Reign of the Clydesdale
| Star Traks: TOSsed | |
| Episode name | Reign of the Clydesdale |
|---|---|
| Season | 1 |
| Episode number | 5 |
| Writer(s) | Alan Decker |
| Year | 2268 |
| Stardate | Unknown |
| Chronology | |
| Previous in series | Looking Out for the Little Guy [TOS] |
| Next in series | The Khan Job [TOS] |
| Previous in timeline | Looking Out for the Little Guy [TOS] |
| Next in timeline | The Khan Job [TOS] |
There are reasons why Starfleet, rather than the crew of a freighter, should be handling first contacts.
Summary
After completing a supply run to the far-flung Parandis Colony, the SS Clydesdale detects an Orion Raider and is forced to flee in the opposite direction of Federation space. When a second raider joins the first, Mike Harper orders the ship hide as fast as possible in a nearby uncharted nebula, burning out their warp core's intermix regulator in the process. Without it, there's no way to get back to Federation space. Dr. Janet Corbair detects a planetary system deeper in the nebula, and the Clydesdale goes to investigate in hopes of finding a civilization that has a replacement intermix regulator.
Five days of impulse travel later, the Clydesdale enters the planetary system, which has one Class M world, but the civilization there is not warp capable. They have satellites and a space station, but that's it. Contacting the planet will break a number of Federation laws, but out of desperation, Mike has them approach the space station, where Commander Nelg is completing a television broadcast to school classrooms on the planet below. The Clydesdale comms the station and has Nelg and his fellow astronaut Mossirg look out their window. They see the Clydesdale and scream. They beg not to be harmed, and Corbair demands to be put in touch with the leaders of the planet.
They are contacted by Chancellor Noomik of the Organized Nations of Dirt (The planet's name is actually pronounced "Vroollm" in their language, but it means Dirt. You get the idea.) who invites them to a reception in their honor. Mike, Corbair, and Smash beam down to meet Noomik, who leads them into a vast meeting chamber where delegates from all over the planet have gathered. Noomik makes a brief speech, at the end of which he unconditionally surrenders the entire planet to Corbair, who is more than happy to accept the title of Empress. Mike is not happy, to say the least, but Corbair promises that she will make sure he gets the parts they need to build an intermix regulator once she's had a few days to get things on Dirt under control.
The next day, Corbair tells Mike and Ronnie Harper that she's not leaving. Her reputation in the Federation is shot, and she'd rather rule Dirt and be worshipped than stay on the Clydesdale. Ronnie will also be better off without her on board. She just needs a bit more time to get them the parts for the intermix regulator. After that, they can leave and tell anyone who asks that she was killed. It's space. That kind of thing happens. Mike believes that she is just keeping them around as insurance in case things don't work out on the planet. Bork, meanwhile, scans the planet's satellites for possibly-useful parts, and he discovers one that doesn't match the rest. It's far more advanced, which leads him to believe that some other group put it there to monitor Dirt. Mike orders him to see if he can use it to fix the intermix regulator.
Three days later, Bork is successful, and Mike decides to leave orbit without Corbair. As soon as they exit the nebula, they are detected by an Orion Raider, who changes course to pursue. With no other options, they head back into the nebula. Mike wants to avoid taking the Orions to Dirt, but Ronnie has other ideas and heads straight toward it, using the system's sun to cut off most of the Orion's possible attack vectors.
The ships exchange phaser fire, with the Clydesdale completely outmatched. Just before the Orion swoops in for the killshot, a massive ship from the First Federation arrives and destroys the Orions. The First Federation ship hails the Clydesdale, and its occupant, Gobot, demands to know what they are doing there. The planet is under First Federation protection because its occupants are possibly the only species in the galaxy with no desire for power. They have a government out of organizational necessity, but otherwise they will pledge their eternal loyalty to anyone who is the least bit commanding. Gobot tells the Clydesdale crew that they have to find a way to remove Corbair without causing the planet's society to crumble, or he will destroy them all.
Mike and Smash beam down to Corbair's new throne room just as Noomik is about to bring her lunch. They explain the situation, but Corbair refuses to leave. When Noomik arrives with a sandwich, Mike feigns horror at the devastating weapon and attempt on Corbair's life. He has Smash grab her and beam up to the Clydesdale. Mike then tries to inspire Noomik by saying that he should be proud of overthrowing an oppressor. Mike beams back up to the ship, leaving Noomik to reform the Organized Nation of Dirt. He also institutes a sandwich ban, since they are apparently quite dangerous.
Gobot is satisfied that Mike cleaned up their mess sufficiently and allows the Clydesdale to depart.
Featuring
Also Featuring
Author's Comments
This story started out with a one-line idea I had when I was coming up with ideas for TOSsed: The Clydesdale accidentally conquers a planet.
That's a fun idea but also not a lot to go on. I've already rambled on a bit about the difference between a concept and a story, so I'll skip most of that. And honestly, I didn't struggle too much developing this story. It came together amazingly quickly despite the overall problem of "How do a handful of people on a barely armed freighter take over an entire planet?"
The real fun for me was getting to play around with another bit of TOS, the First Federation. They had one fantastic appearance in "The Corbomite Maneuver" and then were never seen again. In some ways, I get it. The reveal of their true appearance kind of works once and after that you're stuck with a species that has to be played by child actors. But there's just so much possibility there with that species and government. How big is their territory? Did they join the Federation? How do they build those massive ships? WHY do they build those massive ships Realistically, Lower Decks is the only Trek series I could see possibly following up on them.
And none of that has anything to do with this story.
As I said above, the story really did come together quickly, and I felt all of the characters were really working well as I wrote it. Admittedly, Dr. Corbair's actions in it have no bearing on what she's been doing through the entire rest of the mini-series, but that was the point as far as I was concerned. While stuck on the Clydesdale, she was pursuing one path, but when faced with a better offer, she was more than willing to toss it all aside and go rule Dirt.
And as the next and final story shows, it might have been better for everyone if she'd been able to stay there.