Data: Sir, we are approaching Klavdia Three.
Picard: Take us to impulse power.
Gibson: Aye, sir. Impulse power.
Laforge: Bridge, this is Engineering.
Picard: Yes, Lieutenant.
Laforge: Now that we're out of warp, I'd like to use this time to make some routine adjustments on the deuterium control conduit. We're overdue.
Picard: How much time will these adjustments require, Lieutenant?
Laforge: A couple of hours, sir.
Riker: Proceed, Lieutenant La Forge. Standard orbit, Ensign.
Laforge: Wes, I'm going to need an SCM model three, from ship's stores. Can you handle that?
Wesley: Right away.
Laforge: All right.
Picard: Magnify, Mister Worf. Hardly an inviting planet, even for a research establishment.
Troi: I would have thought the inhabitants of Daled Four would send a future leader to a more hospitable environment.
Worf: For some, security is more important than comfort.
Troi: Yes, but sixteen years.
Worf: Captain, we're being hailed.
Picard: Hailing frequencies, Mister Worf.
Worf: Open.
Picard: This is Captain Picard of the USS Enterprise.
Anya: I am Anya of
Data: Sir, the planet's troposphere is distorting our signal.
Picard: Can you clean that up, Mister Worf?
Worf: I'll try. Now.
Picard: This is Picard of the Enterprise. Please will you repeat your message?
Anya: I am Anya. Have you come for Salia of Daled Four?
Picard: That is correct.
Anya: What species are you?
Picard: Human.
Anya: Excellent. Bring us aboard. That is all.
Riker: Friendly, isn't she?
Picard: Friendly or not, Salia has the rank of head of state, so we will treat her and Anya accordingly. Number One, Mister Worf, let's go greet our visitors. You have the Bridge, Mister Data.
Data: Aye, sir.
Picard: Welcome to the Enterprise. I'm Captain Picard.
Anya: This is Salia of Daled Four.
Salia: I didn't feel a thing. Is that normal when one is transported, Captain?
Picard: Oh, yes, it is.
Salia: Those must be the matter energy conversion controls. May I take a look?
Picard: Yes, of course.
Riker: I can arrange for a tour of the ship, if you'd like.
Salia: Oh, I'd love that.
Anya: No, that will not be necessary. Just show us to our quarters, Captain Picard.
Picard: Very well.
Picard: We're accommodating you in quarters normally reserved for Starfleet admiralty. I'm sure you'll find them quite comfortable.
Salia: That's a superconducting magnet, isn't it?
Wesley: Yes It's an SCM model. How did you know that?
Salia: Study, for the last sixteen years it is all I could
Anya: Please, Salia, walk ahead with me.
Salia: Better be careful. Those can rip the iron right out of your blood cells.
Wesley: Commander, who is she?
Riker: I think she's a governess.
Wesley: No! The girl.
Riker: I don't know if she'll have time for you, Wes. She's destined to rule an entire world.
Wesley: Come in.
Data: You wanted to see me?
Wesley: Yes. Data, the girl who came on board.
Data: Salia of Daled Four.
Wesley: Who is she?
Data: Little is known. She was born on Daled Four. Her parents were from opposite sides in a civil war which has lasted for centuries. They both died shortly after her birth. A Federation ship brought her and her governess to Klavdia Three so that she could be raised in a neutral environment.
Wesley: And now she's returning?
Data: It is hoped she will unite the factions and bring peace.
Laforge: Ensign Crusher, report. Are you all right?
Wesley: Geordi? Yeah, I'm fine. I just
Laforge: Wes, we're waiting for that magnet.
Wesley: I'm on my way.
Riker: Captain, we've broken orbit and laid in a course for Daled Four. We will remain on impulse power until Lieutenant La Forge completes his adjustments.
Picard: Mister Worf, have our passenger's accommodations met with their approval?
Worf: I doubt if anything ever meets with that woman's approval, sir.
Troi: Captain, I'm concerned our new passengers. Their emotions do not fit who they are and what they're doing.
Picard: Are you suggesting they're not who they say they are?
Troi: Actually no, it's more like they're not what they say they are.
Picard: Picard to Salia's quarters.
Salia: Yes?
Picard: May we turn on the viewer?
Salia: Yes, of course.
Picard: Are your quarters satisfactory?
Salia: Yes, very. Tell me, Captain, who was the young man I met before?
Picard: That was Ensign Wesley Crusher.
Salia: Thank you for checking on us, Captain. I only hope our quarters on Daled Four will be this luxurious.
Picard: Please feel free to contact me at any time. Picard out.
Troi: What I sensed before hasn't changed.
Data: What puzzles me, Captain, is how she is expected to bring peace to Daled Four. Its inhabitants have been fighting throughout their recorded history.
Picard: What do we know about the cause of these wars?
Data: Only that it is the difference between night and day.
Riker: Data, you used a colloquialism.
Data: Did I? What I meant, sir, is that Daled Four rotates only once per revolution. Therefore one side is constantly dark, and the other side constantly light. One might surmise that the two hemispheres have developed disparate cultures, which is a major cause of most wars.
Picard: This child is supposed to bring them together.
Riker: She seems too delicate for such a task.
Worf: Do not be fooled by her looks. The body is just a shell.
Salia: How can I be a leader if I don't know anything about my people?
Girl: You will lead because you are accepted by both sides. And because it is in your blood.
Salia: What is expected of me once I'm there?
Girl: You will know.
Salia: How?
Girl: You just will. Salia, you must arrive with an open mind, without preconceived ideas of the worlds you will find or the people on either side.
Salia: It's very frustrating.
Girl: You feel the weight of so much responsibility, you're not sure you'll live up to everyone's expectations.
Salia: It's not only that. Nobody's even asked me if this is something I want.
Girl: It is your duty.
Salia: And I have no choice.
Girl: It won't be as bad as you think. In fact, it could be quite wonderful. Besides, you are the last and only chance.
Salia: Don't you think I'm going to need more than instinct to do whatever is expected of me on Daled Four?
Laforge: Energy depletion level?
Computer: Point oh four percent and increasing.
Laforge: Wesley? Wesley, you haven't found that defocused area yet?
Wesley: I'm looking.
Laforge: Yeah, I see the way you're looking. Wesley!
Wesley: What? Sorry. I've got my mind on something.
Laforge: I can see that.
Wesley: It's this girl they beamed up, Geordi. She's perfect. Absolutely perfect.
Laforge: Now I understand why you can't concentrate.
Wesley: I'll do better.
Laforge: Okay.
Computer: Warning, resonant field applied.
Laforge: What is it? What happened?
Wesley: Nothing. I had it on the wrong setting.
Laforge: I suppose it had to happen to you. It usually does at about this age.
Wesley: What usually does?
Laforge: Glands erupting with hormones. It happens to all of us.
Wesley: Just because I said that I think she's interesting
Laforge: You said she was perfect. Come on down. You're no use around here for now. Come on down. Go talk to her. Use the ladder.
Wesley: That's silly, Geordi. But since you recommended it, how should I approach her? If she'll talk to me, what should I say?
Laforge: Just say, 'Hi, I'm Wesley Crusher. I'd like to talk to you'.
Wesley: And then what?
Laforge: Whatever occurs to you.
Wesley: What if nothing occurs to me?
Laforge: Look, Wes, I don't have time for this. You're going to have to ask somebody else.
Wesley: Okay.
Worf: That is how the Klingon lures a mate.
Wesley: Are you telling me to go yell at Salia?
Worf: No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects. And claw at you.
Wesley: What does the man do?
Worf: He reads love poetry. He ducks a lot.
Wesley: Worf, sounds like it works great for the Klingons, but I think I need to try something a little less dangerous.
Worf: Then go to her door. Beg like a human.
Data: It should be that simple, Wesley. Judging by her appearance it is likely you and Salia are biologically compatible. Of course, there could be a difference in the histocompatibility complex in the cell membrane, but.
Wesley: Data, I want to meet her, not dissect her.
Picard: Picard to Salia's quarters.
Salia: Yes, Captain?
Picard: May I activate the viewer?
Salia: Hurry, go, go.
Salia: Certainly.
Picard: We've invited Anya to take a tour of the ship. Maybe you would like to join her?
Salia: Very much.
Picard: Your escort will with you shortly. Picard out.
Salia: I think I'll go on the tour.
Salia: Why can't I? This is the only chance I'll ever have to see a vessel like this.
Anya: No. You must remain here where it is safe. Salia, do an old woman a favor and obey me for the rest of this trip.
Salia: You are no more an old woman than I am a leader.
Salia: Yes. Come in.
Worf: I'm here to escort you on a tour of the Enterprise.
Anya: Salia will remain behind. I will be right there. You are a leader. And I am older than you could ever imagine.
Wesley: What should I say? How do I act? What do I do?
Riker: Guinan, I need your help. Could you step over here a minute?
Guinan: Sounds simple enough.
Riker: Now, the first words out of your mouth are the most important. You may want to start with something like this. You are the most beautiful woman in the galaxy. But that might not work.
Guinan: Yes. Yes, it would.
Riker: You don't know how long I've longed to tell you that.
Guinan: But you were afraid?
Riker: Yes.
Guinan: Of me?
Riker: Of us. Of what we might become.
Wesley: Commander?
Riker: or that you might think that was a line.
Guinan: Maybe I do think it's a line.
Riker: Then you think I'm not sincere?
Guinan: I didn't say that. There's nothing wrong with a line. It's like a knock at the door.
Riker: Then you're inviting me in?
Guinan: I'm not sending you away.
Riker: That's more than I expected.
