Christopher Pike quotes from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Christopher Pike

What good is a rule if you're not willing to die for it? Or break it.

Christopher Pike

Just like you said -- whoever has the biggest stick wins. And in this case, that is me.

Christopher Pike

Hi. Sorry to interrupt. I'm Christopher Pike. My world is called Earth. And though it's far from here, my people and yours are very much alike. This is my world today. But we were not always peaceful. This is Earth in our 21st century. Before everything went wrong. It's a lot like your world today. Recently, I was treated to a glimpse of my future. It was not all I'd hoped. After all, what good is there in knowing your future? A friend of mine asked me that recently, and I didn't understand what he meant. Until now. I've seen my future. Let me show you yours. Our conflict also started with a fight for freedoms. We called it the Second Civil War, then the Eugenics War, and finally just World War III. This was our last day. The day the Earth we knew ceased to exist. What began as an eruption in one nation ended in the eradication of 600,000 species of animals and plants and 30% of Earth's population. Global suicide. What we gave you is the means to exterminate yourselves. And from the looks of you, you're gonna do it. You'll use competing ideas of liberty to bomb each other to rubble, just like we did, and then your last day will look just like this. Perhaps all your ends are written as indelibly as mine, but I choose to believe that your destinies are still your own. Maybe that's why I'm here. To remind you of the power of possibility. Maybe that's the good in seeing my future, that I might remind you that right up until the very end, life is to be worn gloriously. Because, 'til our last moment, the future's what we make it. So go to war with each other or join our Federation of Planets and reach for the stars. The choice is yours.

Christopher Pike

Attention. This is the captain speaking. Many of us have known those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Officers, scientists, civilians who gave their lives in the hope for galactic peace. Today we remember the friends and comrades we lost. Exploration can exact a heavy toll. As captain, there is no loss more devastating than that of a crew member. Remembrance Day is about them. Those of us left behind wear the insignia of past ships on which we served together. As we honor the lives that have been given, let us also be grateful to be still on the journey.

Christopher Pike

Still haven't decided to stay? I know better than to beat a dead horse, but you've made an impact here. There will always be a place on Enterprise for Nyota Uhura.

Christopher Pike

Captain's personal log, stardate 1709.2. Per Captain Kirk's plan, we are mounting a pincer move. Our two ships will slowly drift closer as the Romulans remain unaware. When they pass through the comet's tail giving us their exact location, we will be in weapons range. Kirk, however, has agreed to my plan to neutralize, not destroy, the Bird-of-Prey, leaving open the possibility of dialogue. And yet I remain concerned this brash, young Starfleet captain follows his own rules. I can't help but wonder, is Kirk the reason I was sent here? If I wasn't here to stop him, would we be led into a war?

Spock

Sir, I would suggest knowledge of death is vital for effective leadership.

Christopher Pike

Knowledge is one thing, Spock, but I experienced it. How will it live in me? Will it make me hesitant? Cautious? Not cautious enough? I'm already second-guessing myself. And that's the last thing a captain can afford.

Spock

Suffering can be transformed into insight. You must seek out the good in knowing your own death. Use it to be the man you most essentially are.

Christopher Pike

And who's that, Spock?

Spock

The captain.

We have been in conflict with a seditious faction for centuries. This is our opportunity to end that conflict.

Spock

Through mass murder?

Have your people never put down civil unrest?

Christopher Pike

Negotiation. Debate. These are the tools to build a lasting peace.

Tell me: Are there groups who refuse to negotiate with you? Powerful groups?

Christopher Pike

Oh, yes.

And with those?

Christopher Pike

You remember that, when elephants fight, it's the grass that suffers. The Kikuyu people of Kenya, Africa, on Earth, they teach us that lesson every day.

You've given me a proverb, which is less useful than a big stick. Whoever has the biggest stick wins.

So, Captain. Tell us... why should we ally ourselves with your Federation?

Christopher Pike

Easy: you shouldn't.... Why would you turn our enemies into your enemies? We're just a few years clear of the Klingon war. The Romulans are out there biding their time. And who knows what species we'll piss off next. It's not like we're coming to you with any great respect for your culture. We barely know anything about it. And what would you get in return? The hypothetical benefits of new trade markets? Scientific advancement? Our promise of support in the event of a crisis, which will probably only come about because you've thrown in your lot with us? No. The Federation has lots to offer, sure, but it always exacts a price. You have good reason to suspect that price is too high for you to pay.

Chris, what the hell was that?

Christopher Pike

Playing a hunch.

You're risking an alliance that could be the key to the Federation's security on a hunch?!

Christopher Pike

[shrugs] It's a good hunch.

Christopher Pike

Is this some kind of--

Joke? No.

Christopher Pike

How am I supposed to believe--

That I'm really you?

Christopher Pike

You ever gonna let me get a word in edgewise?

I knew you were gonna say that. Does that help?

Christopher Pike

I've been doing this long enough that I'm not gonna take the word of somebody who shows up in my cabin and says he's future me.

Mm. Your first pony was named Sir Neighs-a-Lot. He broke his leg in a rainstorm. Your parents had to put him down, and you cried for a week. Ever tell anybody that?

Christopher Pike

It's hard when your tragic backstory starts with--

A silly name. Sorry.

You flinched! You deliberated, and we lost.

Christopher Pike

We fired, Captain. And we were fired upon. That's why you're still here.

From the start, you wanted to cripple them, not take them out.

Christopher Pike

We may have different points of view, but do not question my combat readiness, Captain.

I'm saying "caution" means you're not going to put everything you have into the punch. And that's a good way to lose, because your enemy will see that and act accordingly.

I know what you're thinking. I was thinking the same thing when I went through this.

Christopher Pike

Had I traded my fate for Spock's?

Yes. This isn't going to help, but... it gets worse. This war with the Romulans? Millions die. So far. It's still going on. Not only did you start something that should never have been started -- the best chance at a lasting peace between the Federation and the Romulans in any timeline? Well... turns out he's lying in a bio-bed. We all wanna think our future is important and ours -- yours and mine -- it is. Just not the way you think. Time is, uh... it's complicated. But the monks showed me something simple: every time we change the path, he dies. He's got things to do. Fate of the galaxy type things. Paths diverge... but I am the result of one that should never have been taken.

Did it ever occur to you that sometimes you can't avoid a fight? If you had just chased that Romulan ship from the get-go and taken it out, maybe none of this would've happened.

Christopher Pike

You're a good captain, Jim Kirk. Enterprise would be lucky to have you.

You thinking of retiring?

Christopher Pike

[chuckles] No. Oh, no. No, not yet.

I think highly of Una. Promoted her faster than any other officer on my ship. Recommended her for the Medal of Gallantry after the Marcel disaster in 2248.

Christopher Pike

Yeah, I know.

It's a shame the rest of the court didn't get to hear that today.