Past Due

I was flipping through the channels and I caught part of an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled "Devil's Due" (which was actually written for a previously planned Star Trek show).

The plot centers on Ventax, a planet that made a deal with the devil, as it were. They were once ravaged by war and agreed to a contract where they'd have 1000 years of peace and prosperity. After that, they'd be permanently enslaved. Some deal.

That's the legend, anyway. Now the devil, "Ardra," has returned to collect. Data looks over the contract and says it's airtight. Most sophisticated legal systems I'm aware of would have serious trouble with one generation signing away the freedom of countless generations a thousand years hence. I must admit, however, all these systems are Earth-based--I don't know how the Ventaxians view things.

Anyway, Captain Picard tells Data to look for loopholess and commands him to study the last 1000 years of legal precedent. Now I don't care how they run things on Ventax, the more relevant precedent would be from over 1000 years ago, since those were the rules in effect when the contract was signed.

Starfleet should get on the ball and start training cadets better in logic.

Columbus Guy says: What are you, some sort of Klingon Scalia?