Guinan: Is it as much as you hoped?
Riker: To hope is to recognize the possibility. I had only dreams.
Guinan: Dreams can be dangerous.
Riker: Not these dreams. I dream of a galaxy where your eyes are stars, and the universe worships the night.
Guinan: Careful. Putting me on a pedestal so high, you may not be able to reach me.
Riker: Then I'll learn how to fly. You are the heart in my day and the soul in my night.
Wesley: I don't think this is my style.
Guinan: Shut up, kid. Tell me more about my eyes.
Worf: This is the dilithium crystal chamber. Our Chief Engineer, Geordi La Forge.
Anya: What is that? What are you doing?
Laforge: Nothing to be concerned about. Just performing some routine adjustments.
Anya: I wasn't aware that the deuterium control conduit required routine adjustments.
Laforge: I perform periodic inspections on all engineering systems.
Anya: In this case you seem to have found a malfunction.
Laforge: It's not a malfunction. It's simply that a minute defocused area has developed. It lowers our operating efficiency.
Anya: It could also lead to excess prion production.
Laforge: Our computer would detect that.
Anya: Unless, of course, it too is malfunctioning.
Laforge: Look, I really have to get this finished.
Worf: Anya. Please come with me.
Anya: I will be back to check your progress.
Guard: Ensign Crusher, what can I do for you?
Wesley: Nothing.
Guard: Is there a problem?
Wesley: No.
Salia: Could you show me how to work the food dispenser?
Wesley: Sure.
Wesley: Really, it's quite simple. You just tell the computer what you want and it prepares it for you.
Salia: Oh. What should I order?
Wesley: I don't know. what do you like?
Salia: I'd like something sweet.
Wesley: I know. Computer, Thalian chocolate mousse.
Salia: It's a wonderful sensation.
Wesley: On Thalos Seven they age the beans four hundred years.
Salia: You've been there?
Wesley: It's one of my favorite places.
Salia: It must be fun to visit a planet like that.
Wesley: It's the best part of being on the Enterprise.
Salia: I've studied about some of them, but to see them, that would be wonderful. Tell me about some of the other places you've been.
Wesley: Oh, there's too many.
Salia: The only world I've known is Klavdia Three.
Wesley: It's about time we changed that.
Salia: How?
Wesley: Come with me.
Pulaski: I'll be with you in a moment.
Anya: What's wrong with him?
Pulaski: Andronesian encephalitis.
Anya: That disease is contagious.
Pulaski: Very unlikely. Our air filtering system can handle
Anya: But there is a chance.
Pulaski: If you mean mathematically, yes, the probability is not zero.
Anya: I cannot rely on your primitive technologies. Kill the patient!
Pulaski: What?
Anya: Destroy the patient. Immediately!
Pulaski: Now, you calm down.
Anya: If you won't take action, then I will!
Pulaski: Security to Sickbay! Hurry!
Picard: Wait! Hold your fire.
Picard: Worf!
Pulaski: What is she? Keep her away!
Anya: Do not interfere!
Pulaski: She wants to kill Hennesey!
Anya: His disease threatens Salia.
Pulaski: Captain, there is no chance of contagion.
Picard: The situation is under control.
Anya: That's not good enough!
Picard: Well, it will have to be.
Anya: Your powers are infinitesimal compared to mine.
Picard: Yes, that may be, but you will obey my orders. You are to remain in your quarters and in your present form for the rest of this voyage. Is that clear?
Anya: Very.
Picard: Keep her under guard.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Worf: Wait for me. What kind of creature is she?
Picard: I've never seen anything like her.
Pulaski: There is mention in the galactic zoological catalog of a species called allasomorph, which is supposed to possess the power to alter their molecular structure into other life forms.
Worf: Such a creature would make a perfect protector.
Picard: I want a Security team stationed outside Sickbay, Mister Worf.
Worf: Aye, sir. Captain, what if Anya transforms?
Picard: Improvise.
Salia: Can a place so remarkable truly exist?
Wesley: Yes. There are many more. All of them are different.
Salia: I've learned about them. That's all I did on Klavdia Three, was learn. I know so much, but I've seen so little.
Wesley: Think of what you have to look forward to. This is a great time to be alive.
Salia: For you.
Wesley: For both of us. This is all just beginning. We've only charted nineteen percent of our galaxy. The rest is out there, just waiting. Look what we've already discovered.
Salia: I have never seen anything so wondrous.
Wesley: Wait. Computer, Rosseau Five.
Salia: It's breathtaking!
Wesley: Yes.
Salia: And you've been to this place?
Wesley: Someday, you'll visit Rosseau Five, and many other places, all more spectacular.
Salia: If only it were possible.
Wesley: Listen.
Salia: What is it?
Wesley: In a moment, the harmonic resonance from the neutrino clouds will become synchronous.
Salia: It's so beautiful! It's like this place has a voice and is trying to speak to us. Thank you for sharing all of this with me.
Wesley: Someday, you'll see it all for yourself. Look over there.
Worf: Remain here. You are restricted to these quarters for the remainder of this voyage.
Anya: You are the protector of this ship, are you not?
Worf: I am in charge of Security.
Anya: You must understand my duties as well. If you confine me to this cell, I cannot protect Salia.
Worf: There is no need for concern. She is safe on this ship.
Anya: You must understand that I cannot make such an assumption.
Worf: You no longer have the choice. You have to trust me to protect her.
Anya: No. A true protector cannot have two charges. Your responsibility is to the ship. My duty is to Salia.
Worf: My responsibility to the ship includes protecting Salia.
Anya: You know I'm stronger than you.
Worf: I was unprepared.
Anya: You underestimated me in your Sickbay. That is usually fatal.
Worf: Still, you are here, confined to your room.
Anya: I ceased my struggle by choice, not because of you or your Captain.
Worf: I would have stopped you. If not me, someone else.
Anya: No, you cannot control me.
Worf: We will see.
Picard: We've obviously brought a very dangerous life form aboard this ship. I want to minimize the chances of any incident.
Troi: Whatever kind of life form Anya is, emotionally she's Salia's mother.
Picard: The most dangerous animal is a mother protecting her young.
Troi: Exactly.
Anya: Captain, this is Anya.
Picard: Yes?
Anya: Salia is gone. Where is she?
Salia: This has all been so wonderful. I'm not even sure it's real.
Wesley: Believe me, Ten Forward isn't an illusion.
Salia: Not that. I mean the way I feel.
Guinan: You won't find a better dish of chocolate anywhere.
Salia: I'm sure I won't.
Wesley: Is something wrong?
Salia: I've had a great time being with you, Wesley.
Wesley: And that makes you sad?
Salia: When I was on Klavdia Three, all I could think of was leaving that isolation. What makes me sad is having to face it again after seeing what else is possible.
Wesley: Is that what awaits you on Daled Four? Isolation?
Salia: Yes.
Wesley: I thought you were going there to reunite two warring parties.
Salia: What else do you know?
Wesley: Very little. The ship's computer doesn't have that much on Daled Four. How will you stop the fighting?
Salia: I'm not certain. I only know I will have many responsibilities when I get there. Your language has no word for the position I'll hold. In many ways I'll have even less freedom than I did on Klavdia Three.
Wesley: You could stay.
Salia: On the Enterprise?
Wesley: Why not?
Salia: Because I can't.
Guinan: Just because a girl runs out, doesn't mean she doesn't wish you to follow.
Wesley: What is it? What happened? Salia!
Salia: Stay away from me! I'm sorry.
Wesley: I don't understand.
Salia: I can't stay here! I can't have this life! I want it more than anything, but I can't have it!
Wesley: Salia, nothing is impossible.
Salia: Not for you.
Wesley: There's a way. I know there is!
Anya: Leave her alone!
Picard: Ensign, step away from her.
Anya: Come with me.
Laforge: Energy depletion level?
Computer: Zero.
Laforge: La Forge to bridge.
Picard: Yes, Lieutenant?
Laforge: I've just completed my final adjustments. Thanks for the time. You now have warp engines available.
Picard: Very good.
Picard: Number One, get us to Daled as quickly as possible.
Riker: Ensign Gibson, take us to warp eight point eight.
Gibson: Warp eight point eight, sir.
Riker: Estimated time?
Gibson: Three hours, nine minutes.
Picard: Ensign Crusher, when you're finished with your duties in Engineering, report to my Ready Room.
Wesley: Yes, sir.
Picard: You have the Bridge, Number One.
Riker: Aye, sir.
Picard: The woman, Anya, is not what she appears to be. She is an allasomorph.
Wesley: A shape shifter?
Picard: Yes. She's not only a governess, she's also the girl's protector. Now, I don't care to interfere in the personal relationships of those under my command, but in this case.
Wesley: You want me to stay away from Salia?
Picard: Yes, I do. For the good of the ship and the safety of everyone on board.
Wesley: I will do as you ask.
Salia: Why won't you let me have a friend?
Anya: It is my duty to protect you from danger.
Salia: There's no danger here.
Anya: There is always danger from one who is not your kind. Salia, he's confusing you. You're forgetting you responsibilities.
Salia: Whether or not I see Wesley is for me to decide.
Anya: It is not! I raised you, I protected you and I intend to deliver you to Daled Four!
Salia: Maybe what you want doesn't matter any more.
Anya: Salia, please. I know it's difficult for you. But you must do what you are destined to do.
Picard: Standard orbit.
Gibson: Aye, sir.
Picard: Hailing frequencies, Mister Worf.
Worf: Captain, I am encountering the same interference we experienced on Klavdia Three.
