10 Star Trek Captains Who Broke The Rules
Star Trek's naughtiest Captains.
The qualities required to be a Captain in Star Trek are quite simple. Keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship, and break all of the rules, in all of the places, all of the time.
Wait now, maybe that isn't a Star Trek rule so much as those bold leaders who just make things up as they go along. Sure, many of them are leading the charge in areas unknown, writing the rule book as they go. We have an awful lot of sympathy for them, for they have to make the decisions that they feel suits every situation best. Having said that, sometimes there are those captains who push the envelope just a little too far - landing them firmly on the naughty list.
Oh, this isn't a list exclusively comprising those captains who have a reputation as low as Davy Jones. Some of the brightest stars in this big, happy fleet have some rusting on the undersides. But we ask you, our friends, what's a little poisoned planet when it comes to the safety of the demilitarised zone, really?
10. Eric Pressman
Yes, yes, we may know our friend Eric slightly better by his admiral's rank, yet he was a mere captain once. He commanded the USS Pegasus which, among other interesting accolades, boasted the honour of being William T. Riker's first posting after graduating from Starfleet Academy.
Eric was an affable, thoroughly personable man. He inspired an upbeat atmosphere around him, even as the years passed and his neck was weighed down with extra pips. But as the audience discovered, in his past, he had broken a fairly major rule in the Starfleet handbook - one that got a lot of people killed.
Aboard the Pegasus, Pressman had been experimenting with a secret interphasic cloaking device, an action that was directly in opposition to the Treaty of Algeron. This treaty was drawn up to end hostilities, at least at that point in history, between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire. Without it, the wars that would surely have broken out could have been devastating to the landscapes of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.
Now, we understand wanting to make a quick, quiet exit sometimes - this writer is Irish, we MASTERED the goodbye - but there was simply too much at stake here. Eric. that's detention for you sir.