STAR TREK TNG: INCOMPATIBLE IDEALS

by Luke Parker

Premise: This screenplay is for an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, set near the end of Season 7. It imagines a first contact encounter between Picard's Enterprise and a fully Anarcho-Capitalist planet with no government nor belief in authority.

Scene 1: Bridge

Exterior views of the Starship Enterprise give way to Captain Jean-Luc Picard standing at his command station on the bridge, his gaze steady and contemplative as he records his log.

Picard: (voiceover) "Captain's log, Stardate 48881.4. We were on our way to Deep Space 9 to provide support for the upcoming Bajoran elections when we received an audio-only distress call from a person on the planet Anarak, just outside of Cardassian space. The planet has yet to be contacted by the Federation, and in fact very little is known about it other than how it has a highly unusual social structure; one that appears to function without any form of central government or hierarchical leadership. It is a society that, despite its relatively high level of technological sophistication, has yet to achieve warp capability. The message is urgently requesting help from any peaceful civilization in range to defend his people against Cardassian invaders. It is difficult to imagine even the Cardassians violating the Prime Directive in such a manner. We are changing course to investigate."