Data: The troposphere appears to be distorting our signals. It is fascinating, Captain. Klavdia Three and Daled Four have almost identical atmospheres.
Picard: Magnify. Times twenty.
Riker: How could anyone exist in an environment so totally hostile toward human life?
Picard: Mister Data, do whatever is necessary to override the interference. Let's complete our mission.
Wesley: Come in. Salia! You shouldn't have come.
Salia: Do you want me to leave?
Wesley: I didn't say that.
Salia: Then you want me to stay.
Wesley: Does Anya know you're here?
Salia: That doesn't matter.
Wesley: I'm glad you came. I thought Anya would have kept you with her.
Salia: I have certain rights.
Wesley: So in other words, you slipped out.
Salia: While she was asleep. I hope you didn't get in trouble from your Captain.
Wesley: Oh, I haven't got in trouble yet.
Salia: Anya thought you would corrupt me.
Wesley: With my wild way of life?
Salia: Maybe. With the normal things people do when they like each other.
Salia: Wesley, get out of here now.
Wesley: What's going on?
Salia: Just go, please.
Wesley: Security, crew quarters!
Salia: No! Anya, No!
Anya: You should not have disobeyed me.
Salia: I had to.
Anya: I warned you to leave her alone.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 42568.8. Since Anya's powers of transformation apparently gave her the ability to escape her guards unnoticed, we have sealed her quarters with a forcefield that will contain her no matter how small a form she may take.
Worf: Captain, I'm receiving an audio signal.
Picard: Audio on.
Voice: Come in Enterprise. This is Command Headquarters of Daled Four. We have been expecting you.
Data: Sir, sensors indicate the communication originated from a terawatt source on the planet.
Riker: That's more power than our entire ship can generate.
Data: It is what is needed to penetrate the atmosphere.
Riker: Which means we lack the ability to respond, sir.
Worf: Sir, there are beam-down coordinates encoded within the carrier signal.
Picard: Splendid.
Riker: I'll arrange for our guests to beam down.
Worf: Forcefield off.
Salia: Come in.
Worf: We have arrived.
Anya: Salia will be with you in just a moment.
Salia: You're not going?
Anya: No. My duties have been completed. I have done all that I could. I hope it was enough.
Salia: You've raised me well, and I thank you for that.
Anya: I would not have harmed the boy, I only wanted to frighten him.
Salia: I know.
Anya: You are ready for what awaits you and you will do well. I know that I have been hard on you, but I wanted to prepare you for anything you might be required to do.
Salia: Will I ever be able to leave Daled Four?
Anya: Probably not. But anything is possible.
Salia: That's what Wes said.
Anya: I hope he's right.
Salia: Where will you go?
Anya: The third moon is within range of this ship's transporter, I shall go there. It was my home before we went away.
Salia: I'm going to miss you.
Anya: I know.
Salia: I am ready now.
Worf: I will escort you to transporter room six.
Anya: You will be happy to see me leave.
Worf: No. You are a worthy opponent.
Anya: Thank you. At heart, we are very much alike.
Worf: Yes, we are.
Anya: Perhaps we shall fight again. On the same side.
Worf: It would be an honor. Shall we go?
Wesley: Come in.
Salia: Wesley, I have to go now.
Wesley: Was it fun?
Salia: What do you mean?
Wesley: Playing humanoid. Was it fun?
Salia: Wesley, look at me. Right now, this minute, this is what I am. A humanoid girl.
Wesley: What are you really?
Salia: Does it matter?
Wesley: Yes.
Salia: Our natural state is one unlike anything you can imagine.
Wesley: So you took this form for our benefit? That's why you wanted to know what species we are.
Salia: I'm sorry I hurt you. I didn't mean to.
Wesley: I loved you.
Salia: I love you, too.
Wesley: Can you?
Salia: Yes, oh yes. I have the same feelings, the same emotions as you. You must believe me.
Wesley: Please go.
Salia: Wesley, let's not say goodbye like this.
Riker: Prepare to beam Salia to the specified coordinates.
O'Brien: Aye, sir.
Salia: Our world is grateful for the courtesy which you have extended us.
Riker: I hope some day that the Federation and Daled Four will have formal contact.
Salia: That is my wish as well.
O'Brien: Coordinates have been input, sir.
Riker: Proceed.
Wesley: Wait. A taste to remember me by.
Salia: I wish there were something I could give you.
Wesley: You already have.
Salia: I'm glad you came to say goodbye. Thank you, for everything.
Salia: I want you to leave now.
Wesley: Why?
Salia: I cannot arrive on my planet in this form, and I want you to remember me as I am now.
Wesley: Don't' worry, I will.
Wesley: Energize.
Wesley: Seeing her on the transporter pad, it was like seeing pure light. I miss her. I feel empty.
Guinan: I know that sensation. But there'll come a time when all you remember is the love.
Wesley: I'm never going to feel this way about anyone else.
Guinan: You're right.
Wesley: I didn't expect you to say that.
Guinan: There'll be others, but every time you feel love it'll will be different. Every time, it's different.
Wesley: Knowing that doesn't make it any easier.
Guinan: It's not supposed to.


Picard: Captain's log, stardate 42609.1. In response to a desperate plea for aid by my old friend, Captain Donald Varley of the USS Yamato, I am running a grave risk by taking the Enterprise into the Neutral Zone. Varley's request was prompted by dangerous malfunctions which have been plaguing our sister ship. Perhaps with both crews working together we can able to eliminate the problems before our presence is detected by the Romulans.
Picard: How long to rendezvous, Mister Crusher?
Wesley: Four minutes and thirty three seconds, sir.
Picard: Status of download, Mister Data?
Data: The Yamato log should be in our computer by rendezvous, sir.
Riker: Have you nailed down our little hiccup yet?
Data: Sir?
Riker: The odd reading?
Data: No, sir. It might be due to problems currently being experienced by the Yamato.
Picard: Trouble, Number One?
Riker: I'm not sure, sir. Are we alone out here, Worf?
Worf: Yes, sir. There are no other vessels in the area except the Yamato, which is coming into visual range now.
Picard: At last.
Worf: Transmission from the Yamato, sir.
Picard: On viewer.
Picard: Donald, what's a nice Starfleet Captain like you doing in a place like this?
Varley: It's good to see you again, Jean-Luc, despite your antique humor. I only hope your people are able to help us. Malfunctions are becoming serious. We lost an engineering team when the computer shut down a forcefield in an open shuttlebay. Eighteen people.
Riker: Do you have any idea what caused this, sir?
Varley: None. They are affecting every system simultaneously. It's like the ship has suddenly decided to fall apart. It's beginning to make me think we should have run these Galaxy Class ships across a few more drawing boards before we built one.
Picard: You believe it's a design flaw?
Varley: I don't know. I'm grasping at straws here. All I know is we've got to get it fixed, and before I lose more than an engineering team.
Riker: Do you wish to evacuate any non-essential personnel to the Enterprise, sir?
Varley: No. No, that would be premature.
Picard: Donald, we'll get our teams to work on it immediately. I'm sure neither of us feels too comfortable sitting around in the Neutral Zone.
Varley: I know what you're thinking, what the hell am I doing here? Well, I had heard rumors about a couple of archeological digs that started making the Iconians sound a lot less like legend. I did a little investigating, and I located their homeworld.
Picard: In the Neutral Zone?
Varley: In the Neutral Zone.
Picard: Donald, that was quite a risk to run to satisfy archeological curiosity.
Varley: The risk would be in allowing the Romulans to locate Iconia. Fortunately, I got there first. It's a virtually dead planet, but enough technology remains to give the Romulans an edge if they should find it.
Picard: Donald, your transmission is breaking up. Mister Data, try and clean that up.
Worf: Sir, there is an energy build-up in the Yamato's Engineering section.
Picard: Yamato, this is the Enterprise. Yamato, come in.
Worf: Captain, magnetic seals in the antimatter chamber are decaying!
Picard: Captain! Donald, come in!
Picard: Shields up.
Worf: Sir!
Data: Sensors indicate no life readings, sir.
Worf: Captain. Another vessel is coming within sensor range. It is Romulan.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. The Yamato's entire crew and their families, more than a thousand people, have been lost. Circumstances unfortunately permit us no pause for grief.
Worf: No response from the Romulan vessel.
Riker: Arm phasers and prepare to lock on target.
Picard: Did they attack the Yamato?
Data: Unknown, sir.
Worf: All their weapons systems have been fully activated. Still no response.
Picard: Romulan vessel, this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise.
Taris: Captain Picard.
Picard: Explain your illegal presence in the Neutral Zone.
Taris: Explain yours.
Picard: Are you responsible for the destruction of the Yamato?
Taris: No. But believe me, Captain, had we chosen to exercise our right to defend the Neutral Zone, we would not have stopped with one starship. You will leave at once.
Worf: Mute.
Picard: Comments.
Troi: She's extremely anxious.
Worf: Understandable if she just destroyed a Federation starship.
Riker: Your scan was inconclusive. We don't know what happened to the Yamato.
Troi: Our presence in the Neutral Zone is provocative. It could force her to respond.
Worf: Open.
Picard: We will comply when I have determined the cause of the destruction of the Yamato, and when I am fully satisfied that you were not responsible. Picard out.
Worf: They are engaging their cloaking device.
Riker: Good. They can't fire when they're cloaked.
Worf: Unless they have overcome that deficiency. The Yamato was destroyed while they were cloaked.
Picard: Enough. Answers. I want answers, not conjecture. Number One, I want them at a staff meeting in one hour.
Riker: Aye, sir.
