Episode 3 Summary

Captain's Log, Stardate 8188.3. Planet Iota Nine has a culture which appears to have been heavily influenced by William Shakespeare. The natives may be trapped in a never-ending cycle of boredom, incomprehensible soliloquies, and labored, unfunny puns.

Prime Team sent to investigate in native clothing and makeup. We should have expected preparing them like actors for a Shakespeare planet wouldn't end well.

Three witches foretold Peltier becoming captain of the Enterprise and then Commanding Admiral of Star Fleet. Shortly thereafter, Peltier and Hannah were attacked by a black knight, who died. He looked exactly like Captain Tibbs of the Enterprise; if he had been, that would have made Peltier the captain, validating the prophecy.

But witches don't control Star Fleet assignments. Hannah beamed up and once and Dr. Mitchell established the "black knight" was a cellular foam model, shaped to look like Captain Tibbs but not actually alive. A small battery was found, but no computers, suggesting his lifelike actions were directed remotely.

Meanwhile, the landing party split up and encountered natives who spoke in iambic pentameter. Forcing themselves to speak in this unaccustomed fashion, Riva and Peltier established the whereabouts of the culture's leaders and attempted to head in that direction. But swordsmen attacked them, and the other party, slashing Ramirez badly but doing no other damage.

After the fights, the parties reunited and determined the swordsmen were identical copies of each other.

I beamed down on Hannah's insistence, dressed in the Black Knight's armor.

Azunderkar scanned everyone in the landing party and discovered T'Pon was an imitation. He passed the word to Riva quietly, but they decided to play along and see where she led.

Four assassins accosted Peltier. They looked like Admiral Kirk, Admiral Patterson, Admiral Kinnison and Admiral Nogura, the four faces in my chain of command. Three were killed, but Peltier managed to take Admiral Kirk alive after a difficult hand-to-hand struggle. Admiral Kirk's unarmed fighting skills are well-known.

T'Pon advised Peltier, in response to his questions, that the witches were attempting to make the prophecy come true by having him kill first his captain, then his admirals. Clearly the author of these phantasms did not understand Star Fleet operations, but had a medieval mindset. They could read Peltier's mind, but only the simplest of concepts, like hunger for advancement and the visual appearance of his commanders. They knew nothing of deeper matters.

Peltier therefore imagined himself being led by a parade to the leader of the world. A parade duly arrived. A small blue man in a red robe led the procession, and in complex but barely comprehensible English decided that Peltier and his team were neither Klingons nor Romulans, but something else. He explained the Federation. Thuvis, the alien, said he had improved the native culture by reducing war, crime and hunger with his machines. Riva pointed out that without those stresses, they would never advance, and would always be spectators, never on the level of Shakespeare himself. Thuvis agreed, and said he would let each native choose whether to live in Thuvis' own managed culture, or in a country free from his interference.

Legally, our orders did not permit blowing Thuvis' cover and showing the natives how they had been manipulated, so I agreed with Thuvis' proposal, subject to Star Fleet review. Planet Iota Nine will be placed under Amber Zone quarantine, only to be contacted under Federation supervision for the benefit of the inhabitants.

Be it noted that LT Azunderkar improvised an anti-jamming transmitter out of two communicators, which could be very useful on future missions.  SGT Boone successfully defended Star Fleet personnel with a musket, which is harder than it sounds.

I awarded SGT Carlos Ramirez the Purple Heart for injuries sustained in the line of duty and recommend MAJ Riva Tavor for the Diplomatic Star for her dealings with Thuvis. No sign so far of a mascot adopted by LCDR Hannah Westin, but it's probably around somewhere.

Tibbs, LJ, COL UFMC reports.