thinking; I have seen it incorrectly as "Malcoria" in one or two non-canon places.
It is surprising that the Malcorians, being within ten months of achieving their first warp flight, do not have recording instruments advanced enough to detect the Federation starship(s) that visited to deposit covert surveillance teams and the Enterprise that visited and stayed for a time so that Riker could carry out his mission. At the least, the Malcorians should be able to detect the Enterprise's ion trail. The Enterprise does not have a cloak, and the Federation did not manage to develop one successfully. [TNG: The Pegasus] establishes that the Federation relinquished the right to develop or use cloaking devices under the Treaty of Algeron (date unknown but it was of course before that episode, which is a Season 7 episode, and this story is from Season 4 and takes place in 2367, which means that the Treaty may not exist yet at the time of this story). However, the USS Pegasus, Oberth class, Starfleet registry number NCC-53847, under Captain Erik Pressman, was a prototype ship used as a testbed for many new systems designs, many of which were later used in the design of the Galaxy-class starships (like the Enterprise-D). While it was not widely known at the time, the Pegasus was also used a testing ground for an experimental phasing cloak, in direct violation of the Treaty of Algeron. The Pegasus crew protested the illegal test and eventually mutinied, forcing the captain and seven other crewmembers to escape the ship in a pod. Shortly after the captain departed, the crew attempted to shut down the cloak. The device malfunctioned, and the ship drifted in space, in a cloaked state until it came to rest within the body of an asteroid in the Devolin system. All members of the crew, save the seven who escaped, were lost when the ship unphased, leaving parts of the ship open to vacuum and parts encased in solid rock.
Encyclopaedia's entry for Nilrem concludes with the note: "Merlin, spelled backwards."
Blooper: The matte painting shot of the Malcor's capital city (I assume it is, as it is logical that Riker, who was injured in riots in the capital, would be taken to the nearest medical facility) appears with minor variations as the main city in [TNG: Angel One], as Starbase 515 in [TNG: Samaritan Snare] and as the Banean city in [#8 Ex Post Facto]. It strains credulity for the same architects to have been employed on different planets in the Alpha Quadrant, and is wholly implausible for the far distant Delta Quadrant. Even the skyline in the background is the same.
Picard pours a glass of wine each for himself and for Durken. Fortunately Durken does as Picard does and merely takes a sip, but he could have drained the glass. First actual contact with the head of a planet (if not to be acknowledged as the first official contact, due to Durken's later decision), and Picard offers an intoxicating beverage..... Have the Federation surveillance teams produced enough data for analysis of the Malcorian anatomy to know that alcohol will do no damage? Incidentally, the bottle of wine is a bottle of Chateau Picard, first seen in [TNG: Family], as indicated by the identical wine bottle labels - details at FOOD & DRINK INDEX: Behind-the-scenes Note: Mouton Rothschild Wine Bottle Label In [#119 Warhead] (pop-up).
The Malcorian medical profession has the equivalent of the Hippocratic Oath. "Do no harm" are the very words cited by the Doctor in [#60 Darkling] when he cites the entire Hippocratic Oath (in translation from the ancient Greek) except for the line with a kind of simile about stones which occurs near the end of the Oath in the ancient Greek - that line seems to be omitted from the modern version and thus is omitted by the Doctor. For the television viewer, the use of known words from the Hippocratic Oath is a promising sign that Malcorians are indeed a civilised people, except that Nilrem ignores that moral stricture and obeys Krola. Berel pays the price for his stand to "do no harm" and his sacking is arranged, arranged by Krola it is strongly inferred. There is no indication in the episode whether Berel's career is ruined. It would be nice to think that justice will be done and he will be reinstated as head of the Sikla Medical Facility.
Lanel insists on Riker making love to her as she wants to make love with an alien. Does Riker or not?!....though she does help him escape! Or does he give a brief approximation for speed and also he is not fully healed? Or does he let the eager Lanel do all the work? This scene spoofs ET-weirdos who harbour desires for aliens; of ET-spoofs, more anon. Encyclopaedia says "Lanel agreed to help Riker escape from Malcorian authorities in exchange for a very personal favor." but that is too vague. It should explain "very personal favor" as it could mean anything, otherwise it is like a city not putting up road signs in places that would assist a stranger because it assumes drivers already know where they are and where they are going. There is the further light-heartedness for the tv viewer in Durken's words: "Stories will be told for many years, I've no doubt: a ship that made contact, an alien who was held prisoner in a medical facility, there will be charges of a government conspiracy, some of the witnesses will tell their tales and most of the people will laugh at them then go back and watch the more interesting fiction of the daily broadcasts." This contains light-hearted references to, in particular among "sightings", the 1947 Roswell incident (actually an inadvertent visit from three Ferengi, ref. [DS9: Little Green Men]!) and to sci-fi like Star Trek itself. TNG Companion states that the episode's writers intended a homage to the sci-fi classic film 'The Day The Earth Stood Still', and that the scene with Lanel was a late-draft addition written specially for 'Cheers!' actress Bebe Neuwirth.
An outfit worn by the second female minister in Durken's council or cabinet meetings is the same one worn by Tayna in the Season 3 and thus earlier [TNG] story [TNG: A Matter Of Perspective]. In this story, however, the outfit is worn with a colour-matched skirt. The sleeves are fractionally longer, necessary if the actress' arms are longer than the previous actress' but in this story all Malcorian sleeves are fractionally longer, to hide the join of the gloves comprising the prosthetic "hands". Malcorians have mitten-like hands, but at least they have opposable thumbs which makes the majority of tool-handling tasks much easier.
Durken's name is spelled Avel in Encyclopaedia, Avill in TNG Companion.
Carolyn Seymour, who plays Mirasta Yale, also appears in [TNG: Face Of The Enemy], [TNG: Contagion] and as the holocharacter Mrs Templeton in [Voyager] episodes concerning Janeway's gothic holonovel. See Janeway's Gothic Holonovel.
Michael Ensign, who plays Krola, also appears in [DS9: The Forsaken], and he plays the Takarian beggar in [#47 False Profits].
Richard Daystrom & the Daystrom Institute of Technology
An outfit worn by the second female minister in Durken's council or cabinet meetings is the same one worn by Tayna in the Season 3 and thus earlier [TNG] story [TNG: A Matter Of Perspective]. In this story, however, the outfit is worn with a colour-matched skirt. The sleeves are fractionally longer, necessary if the actress' arms are longer than the previous actress' but in this story all Malcorian sleeves are fractionally longer, to hide the join of the gloves comprising the prosthetic "hands". Malcorians have mitten-like hands, but at least they have opposable thumbs which makes the majority of tool-handling tasks much easier.