Laforge: Sensor recordings reveal that what we witnessed was an uncontrolled and catastrophic matter-antimatter mix. The magnetic seals between the chambers collapsed and
Picard: Wait. Wait. That's not possible.
Laforge: Yes, sir, it is, but a highly improbable series of events has to take place for such a result to occur.
Picard: Explain.
Laforge: Okay. In the event of a breach of seal integrity there's an emergency release system which dumps the antimatter.
Data: Apparently such a dump began, was then halted, and the containment seals were dropped. There was still sufficient antimatter present to lead to an explosion.
Picard: And so there is no evidence that a weapon was used?
Data: No, sir. None.
Laforge: However it happened, the Yamato did it to herself.
Picard: Theorize. What could have caused such a catastrophic malfunction?
Laforge: I think Captain Varley may have been right. There may be a design flaw.
Riker: In a Galaxy Class starship?
Laforge: Yes, sir. It's the most sophisticated piece of machinery ever built. Something could have been overlooked.
Picard: Knowing where the flaw is located, can you isolate the problem and solve it?
Laforge: We're already working on it, sir.
Picard: Pull any personnel you can use.
Troi: If we have established that the Romulans were not responsible for the destruction of the Yamato, would it not be prudent to withdraw?
Picard: If it is a design flaw, we're better to stay where we are and give Geordi time to work on it. Or what happened to the Yamato could happen to us.
Picard: Computer, access Captain Donald Varley's personal log. Search parameter. Locate entries containing words Romulan and or Iconia.
Computer: Working.
Varley: Personal log. It was kind of Doctor Ramsey to allow me to carry away my own little piece of legend from the archeological dig at Denius Three. My engineers have examined it, but are completely baffled by its technology. What was its purpose? I'm like a caveman confronted by a tricorder. I'm certain this device is Iconian, but how far had it traveled before it was abandoned on this alien world? Personal log. A galactic Rosetta stone. The starfields on the artifact were unintelligible until I took into account two hundred millennia of stellar drift. After that it was easy to pinpoint Iconia. My First Officer is questioning the wisdom of my order to violate the Neutral Zone, but I am convinced that I have taken the only proper course. Should this advanced technology fall into the hands of the Romulans, we might as well dock our ships and defend ourselves with sticks. Personal log. We've been spotted by a Romulan cruiser, but after playing hide and seek through several solar systems, I think I've managed to elude them. The Iconian probe scan. Was it an attempt at communication? If only I knew what we were dealing with here. Personal log. I'm unable to send an away team to the surface of Iconia, nor can I scan the energy source on the planet because of these maddening system failures. It's infuriating to be stopped at the threshold of a dream by one's own ship. We're leaving orbit to rendezvous with Picard. If his people can't help us repair the Yamato, I must convince him to continue this exploration. The future wellbeing of the Federation may well depend upon it.
Computer: No further entries conforming to search parameters.
Picard: Mister Data, there's a reference in Captain Varley's personal log to a probe that scanned the Yamato.
Data: Aye, sir. We have a visual record.
Picard: Put it on main viewer.
Riker: What the devil is that?
Picard: Have you seen anything like that before?
Data: No, sir. It appears to be a scanner. Possibly a transmitter.
Riker: Transmitting what?
Data: Unknown, sir.
Picard: Engineering.
Laforge: La Forge.
Picard: What progress on the matter-antimatter scan?
Laforge: Everything continues to check out. I'm starting an analysis on the magnetic coils.
Picard: When the Yamato was probed, where was she?
Data: In orbit around a planet at coordinates two two seven mark three five nine, sir.
Picard: ETA at warp factor eight?
Data: Twelve hours sixteen minutes, sir.
Worf: Sir, that would put us substantially close to the Romulan side of the Neutral Zone.
Picard: That can't be helped. Ensign, lay in a course. Warp factor eight.
Wesley: Aye, sir.
Picard: We're going to assume the Yamato's mission.
Riker: And risk a war?
Picard: Perhaps prevent one.
Picard: Come.
Wesley: Sir, may I speak with you for a minute?
Picard: Yes, of course. Well, what is it, Wesley?
Wesley: It's about the Iconians, sir. I was told they were just a myth.
Picard: China was thought to be only a myth until Marco Polo traveled there. No, the Iconians were certainly real. Sit down. We know that three systems within this sector had a number of cultural similarities. Similarities which could only be explained by there being a single unifying influence.
Wesley: So they colonized those worlds?
Picard: Probably conquered.
Wesley: You mean they were warlike?
Picard: Perhaps. Ancient texts did speak of 'Demons of Air and Darkness'.
Wesley: Air and darkness?
Picard: Legend has it that they traveled without the benefit of spaceships, merely appearing out of thin air on distant planets.
Wesley: Sounds like magic.
Picard: Well, we would appear magical to Stone Age people.
Wesley: How did you find all this out?
Picard: Archeology has been a hobby since Academy days. But why don't we talk about what really brought you here?
Wesley: It's the Yamato, Captain. I can't stop thinking about her. All those people dead. I don't know how you and Commander Riker and Geordi, how you handle it so easily.
Picard: Easily? Oh no, not easily. We handle it because we're trained to, as you will be. Tea, Earl Gray, hot. But if the time ever comes when the death of a single individual fails to move us
Wesley: Didn't you order tea, sir?
Picard: Now that should not have happened.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. As happened with our sister ship, the Enterprise is being to experience a series of system failures. So far they are random, but I fear they could be early symptoms of what happened to the Yamato.
Picard: Engineering.
Laforge: La Forge.
Picard: Lieutenant
Picard: Are you making any progress toward solving our problems?
Laforge: Solving them, no sir, but I can eliminate one worry. It is not a design flaw.
Laforge: I've been reviewing the Yamato's log, and I think maybe that alien probe had something to do with her problems.
Picard: How?
Laforge: I need to see the thing.
Picard: If it was the probe, that explains the Yamato. But how do you account for the difficulties the Enterprise is experiencing?
Laforge: I can't.
Picard: Lieutenant, Are our problems likely to attain the seriousness of those on the Yamato?
Laforge: If you're asking for speculation, I'd say yes, sir, they are. I need time.
Picard: Mister La Forge, time is the one thing which we do not have in abundance.
Picard: Analysis, Mister Data.
Data: Scanning, sir.
Picard: Well, Mister Data?
Data: No life-form readings, sir.
Worf: All major cities have been heavily damaged, and the pattern of destruction is that consistent with large-scale orbital bombardment.
Picard: How long ago?
Data: Approximately two hundred thousand years, sir.
Worf: There is an energy source in the mountains of the smaller continent.
Picard: Magnify.
Riker: Is that Iconia?
Picard: Captain Varley died believing that it was.
Riker: Did you see that?
Worf: Captain. Projectile launched from the planet's surface.
Data: Its size and composition match the probe which scanned the Yamato, sir.
Picard: Shields up. Prepare a tractor beam. Mister La Forge, I'm going to assist you in your research. A probe has been launched from Iconia.
Picard: I'm going to capture it.
Laforge: No, sir, wait! Captain! Captain!
Laforge: Coming through!
Laforge: Bridge!
Laforge: Emergency stop!
Laforge: Stop! Damn it!
Worf: Tractor beam ready, sir.
Riker: Geordi, are you all right?
Laforge: Destroy the probe, sir. Quickly!
Picard: Worf, target phasers.
Worf: Phasers locked on target.
Picard: Fire!
Picard: Welcome to the Bridge, Mister La Forge.
Laforge: Thank you, sir. If that thing had managed to scan us, we never would have had any chance of saving the Enterprise.
Laforge: That probe was a transmitter sending an alien computer program. The same program that is currently aboard the Enterprise trying to rewrite our software in its own image. We have two completely incompatible computer systems trying to interact.
Riker: So that's why the ship's instruments have become so erratic.
Laforge: Yes.
Picard: What can you do?
Laforge: Not very much. The Iconian program is so sophisticated I may never understand it.
Data: Consider, Captain, this program has entered an alien data base, ours, and in less than seven hours has managed to not only learn our systems, but has begun to reprogram our computer.
Picard: And so the earlier probe was responsible for the Yamato's destruction?
Laforge: Yes, but only in as much as it was the probe that transmitted the program.
Riker: But we weren't scanned by that probe. How did this thing get aboard the Enterprise?
Data: We downloaded the Yamato log, and contained in the log was the program.
Picard: Why didn't we suffered the same fate?
Laforge: The program affected all of the Yamato's systems simultaneously. But with us, it was deposited within a specific section of our mainframe, so it's having to work its way out from that location. That gives us a little breathing space.
Riker: Not much. The injury reports are increasing too, sir.
Data: Doctor Pulaski is unwilling to trust the turbolifts. She is sending medical teams through the access tunnels.
Laforge: Captain, the Enterprise computer system is a lot like our own bodies with voluntary and involuntary system. Now, probably ninety percent of what happens on this ship is done automatically. Completely out of our control. We're sitting on a bomb that could go off any second, or maybe never.
Pulaski: The biobeds aren't working? The ship is falling apart! I've had thirty-five emergency calls scattered across twelve decks. My trauma teams are being run ragged trying to respond. Biobeds!
Medic: Doctor Pulaski.
Pulaski: Yes.
Medic: I've got a problem here. The knitter isn't working.
Pulaski: Try a splint.
Medic: Doctor?
Pulaski: Splint. It's a very ancient concept. You take two flat pieces of wood or plastic, a bandage. The broken limb is kept immobile.
Doctor: That's crazy, that's not practicing medicine.
Pulaski: Oh yes, it is. It's a time honored way to practice medicine, with your head and your heart and your hands. So jump to it.
