Edo

Aliens species externally identical to Humans which inhabit the planet Rubicun III. The Edo were first contacted by the USS Enterprise-D in 2364, and appeared to be a peaceful and generous people who were more than willing to allow the entire Enterprise crew the use of their planet for rest and relaxation. The officers found themselves made extremely welcome by the natives, who enjoyed a life that seemed utopian even by the standards of Earth itself. Every Edo seemed to be fit and healthy, with running the accepted method of getting from place to place.

The Edo claimed that their culture had once been lawless and dangerously violent, but that they had solved these problems by adopting and rigorously enforcing a strict set of laws. Apparently unwilling to accept a large police force, they split the land area of their planet into areas called 'punishment zones'. A small force of Mediators would select one zone at random each day in which the law would be enforced. Since the population at large had no idea which zone was active on any given day, they had no way to know if it was safe to break the law and thus a deterrent effect was maintained.

The Edo mediators acted as both police, judge and jury, investigating crimes and determining guilt on the spot. Amazingly, the punishment for any crime was always the same - death. When Wesley Crusher, a young member of the Enterprise complement who was visiting the planet, accidentally stepped into a flower bed in an active punishment zone the mediators immediately declared him guilty and attempted to kill him. The Enterprise crew intervened to prevent the punishment, demanding time to hold an inquiry and find a better solution.

Although the security officer of the Enterprise had conducted a full review of the local laws, she failed to inquire as to the nature of the enforcement of those laws or the punishments involved. Captain Picard took the position that despite the prime directive, Human standards should be used to judge this particular case. By those standards the punishment far outweighed the crime, and so Crusher should be set free.

Whilst this situation was developing the Enterprise detected a mysterious object in orbit of the planet. On investigation it appeared to be a transdimensional device or entity of some kind. The device communicated with Lieutenant Commander Data, informing him that it regarded the Edo as its 'children' and would not allow the Enterprise to harm them. Data also said that the device was likely to judge the crew's actions by their own laws, and that Picard's violation of the prime directive might well lead to a conflict with it.

Picard removed one of the Edo from the planet to show her the device. The somewhat perturbed woman claimed that it was her God; for its part the entity demanded the immediate return of the woman to the planet.

The Edo continued to insist that Picard allow them to execute Crusher, although they accepted that he had the power to remove the boy from their custody. However, when Picard attempted to do this the Edo 'God' prevented him from doing so. Picard finally managed to convince the entity that its actions were not serving justice, and it released them to continue on their way.

The nature of the Edo remains a mystery. In some ways the relationship seems to parallel that between the Bajorans and the wormhole aliens they call the Prophets, and both cases offer the same intriguing possibilities. It is conceivable that the Edo God is some distant descendant of their culture which has travelled back in time to protect them and so ensure its own creation. Or perhaps it is some powerful traveller which discovered the Edo and decided to protect them for its own reasons. Whatever the truth, it seems that the Federation cannot co-exist with the Edo for the foreseeable future.