Edith The Hutt said:
What do you do with your new-found power and infamy?
Mmm. Good question. But I've discovered that I can't possibly answer that question without having a few questions answered.
1) First and foremost, was the ship designed for humans, or at least life-forms with human-like proportions? I know this is something that people might take for granted, but having read everything from His Dark Materials [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Dark_Materials] to Dragon's Egg [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon%27s_Egg], I'm not just going to take that for granted. I mean, a starship sounds great, but if it's a starship made for cheela...well, not only could I not use it, but there is the distinct possibility that it's landing on earth would...blow up earth.
1a) Regardless of whether or not the ship was made for humans, does it have the capacity to sustain human life? Let's take the wandering starship scenario as an example. Perhaps the ship was made for beings with human-like proportions, but breathed nitrogen and carbon monoxide or something. It wouldn't do to die from carbon monoxide poisoning as soon as you entered the ship, would it?
2) What kind of facilities are on the ship? Clearly there would be somewhere to pilot the ship, but are there living facilities on the ship? Scientific facilities? Maybe barracks for a potential crew? If so, how many? Ten? Twenty? A hundred? A hundred thousand? More?
2a) This is maybe a bit fuzzier a question, but are there scientific and military resources on the ship? If so, in what quantity? I'm talking about things like adverse environment suits, rail/ray guns, maybe personal force fields; things that would presumably be necessary on board a starship. Furthermore, could the ship replicate or provide these resources, if asked?
3) Is there enough scientific knowledge on the ship to successfully replicate it, if given the proper equipment? Other people on the thread have suggested tearing it apart, but I would be curious if that was entirely necessary.
3a) Is the ship made out of materials that can even be replicated on Earth? I know that sounds like an odd question, but again,
I'm not going to just take these things for granted.
3b) Furthermore, regardless of whether or not the ship can be replicated outright, can it be modified? Either by hard work or by hologram shenannagans? By way of an example; if there wasn't a barracks for a crew, would the ship be able to suggest what materials you could use and even provide a blueprint (or even provide the resources), or would you have to bring the materials on-board yourself and do all the building yourself?
Right now, the only thing I can say definitively is that I would set the ship in orbit around the moon. I would need these questions answered-in whole or in part-before I could say definitively what I would do after that.