Laforge: Damn!
Data: Try a bypass on the shield control interface.
Laforge: No go. Let me see if I can directly access the master program.
Laforge: Data?
Data: Yes?
Laforge: What happened?
Data: Any answer would be mere speculation. This is yet another example of how our actions have random results.
Laforge: Thanks, Data. I noticed.
Riker: Life support has failed on decks seven and thirteen, sir. Now what if this thing manages to rewrite our entire system? It's so far beyond us that we don't have a hope of understanding it, let alone controlling it. Our own ignorance could kill us.
Picard: We may never reach that point. A variation of what happened to the Yamato might destroy us first.
Riker: So we just sit here and watch our ship disintegrate around us?
Picard: The probe was launched from Iconia, probably from an automated system. There may be records near the launch site that could help us find a solution.
Riker: I'll arrange an away team.
Picard: And I'll lead it.
Riker: You will lead it?
Picard: Yes.
Riker: Sir, we've had this conversation a hundred times.
Picard: And we will have it again, Number One. I have been studying the Iconians since I was a cadet. I have to be the one to go. The Enterprise is yours.
Riker: For as long as she lasts.
O'Brien: I've got a fix on the energy source, and for the moment this baby's working, but that could change in an instant.
Picard: We're aware of the risks. Energize.
O'Brien: Transport complete.
Riker: Stay sharp, Mister O'Brien, I want to be able to pull them out of there at a moment's notice.
O'Brien: Aye, sir.
Wesley: Commander, Romulan vessel.
Riker: Open hailing frequencies.
Williams: They're arming photon torpedoes.
Riker: Shields up! Go to Red Alert.
Wesley: Sir, the shields aren't responding.
Williams: They are preparing to fire photon torpedoes.
Riker: Mister Crusher, I need those shields!
Wesley: I'm trying, sir!
Williams: They're firing.
Riker: What happened?
Williams: Instead of firing they suddenly disarmed and canceled.
Riker: Fate protects fools, little children and ships named Enterprise. Lock phasers on the Romulans and hold your fire.
Wesley: Sir, the shields are back up.
Riker: Impeccable timing.
Wesley: Sir, the shields are back down.
Williams: Phaser banks are down.
Wesley: Shields are back up.
Troi: In another time and place this could be funny.
Riker: Status of torpedo banks?
Williams: They're down, too.
Riker: In case it should become necessary to fight, could you arrange to find me some rocks to throw at them?
Williams: Sir, the Romulan torpedoes are continuing to arm and disarm.
Riker: Maybe its attempt to fire was unintentional. Open hailing frequencies.
Williams: Open.
Riker: Romulan vessel, this is Commander William Riker, First Officer of the USS Enterprise. Why did you attempt to fire on us?
Taris: This is Sub-Commander Taris of the Haakona. Why have you penetrated deeper into the Neutral Zone?
Riker: Why are you still here?
Taris: I have claimed this planet for the Romulan Empire.
Riker: This is the Neutral Zone. Nobody can claim anything.
Taris: You will withdraw or I will be forced to destroy your ship and your away team.
Riker: What the hell?
Taris: This is your final warning, I will not
Riker: Having a little trouble with your systems, Commander? Maybe we could consider postponing the war until we solve our more immediate problem?
Taris: You're stalling for time.
Wesley: Sir, another probe launched from the planet, heading toward the Romulans.
Riker: Have we got our phasers back?
Williams: No, sir.
Riker: Taris, if you've got phaser capability, prepare use them now!
Taris: What?
Riker: Destroy that probe!
Riker: And not even a thank you.
Troi: Sub-Commander Taris is deeply frustrated, probably because her ship is as crippled as the Enterprise.
Wesley: Why would the Romulans be experiencing problems? They weren't probed.
Riker: They must have tapped into the Yamato log. Taris got a whole lot more than she bargained for. Maintain Red Alert. Try to keep those shields up in case Taris decides to act on her threat.
Wesley: Commander, what about the away team? With the shields up, we can't beam them back.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. While there is little left on the surface of Iconia, we have found what appears to be a control center which seems to have remained intact.
Worf: Come in, Enterprise. Still no response, sir.
Picard: Keep trying them. Communications are bound to be erratic.
Worf: I would not like to become a permanent resident of this planet.
Picard: Nor would I, Mister Worf.
Data: Scanners show no other life forms on the planet, sir.
Picard: I would not expect any. Judging from the severity of bombardment, I doubt any Iconians survived. Well, Mister Data, let's see what sense we can make of this.
Data: Aye, sir.
Picard: This is very reminiscent of Dinasian.
Data: Yes, sir. There are also similarities to Dewan and Iccobar.
Picard: Is it possible that they could be branches of the same language family, beginning with Iconian?
Data: It is, sir.
Picard: Run a comparison using basic simple words from Dinasian, Dewan and Iccobar. See if we can reconstruct a common root language.
Data: Accessing, sir.
Riker: You're jumpy.
Troi: The tension on the ship is very high.
Riker: What's your recommendation?
Troi: Give everyone something to do, somewhere to focus their attention.
Riker: All right. Let's consider evacuation.
Troi: To the planet?
Riker: I know it's probably impossible with Taris sitting out there, but it would give everyone something to do. You go and organize it.
Troi: But you might need me if you have to negotiate with Taris again.
Riker: I'll manage. Right now, they're more important.
Data: Captain, your original hypothesis is correct. Iconian is the parent tongue of a language family which consists of Iccobar, Dewan and Dinasian. I have constructed a basic working understanding through a comparison of common root words such as mother, father, child, home, tribe, food, life, death, yours, ours, mine
Picard: Data, Data, Data.
Data: You do understand, sir, that my interpretation of the symbols will not be exact?
Picard: Yes. Let's get on with it.
Data: This would appear to be manual override.
Data: That was not manual override.
Picard: Demons of Air and Darkness, indeed.
Worf: What is that?
Picard: A gateway?
Worf: These scenes could be holographic images.
Picard: Be careful.
Picard: Data! That was very foolish.
Data: But we have established that this is not a holograph. If I step through and investigate, we could determine whether it is truly a gateway.
Picard: No, Data. You might not be able to get back, and I can't risk losing you.
Worf: If it is not illusion, this gate would seem to take us beyond the confines of this planet.
Picard: Is this how the Iconians traveled? Crossing light years as easily as we would cross a room? Those places could be on worlds in distant sectors of the galaxy. I think the Iconians might have out-foxed their enemies. Maybe they didn't all die in the bombardment. Some of them could have passed through this. This is what Varley feared. This is what he died for.
Worf: Sir?
Picard: The Romulans could use this technology as a weapon.
Worf: Like the Iconians did.
Data: No, I disagree. Captain, there is nothing in this room to indicate it was used as a military command center. Perhaps a transporter room?
Worf: But the probe was hostile.
Picard: We can't make that assumption. The effect on the Yamato was devastating, but what if it was by accident, not by design. What I'm going to say may sound unscientific, but standing on this soil, breathing in this air, my instincts tell me that we may have got them wrong.
Worf: But we do know that the Iconians were conquerors.
Picard: But that knowledge was passed down by the descendants of those who attacked this world. The victors invariably write the history to their own advantage. There is an unfortunate tendency in many cultures to fear what they do not understand. It's possible that their enemies, confronted with this technology, were driven to attack the Iconians out of fear.
Worf: Sir!
Worf: Was that really the Enterprise?
Picard: I believe that it was. Gentlemen, we have a way home.
Data: Captain, there is a vast underground power source which is controlled by this console. I believe my triggering of the gateway has caused a dramatic upsurge in power level. Ah, I have access.
Picard: Data, can you hear me? Data, respond.
Data: Captain.
Worf: Are you all right?
Data: No, I am damaged.
Picard: How bad is it?
Data: The Iconian program is attempting to rewrite my software. Physical manifestations, blindness, motor con
Worf: Sir, without him we have no hope of deciphering the program. Captain, the Enterprise again.
Picard: How long is the interval?
Worf: About four minutes, if the cycle holds.
Picard: The next time the Enterprise appears, go through it with Data. Geordi will be able to learn from him. Maybe help him.
Worf: Sir, we have not yet established that that is truly a gateway.
Picard: This will be the test.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Picard: Destroy the tricorder.
Worf: Sir, it contains everything we've discovered up to this point.
Picard: And that is precisely why it must be destroyed. How long?
Worf: About three minutes.
Picard: I'm running out of time. We all are. Data. Data, I have to destroy this. This control room and its technology must not be allowed to fall into Romulan hands.
Data: I understand, sir.
Picard: How! How do I do it? How do I destroy everything? The control room, the probes, all of it.
Data: The power source, sir.
Picard: I detonate it. But how? How do I do that?
Data: The probes, sir.
Picard: Probes? The probes. Launch? I launch the probes? But why? What's good will that do?
Data: The doors, sir.
Picard: Doors?
Worf: Perhaps the probes are in a launch bay.
Picard: And if the doors are closed, then the backwash from the rockets will spill into the power grids and there'll be an overload.
Data: Yes, sir.
Picard: But the doors will open automatically when the launch begins. And I will override.
Data: Correct, sir.
Picard: Which control keys? Damn. Of course, you can't see.
Data: Help.
Picard: Worf, help him up.
Data: Describe, please.
Picard: I'm standing directly in front of the gate. To my left there is a small triangular screen.
Data: Right one meter.
Picard: Right. Now, to my right is a larger triangular screen. The top is solid amber. To the left, red.
Data: Correct. Key blue, amber, amber, red.
