Second contact

Second contact was the official encounter between representatives of two species or governments following first contact.

Although not as grand an undertaking as first contact, second contact was deemed to be of at least some importance, as it allowed the facilitation of continued communication and ensured that all administrative documentation was complete and correct, as well as allow the visiting representatives to familiarize themselves with a homeworld that may not have been visited during first contact.

The rules regarding second contact were a little more fuzzy than the ones regarding first contact. After second contact, it was up to the civilization in question on how they wanted to evolve and presumably if they wanted to pursue any further contact with the Federation. (PRO: "All the World's a Stage")

The USS Cerritos specialized in second contact missions. In 2380, they oversaw second contact proceedings with the Galardonian High Council following the first contact mission with the USS Quito the year before. (LD: "Second Contact")

Later that year, the Cerritos had a second contact mission to Beta III, only to learn that many of the Betans had begun worshipping Landru again. (LD: "No Small Parts")

The following year, the Cerritos undertook a second contact mission to Apergos, which endured unforeseen complications when Commander Jack Ransom gained god-like powers after being imbued with strange energies. (LD: "Strange Energies")

Captain Carol Freeman lobbied for Project Swing By, an exploratory project aimed at making second contact on a larger basis with planets previously visited by Starfleet. It was finally approved by Vice Admiral Les Buenamigo in 2381. (LD: "Trusted Sources")

During a second contact mission to Brekka as a part of Project Swing By, which had made first contact with the USS Enterprise-D in 2364, the Cerritos was attacked by the Breen, only to be saved by the Texas-class USS Aledo. (LD: "Trusted Sources")

With the California-class facing decommissioning to be replaced by the automated Texas-class, Freeman proposed a second contact race between the Cerritos and the Aledo to prove which one was better. The Aledo won, but Freeman later discovered that it had violated the Prime Directive in the process. Buenamigo was revealed to have set up the Cerritos on Brekka in order to unveil the Texas-class, which became homicidal due to an instability in its artificial intelligence. (LD: "The Stars At Night")

In 2384, the young crew of the USS Protostar made second contact with the Enderprizians, a race of pre-warp humanoids whose culture was contaminated after Ensign David Garrovick of the USS Enterprise crash landed the shuttle Galileo on their planet sometime during the late 2260s. The Enderprizians were left with medical supplies and a fulfillment of a prophecy. Hologram Janeway informed the crew that the rules about second contact were a little fuzzy, so it was up to the Enderprizians on how they wanted to evolve. (PRO: "All the World's a Stage") Evidently, this resulted in the Enderprizians establishing a relationship with the Federation at large as several months later, an Enderprizian was in a sciences class with Rok-Tahk as the new warrant officer was receiving basic training at Starfleet Academy. (PRO: "Supernova, Part 2")

External link

• Second contact at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works