Picard: That's the launch sequence? How do I override the doors?
Data: Blue, blue, blue.
Picard: I hope that's not a stutter. I don't know how long a delay there will be between the launch and the detonation. I'll hold keying the launch sequence until you're through the gate. How long until the Enterprise reappears?
Worf: Almost time. Captain, you will be killed.
Picard: I'll go through the gate.
Worf: But where will you end up?
Picard: Very shortly, anywhere will be preferable to this room. Mister Worf, I am depending on you. You must get Data back to the Enterprise. He may be their only hope.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Crewman: Commander! Look!
Riker: Worf! What happened? Where's the Captain?
Worf: We must take Data to Engineering. Hopefully the Captain will follow.
Laforge: I don't know how to help him. But comparing recorded norms for Data to the current readings, it's clear that all his functions are just going crazy. If we had an expert, a Maddox, somebody, I
Laforge: He's gone.
Computer: Kandar qui. Kandar pro. Kandar kija. Kandar sis. Kandar exen.
Laforge: Data!
Riker: What the hell?
Data: I am accessing.
Laforge: The self-correcting mechanism.
Data: Captain? Captain?
Laforge: It's constantly kicking in to make minute adjustments in the positronic brain.
Data: I am on the Enterprise. How did I get here?
Riker: He cleared the Iconian program from his own system. How?
Data: Iconia? I was on Iconia, now I am on the Enterprise.
Riker: Geordi, this is critical. How?
Laforge: Okay, give me a second to think. There was an incompatible program running through Data's system, so the mechanism started searching for a way to keep him alive. The solution. The solution was a shutdown and a total wipe of all affected memory.
Data: Query. What have I forgotten?
Riker: Can you do the same thing with the Enterprise?
Laforge: I don't see why not, but it will have to be a complete shutdown. We turn her off, and effect a wipe of the Yamato log including every subsequent event since we downloaded it. I'll then be able to reload all the ship's programs from the protected archives in the main core.
Riker: Geordi, if we shut down that means we're going to be bringing down the shields, and we're hanging nose to nose with a Romulan battle cruiser.
Laforge: Hey, Commander, whether it's Romulan phasers or our own warp engines, we're just as dead.
Riker: Make it so.
Data: May I help?
Computer: Kandar nien, kandar cobar,
Computer: Kandar konyen.
O'Brien: All systems functioning.
Riker: Lock on the Captain, bring him back.
O'Brien: Scanning, sir. Got him.
Computer: Kandar jet, kandar se, kandar tor, kandar eir, kandar
O'Brien: I've lost him!
Riker: Damn it!
O'Brien: Got him, sir. He's on the Romulan ship.
Riker: How the hell?
Taris: Go to your stations. You did this. You sabotaged my ship.
Picard: Oh, no.
Taris: I cannot deactivate the auto-destruct, but at least I have the satisfaction that you will die with us.
Picard: Not, I think, today, Commander.
Picard: Bridge, Picard.
Data: Yes, Captain.
Picard: Take us out of here. The Romulan ship is set to auto-destruct and they can't deactivate it.
Riker: Wait, sir. Open hailing frequencies.
O'Brien: Open, sir.
Riker: Commander Taris, prepare to receive a transmission from our Chief Engineer. He'll instruct you how to purge your system.
Taris: Agreed, Enterprise. Standing by.
Data: Commander, your transmission has been received
Data: And acknowledged.
Riker: Now, Mister Data, warp speed, please. Just in case Taris's engineer is not as efficient as our Mister La Forge.
Data: Aye, sir.
Picard: Well, Number One, I can see why you want to keep the away missions to yourself. That's where the excitement is. So, what's been happening here? Same old routine, I suppose?


Picard: Captain's log, stardate 42625.4, We're entering orbit around the eighth planet in this previously unmapped Theta One Sixteen solar system. We diverted from our scheduled course when a passing Klingon cruiser reported discovering pieces of a strange vessel in the upper atmosphere of this planet. We have come to investigate.
Laforge: Nasty. Nitrogen, methane, liquid neon. Surface temperature minus two hundred and ninety one degrees Celsius. Winds up to three hundred and twelve meters per second.
Riker: Not exactly a vacation planet, eh?
Laforge: Not unless you like ammonia tornadoes. But I have found indications of debris in an elliptical orbit.
Riker: Keep me informed. The sooner we find out what the Klingons think they saw, the sooner we can get the hell out of here.
Laforge: Sounds good to me. Nasty.
Picard: Come.
Picard: Fermat's last theorem. You're familiar with it?
Riker: Vaguely. I spent too many math classes daydreaming about being on a starship.
Picard: When Pierre de Fermat died they found this equation scrawled in the margin of his notes. X to the nth plus Y to the nth equals Z to the nth, where n is greater than 2, which he said had no solution in whole numbers. But he also added this phrase. Remarkable proof.
Riker: Yeah, that's starting to come back to me. There was no proof included.
Picard: For the eight hundred years people have been trying to solve it.
Riker: Including you.
Picard: I find it stimulating. Also, it puts things in perspective. In our arrogance we feel we are so advanced, and yet we cannot unravel a simple knot tied by a part-time French mathematician working alone, without a computer.
Riker: Captain, we've detected some sort of debris in a loose orbit.
Picard: Can you identify it?
Riker: No, sir. I suggest we beam a section aboard for analysis.
Picard: Make it so, Number One.
Riker: We've locked onto something with markings on it.
Picard: What sort of markings?
Riker: Uncertain. Energize.
Picard: We've got ourselves a puzzle, Number One.
Riker: Yes sir. I think we have.
Data: Analysis bears out that the object was definitely terrestrial in origin, dated mid twenty first century.
Picard: No, no. No Earth ship of that time could have traveled out this far.
Data: Nevertheless, that is what our tests indicate. And the markings we discovered are consistent with this hypothesis.
Troi: Any indication of what destroyed it, Data?
Data: That is even more significant than the object itself, Counselor. On several of its surfaces, the molecules seem to have disintegrated
Riker: Disintegrated? How?
Data: Almost as if they were hit by a weapon from our time.
Picard: Curiouser and curiouser.
Wesley: Captain, we've detected a large structure on the planet.
Wesley: It's a building of some sort, situated on a plain of frozen methane, smack in the middle of a tremendous storm belt.
Riker: I don't believe this. That structure is surrounded by breathable air.
Picard: Is there any connection between that structure and the ship fragment we found?
Laforge: Unknown, sir.
Picard: Suggestions?
Riker: Just one, sir. We could go down there and have a look.
Picard: Breathable air. No life forms that might be dangerous. I think we could risk a minimal away team, Number One.
O'Brien: Give me a moment, gents. We're dealing with an extremely narrow access point.
Riker: Phasers on stun. Ready when you are.
O'Brien: I believe we've got it now. You have a green light, Commander.
Riker: Energize.
Data: Those ammonia storms are less than a kilometer away, yet they do not appear to penetrate this breathable zone.
Riker: It's like the eye of a hurricane.
Worf: Commander, what is that?
Riker: A door.
Data: The structure must be here, yet we cannot see it.
Riker: Enterprise, this is Commander Riker.
Riker: As your read out shows, this is an unusual place.
Riker: Completely calm, no sound, no movement, yet a few hundred meters away a storm is raging.
Picard: Any information about the structure.
Riker: Yes, sir. There is an antique revolving door. It could be an entrance.
Picard: A revolving door? Number One, proceed with caution.
Riker: Yes, sir.
Riker: Well, this is what we came here for. Captain, we're entering.
Picard: Enterprise to away team, come in.
Laforge: We're receiving no signal at all from them, sir.
Picard: Transporter room. lock on to the landing party. Beam them up.
Laforge: We've got nothing to lock on to, sir.
Riker: Riker to Enterprise. We've entered the structure. Riker to Enterprise, come in. Come in, Enterprise.
Wesley: When they went through that antique doorway, the signal just disappeared, sir.
Picard: What's causing the interference?
Laforge: Unknown.
Picard: Are they receiving us?
Laforge: No. We're going to have to recalibrate all the frequencies to find one that'll work.
Picard: Then do it.
Data: Sir, without communication, we should beam up immediately.
Riker: We're here, there's no danger. We'll look around then leave.
Bellboy: Checking in, gentlemen? You'll have to go to the front desk.
Riker: Very good. We'll start with that.
Clerk: Welcome, gentlemen. Have a nice trip?
Riker: Do you know us?
Clerk: We've been expecting you. A trio of foreign gentlemen.
Riker: Yes. We're from the United Federation of Planets.
Clerk: Of course you are. Welcome to the Hotel Royale
Bellboy: Excuse me. Did Rita call?
Clerk: I'm busy.
Bellboy: You're busy? This is my life I'm talking about here. Now did Rita call or not?
Clerk: No, and for your own good you'd better quit thinking about Rita.
Bellboy: I'm not afraid of Mickey D.
Clerk: Then you're a fool. Anybody with any sense is afraid of Mickey D.
Bellboy: If Rita calls, you let me know.
Clerk: Kid's just asking for trouble. Rita's too much for him to handle, and Mickey D's going to plant his face in the pavement. Now, here are your room keys. And some complimentary casino chips. Enjoy.
Worf: What is this place? How did a being like you get here?
Clerk: Why, this is the Royale, of course. And my personal life is really none of your business, thank you.
Riker: What he means is, what planet is this?
Clerk: I beg your pardon?
Riker: This planet. What do you call it?
Clerk: Earth. What do you call it?
Worf: We call it Theta Eight.
Clerk: How charming.
Data: Commander
Riker: Yes, Data?
Data: None of these people are emitting life signs.
Worf: You mean they're not alive?
Riker: Then what are they?
Worf: These beings, are they machines, or mere illusions designed to deceive us?
Data: Not illusion, Lieutenant. They do exist, but they do not register as either man or machine.
Data: Take this creature, for example. He does not exhibit any DNA structure.
Texas: Excuse me, son. Look who's talking. Man, you sound just like my ex-wife. All right. Time to get back to business!
Data: What sort of business do you suppose he is getting down to?
Picard: Status report.
Wesley: We're attempting to employ alternate encoding schemes.
Laforge: There could be hundreds of possible combinations.
Picard: Is there an intelligence causing this interference?
Laforge: That's impossible to tell, Captain.
Picard: It's unlike Commander Riker not to follow procedure. When he lost contact with the Enterprise, he should have returned immediately to the beam down coordinates.
Troi: I don't feel he's in any danger. In fact, if I could choose one word to assess his mood, it would be amused.
Picard: Amused?
Texas: Put some chips there, mister. Yes, sirree! You're new around here, aren't you?
Data: Yes, sir.
Texas: Sit down. I'm going to teach you how this game is played, boy. Go ahead. Ante up.
Vanessa: He wants you to cut the cards.
Data: Ah, is this poker?
Texas: No, no, blackjack.
Data: Blackjack. Accessing. Ah. Also known as twenty one, a number which defines the object of the game. Picture cards are worth ten, aces one or eleven, all other cards face value.
Texas: Boy, you're right. You are right.
Texas: Pretty smooth. Run 'em, boy. Make 'em nice and friendly.
Vanessa: Twenty one, twenty one.
Texas: Don't look at your hand, honey. That gal has got to win. Now, honey, you got fifteen and the dealer's showing ten.
Vanessa: Do I hit, Texas, or do I stand?
Texas: If you've got to win, you've got to hit.
Vanessa: Hit me. Damn!
Texas: Shoot. Hit me. Twenty one, and a winner. Yes, sirree.
Data: Hit me. Another please.
Texas: Do you think you've had about enough?
Data: If the objective of the game is to approach a total of twenty one points, I will definitely need another card.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Texas: Boy, you have got the brass. Do you know what the odds are on a five card charlie? Hell, you're just throwing your money away.
Data: Hit me.
Texas: How'd you? Shut my mouth. Hey, you're not one of them card counting fellas, are you?
Data: The number of the cards and their values remain quite constant. What would be the purpose in counting them?
Vanessa: Yeah.
Riker: Having fun, Data?
Data: Fun, sir? While there is a certain amount of enjoyment involved, I am mainly conducting research into
Riker: Save it. We're getting out of here.
Data: Understood, sir.
Texas: Guys, you're holding up the game.
Riker: Our apologies, sir.
Texas: I'll watch your chips.
Data: Thank you, sir.
Texas: Hey. The hat.
Data: Sorry, sir.
Texas: Deal them up.
Picard: Progress?
Wesley: We've accessed the range of encoding scheme alternates. The difficulty is in the frequency range. The interference is highly variable.
Laforge: See, the problem may be with the envelope covering the structure. There are hydrogen-carbon helix patterns throughout.
Picard: Any transmissions are simply scattered and refracted at random. No wonder you can't get through.
Laforge: Exactly.
Picard: Those are some fairly aggressive computations, Lieutenant.
Laforge: I'm comparing the molecular integrity of that bubble against our phasers.
Picard: Is penetration possible?
Laforge: I don't know just yet. It may be an option. I'd like to run this test.
Picard: Make it so.
Riker: Let's try that again.
Riker: Let's find another way out of here.
Data: Excuse me. Excuse me. Aside from the main door, is there another exit I might use?
Data: Excuse me?
Riker: Excuse me. Say, I was wondering if you could tell me
Riker: There's a good deal of structural integrity, Worf.
Worf: Permission to use phaser, sir.
Riker: Granted.
Data: Sir, I can find no other exits. I believe we are trapped here.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. We remain in orbit around Theta Eight, still out of contact with the away team.
Laforge: We're almost there, Captain. We'll be able to attempt contact in a few minutes.
Troi: Captain, the situation down there has changed.
Picard: In what way?
Troi: Commander Riker has become tense. Closed in, he's feeling trapped.
Worf: Phasers are totally ineffective on all surfaces.
Data: Sir, our options appear quite limited.
Riker: We don't have any. If we're going to get out of here, we're going to have to do it on our own. I'm going to get some answers out of that desk clerk.
Clerk: Are you crazy?
Bellboy: Wrong. I'm finally getting some smarts.
Clerk: You think you're going to scare Mickey D with that gun?
Bellboy: I'm going to make him leave Rita alone.
Clerk: Kid, she's a big girl, and she's Mickey D's girl.
Bellboy: Not any more. Not after tonight.
Clerk: Look, kid. I like you. I don't want to see you get hurt, especially over some dame
Bellboy: Don't call her that. You'll see. You'll see how tough Mickey D is. He's nothing.
Riker: I want some answers.
Clerk: I'm sure the concierge will be delighted
Riker: We would like to get out of here. Now.
Clerk: The Royale's exits are clearly marked.
Riker: That's not good enough.
Clerk: If you have a complaint about the service you've received during your stay here, you can always take it up with the manager.
Riker: Fine. I'd like to see him, immediately.
Clerk: I'm afraid the manager is very busy.
Picard: Riker, can you read me?
Riker: Yes.
Riker: There's a good deal of interference, but you are getting through.
Picard: Number One, why haven't you left that building?
Riker: We tried, sir. It seems like we're trapped here. We're in no immediate danger
Riker: But I am concerned.
Picard: Something about your location is interfering with communication. We are working on the problem.
Riker: Standing by, sir.
Wesley: Captain, these frequencies are unstable.
Picard: Then find others.
Wesley: Yes, sir.
Picard: What is going on down there?
Data: Commander, I am picking up something most unusual in another section of this structure. It appears to be human DNA.
Riker: Where?
Data: Thirty one point nine meters above and to the right of us.
Worf: Perhaps those turbolifts could take us there.
Worf: Seems to be malfunctioning.
Data: The reading I received is from behind this door, sir.
Data: My reading is intensifying, sir.
Riker: Are you getting any life signs?
Data: None, sir.
Data: Definitely human. Male.
Riker: Looks like the poor devil died in his sleep.
Worf: What a terrible way to die.
Data: He has been dead for two hundred and eighty three years, sir. The lack of any advanced decomposition is due to the sterile environment.
Riker: Why would anyone go to all this trouble? It's just window dressing for a dead man.
Worf: Commander.
Data: Is this significant, sir?
Riker: American.
Data: Fifty two stars sir. Places it between 2033 and 2079 AD. It correlates with the debris we found. Colonel S. Richey. Rest in peace, Colonel.
Picard: Picard to Riker.
Riker: Finally. Riker. Go ahead.
Riker: You're coming through clearly now.
Picard: What's your situation?
Riker: This structure was apparently made to resemble twentieth century Earth. All efforts to exit have failed.
Picard: We haven't found a way to transport you back yet.
Riker: I assumed as much, sir. We've also located the remains of a human. Request identity scan. Colonel Richey. American. First initial S. Roughly the same time period.
Picard: Do it.
Worf: Commander. Some curiosities.
Riker: Books. A novel. Hotel Royale? Summarize, please.
Wesley: Information retrieved, Captain
Picard: Number One?
Riker: Go ahead, Captain.
Picard: We have the information you requested. Colonel Stephen Richey was the commanding officer of the explorer ship Charybdis
Picard: Which had a terrestrial launch date of July 23rd, 2037. It was the third manned attempt to travel beyond the confines of the Earth's solar system.
Picard: Its telemetry failed. It was never heard from again. Do you believe that you've discovered the remains of Colonel Richey?
Riker: Yes. And Captain,
Riker: We've found something else. A novel by Todd Matthews, entitled Hotel Royale, which is the name of this structure. Data.
Data: Captain, this is the story of a group of compulsive gamblers caught up in a web of crime, corruption and deceit.
Data: It is told by nefarious lothario Mickey D, who appears only at the climax to carry out the cold-blooded murder of the hotel bellboy.
Data: There is also a subplot about an older man conspiring with a younger woman to murder her husband. She is squandering her inheritance.
Riker: Captain, this novel and everything Data just described
Riker: Seems to be exactly what's happening at this hotel.
Picard: Extraordinary.
Riker: There's also one other thing, a diary with only
Riker: Obviously made by Colonel Richey.
Picard: Can you read it?
Riker: Yes. I write this in the hope that it will someday be read by human eyes. I can only surmise at this point, but apparently our exploratory shuttle was contaminated by an alien life form which infected and killed all personnel except myself.
Riker: I awakened to find myself here in the Royale Hotel, precisely as described in the novel I found in my room.
Riker: And for the last thirty eight years I have survived here. I have come to understand that the alien contaminators created this place for me out of some sense of guilt, presuming that the novel we had on board the shuttle about the Hotel Royale was in fact a guide to our preferred lifestyle and social habits. Obviously, they thought this was the world from which I came.
Riker: I hold no malice toward my benefactors. They could not possibly know the hell they have put me through.
Riker: for it was such a badly written book, filled with endless cliché and shallow characters. I shall welcome death when it comes.
Picard: I understand, Number One. Now we know why all that is there.
Picard: Why can't you get out?
Picard: Number One.
Riker: Yes, sir.
Picard: Lieutenant La Forge has a thought. He believes we can phaser a slice in the field
Picard: Surrounding the structure.
Riker: That means the atmosphere of the planet would instantly rush in.
Data: Our projected survival would be approximately twelve seconds.
Pulaski: Correct. The cryogenic process would be nearly instantaneous.
Riker: But I assume you could revive us?
Pulaski: Yes.
Pulaski: In theory.
Picard: You must understand, Number One
Picard: We'll wait here for months if necessary. We're just considering options.
Riker: If you're trying to motivate us to find
Riker: Our own way out of here, you've succeeded, Captain.
Worf: Yes? There is a female voice asking if we want room service.
Data: I believe she is asking if we want the room cleaned.
Riker: Tell her no.
Worf: No.
Riker: What did she say?
Worf: She said the kitchen will be open twenty four hours if we change our minds.
Riker: We're going to explore the rest of the hotel. We'll keep a comm. line open. You two go down to the lobby and see if there's anything that we've missed. You talk to the guests and try to find out who or what they are. I'll check out the rest of the floors.
Picard: Computer, locate and display the text of the novel entitled Hotel Royale by Todd Matthews.
Computer: Accessing.
Picard: If the cause of the difficulties is in the novel, we may find the solution within its pages. Ah. 'It was a dark and stormy night'. It's not a promising beginning.
Troi: It may get better.
Data: I suggest we separate and blend in with these beings. Casual queries, offered inconspicuously, may prove fruitful.
Vanessa: I need a four. Give me a four.
Texas: Oh, shoot.
Vanessa: How much do I have left here?
Texas: Honey, now you know it's bad luck to count your chips at the table.
Vanessa: Yeah?
Data: Excuse me, sir. Might I inquire, where are you from?
Texas: Lubbock, Texas.
Data: And how did you get here?
Texas: To Vegas? Drove my car. I got a ninety one Caddy with only eighty thousand miles on it.
Data: Where is your automobile now?
Texas: Out front, I suppose. What the hell difference does it make?
Data: Could you take me there?
Vanessa: Hit me. I'm losing my shirt.
Texas: Son, why would I want to do that? Can't you see I'm trying to to help this little lady?
Data: I believe you are trapped inside the Royale, just as I am.
Texas: Sure does seem that way when you're losing, don't it? We're just trying to turn this lady's wagon around, and win back some lost change. Otherwise she's in a desperate situation and she's got nowhere to turn. Well, almost nowhere.
Vanessa: I stay, right?
Texas: I wouldn't.
Data: The odds favor standing pat.
Vanessa: What do I do?
Texas: Do you want a card or what?
Vanessa: Hit me. Too many. I've almost lost it all. What am I going to do?
Texas: There, there, there, there, there.
Riker: What did you find?
Word: Nothing.
Clerk: Rita just called.
Bellboy: She did? What did she say?
Clerk: It was kind of hard to tell. She was crying.
Bellboy: Crying? Damn. Mickey D thinks he can treat people any way he wants. Well, that's all over now.
Mickey D: You were told.
Bellboy: It's not for you to make the call. It's for Rita.
Mickey D: She sent me to tell you.
Clerk: Okay, boys. Look, we can't afford to have any trouble in here. Why don't you just take this outside.
Mickey D: Yeah, I like that. Come on, baggage man.
Mickey D: Let's you and me take it outside.
Bellboy: When I was a kid, I used to look up to you guys. The suit, the fancy shoes. I really thought that made you somebody, but you're nobody. She could make something out of her life
Troi: I don't believe this dialogue. Did humans really talk like that?
Picard: Not in real life. Remember, everything that's going on down there is taken from what Colonel Richey calls a second-rate novel.
Bellboy: Like Rita. She could do something with her life. She could be somebody if she only had the chance.
Troi: With your permission, sir.
Mickey D: She is somebody. She's my girl.
Bellboy: You got her on the stuff. That's the only reason she stays with you. Because you feed her sickness.
Bellboy: You got to let me help her.
Mickey D: Well why don't we just go outside and talk about it?
Clerk: Just watch yourself.
Bellboy: Don't worry.
Riker: It's all part of the novel. Don't interfere.
Mickey D: You should have listened to me, kid. No woman's worth dying for. Killing for, not dying for.
Riker: Riker to Enterprise.
Picard: Yes, Number One.
Riker: A bizarre incident just took place.
Picard: The shoot-out between the bellboy and Mickey D.
Riker: Yes, and Mickey D just walked out the door. How did he do that?
Picard: It's on page 244.
Riker: In the novel. Right. How does it end?
Picard: A bad love affair ends in a bloody shoot-out, the hotel gets bought out, and life goes on, such as it is.
Riker: The hotel gets bought? By whom?
Picard: It isn't specific. It simply refers to foreign investors. Sale price, twelve point five million United States
Picard: They return home, leaving the assistant manager in charge.
Riker: Captain, that's how we're getting out. We're buying this place.
Data: It is all a question of probabilities. Quite simple, really, if one bets with any sequential consistency.
Riker: Elaborate.
Data: The combinations totalling seven or eleven have considerable value when achieved on the primary attempt. With eight variations possible to create those totals, the likelihood of those totals occurring is not significant. However
Riker: Okay, okay. Can you do it?
Data: I believe so, sir.
Texas: Eight's a point. Eighter from Decatur. Candy see the wise. Do it, do it.
Texas: Oh. Snake eyes.
Data: Single digits on each cube are not at all desirable.
Vanessa: You're almost broke.
Texas: Relax, honey. It's only money
Vanessa: Yeah, but if you lose it all, I won't even have a place to sleep.
Texas: Don't worry your little head, honey. I'd never let that happen. Go babe, let's go. Here they come, babe.
Croupier: Seven. You're out.
Texas: You're turn, Slick.
Riker: Go to work.
Texas: Maybe this turkey'll bring us some luck.
Croupier: Six. Six is your number.
Texas: Hell, my blind grandmother can make a six. Come on, boy, roll 'em.
Riker: I thought seven and eleven had value.
Data: Actually, six is a valid point. Of course, now the objective is to roll a duplicate six before hitting seven.
Riker: But the probability of making a six is no greater than that of rolling a seven.
Data: There is a certain degree of random fortune involved. I believe that is why they call it gambling.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Croupier: Seven. Seven away. Next shooter.
Vanessa: So much for your new turkey.
Texas: Give Slick another shot. I got a feeling about you, boy.
Data: Commander, these cubes are improperly balanced. I believe their final resting position would be
Riker: Can you repair them?
Data: I believe so. I will make another attempt.
Data: Baby needs a new pair of shoes.
Texas: Eleven! Attaboy! Do that a few more times and we're all gonna get well!
Croupier: Seven, a winner.
Texas: And another one. Keep going, boy. We got a hot one. Let's go. Let's go.
Riker: Double 'em up. Here we go.
Texas: Keep 'em rolling, boy. Keep rolling. Seven, a winner.
Picard: Status, Number One.
Riker: Rather a nice run of luck, Captain.
Picard: Don't get out of character, Commander.
Riker: Sir?
Picard: The foreign investors in the book are described as flamboyantly generous.
Riker: Yes, sir. I understand.
Texas: Seven, look at that.
Vanessa: Oh, Tex, darlin', you're brilliant!
Texas: Yeah. And I'm good lookin' too, huh?
Worf: Isn't that enough?
Riker: No. Don't want to come up short. You are keeping count?
Data: Yes, sir. Twelve point three million. Perhaps I will bet seven hundred thousand.
Riker: No, bet it all.
Data: But sir, the sale price of this edifice is twelve point five million.
Riker: We need some spreading around money, Data.
Data: Sir?
Riker: Bet it all.
Riker: There you go. A little something for you, Ziggy. A little something for those cocktail waitresses. Why don't you run this outside, give it to the parking lot attendants.
Clerk: You're very kind, sir.
Riker: Here you go, Vanessa. A little something for you, too.
Vanessa: Thank you.
Riker: When the train comes in, everybody rides.
Texas: Yeah, and I'm getting off at this station. After eighteen passes, the air gets a little too thin for this country boy. I'm betting against you, fella.
Vanessa: Are you nuts?
Data: I do not believe that is a prudent choice, sir.
Texas: Hey, that's what horse racing's about. Roll 'em, boy.
Croupier: Seven, a winner.
Clerk: The man has the touch.
Texas: You knew you were going to throw that seven, didn't you? You just let me go down the tube.
Data: I tried to caution you, sir.
Texas: What was it? I mean, was it personal, or what? Because I didn't show you my car?
Riker: Now.
Data: I wish to cash in, sir.
Clerk: I'm afraid you've broken the bank.
Riker: Just take twelve point five million, the purchase price of this hotel. Spread the rest around.
Clerk: You're the foreign investors.
Riker: That's right. We just bought this place, lock, stock, and barrel. Consider it a done deal.
Texas: I like you fellas. You got style. Let me buy you guys a drink.
Riker: Just enjoy the game. Don't let them change the dice on you.
Texas: You got it.
Riker: Enterprise, this is the away team. We're clear of the structure.
Riker: Three to beam up.
Picard: Time to come home now, Number One. Transporter room, we have a fix on the away team. Beam them up.
Picard: Come.
Riker: Sir.
Picard: Welcome back, Number One.
Riker: Very strange experience. Puzzling. I still can't comprehend how Colonel Richey's vessel could have traveled out that far. Not on it's own, at any rate.
Picard: Perhaps they were brought here by whoever created that make-believe world down there. It's possible they didn't know how fragile the humans aboard actually were. Only one of them survived.
Riker: None of it makes any sense.
Picard: Like Fermat's theorem, it's a puzzle we may never solve.