Picard: Captain's log, stardate 45959.1. The Enterprise has been recalled to sector zero zero one on a priority mission. All we've been told is that evidence has been discovered indicating the presence of extraterrestrials on Earth five centuries ago.
Scientist: Work crews were down here installling seismic regulators when they found some remarkable artifacts.
Picard: And it's been determined that they date back to the late nineteenth century?
Scientist: Yes.
Data: The bifocal vision aid is typical of the era. The weapon is a forty five caliber double-action cavalry pistol invented by Colt Firearms in 1873.
Scientist: Here, look inside the watch. .
Picard: What makes you think that extraterrestrials are related to these discoveries.
Scientist: The crew was having a problem with the regulators. Something inside the cavern was interfering with the phase conditioners. It turned out to be the cavern itself.
Data: The composition of the exposed rock face has been altered by exposure to triolic waves.
Scientist: Which you're not going to find on Earth in either the nineteenth or twenty fourth century.
Picard: Triolic waves?
Data: The by-product of an energy source employed by very few species because of its deleterious effect on living tissue.
Scientist: We've confirmed that no one has been in or out of this cavern in centuries, so we're left with a five hundred year old mystery.
Picard: I'm curious, Doctor. There are far greater experts on Earth to investigate your mystery. Why bring the Enterprise all the way home?
Scientist: As we continued our excavation, we found one other thing I haven't shown you yet. We've tried to leave everything as we found it.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 45960.2. We have transported the materials discovered in the cavern back to the ship for analysis. I wish I could be as dispassionate about the implications as my second officer.
Data: Interesting. There is a twelve percent decomposition of the bitanium in the neural pathway links. That suggests the alloys are vulnerable to
Riker: Data, how can you look inside that, analyze the decomposition without
Data: Emotion, sir?
Riker: Yes..
Data: I am simply trying to make an objective assessment.
Picard: Data, is this yours?
Data: I believe so, sir.
Picard: Could it be Lore?
Data: No, sir. My brother's positronic brain has a type L phase diskriminating amplifier. Mine is a type R.
Picard: Type R?
Data: Yes, sir.
Picard: Can you predict how long this has been in the cavern?
Data: Decomposition strongly indicates that life was terminated approximately five hundred years ago. That would be consistent with the other artifacts we recovered.
Riker: Your head is not an artifact.
Data: In relative terms, perhaps not. Nevertheless, it seems clear that my life is to end in the late nineteenth century.
Riker: Not if we can help it.
Data: There is no way anyone can prevent it, sir. At some future date, I will be transported back to nineteenth century Earth, where I will die. It has occurred. It will occur.
Laforge: Well, I can't tell you exactly who the aliens were, but I have found out a few things. The triolicised rock face tells us we're probably dealing with a species with microcentrum cell membranes. Triolic waves wouldn't harm them. It also might mean they're shape shifters of some kind.
Riker: So they could have appeared on Earth as humans.
Laforge: I don't think it's anyone we've run into before. Nothing we found matches up with any known lifeforms. What does match up is a cellular fossil which might have been along just for the ride.
Picard: A cellular fossil?
Laforge: A microscopic ciliated lifeform. Not unlike a thousand other single-celled lifeforms you'd find on any planet surface, except this particular one is LB one zero four four five. And LB one zero four four five is only known to exist on one place. Devidia Two, in the Marrab sector.
Picard: Number One, lay in a course.
Riker: On my way.
Laforge: So, do you want to talk about it?
Data: Are you referring to the foreknowledge of my death?
Laforge: Yeah.
Data: I have no particular desire to discuss the matter. Do you need to talk about it?
Laforge: Yeah.
Data: Why?
Laforge: Data, this has got to bother you a little.
Data: On the contrary. I find it rather comforting.
Laforge: Comforting?
Data: I have often wondered about my own mortality as I have seen others around me age. Until now it has been theoretically possible that I would live an unlimited period of time. And although some might find this attractive, to me it only reinforces the fact that I am artificial.
Laforge: I never knew how tough this must be for you.
Data: Tough? As in difficult?
Laforge: Knowing that you would outlive all your friends.
Data: I expected to make new friends.
Laforge: True.
Data: And then to outlive them as well.
Laforge: Now that you know that you might not?
Data: It provides a sense of completion to my future. In a way, I am not that different from anyone else. I can now look forward to death.
Laforge: I never thought of it that way.
Data: One might also conclude that it brings me one step closer to being human. I am mortal.
Picard: Picard to Bridge officers. We're approaching the Devidia system. Report to your stations.
Laforge: I'll see you later. Let's get together for a game of chess or something, okay?
Guinan: That sounded like a very intense discussion.
Laforge: Yeah. They found Data's head a mile beneath San Francisco. Been down there about five centuries.
Guinan: That's why the Enterprise has been sent back to Earth. I didn't realize.
Laforge: It's something, isn't it? He seems fine about it. Better than I am. Well, I'd better get to Engineering.
Guinan: Full circle.
Troi: I heard about Data.
Riker: Yeah.
Troi: It's having an unusually traumatic effect on everyone.
Riker: Yeah.
Troi: If you don't want to talk about it, it's okay.
Riker: I'm fine. I'm just
Troi: Angry.
Riker: I'm not angry. Yeah, I'm angry. Why should I be angry?
Troi: Maybe because it reminds us of our own mortality.
Riker: I just don't want to believe it.
Troi: Have you ever heard Data define friendship?
Riker: No.
Troi: How did he put it? As I experience certain sensory input patterns, my mental pathways become accustomed to them. The inputs eventually are anticipated and even missed when absent.
Riker: So what's the point?
Troi: He's used to us, and we're used to him. It's like finding out someone you love has a terminal illness and
Riker: Data.
Data: Counselor. Commander.
Data: Would either of you mind if I made a personal inquiry?
Troi: Personal inquiry? No, go right ahead.
Data: I am perceiving an apparent change in the way others behave toward me. For example, people abruptly end conversations when I appear, just as you did when the turbolift doors opened. Is that an accurate observation?
Riker: Not at all.
Troi: Yes.
Riker: Yes.
Troi: You're right, Data. And it's not a very nice thing to do.
Riker: It's just that our mental pathways have become accustomed to your sensory input patterns.
Data: I understand. I am also fond of you, Commander. And you as well, Counselor.
Riker: We're in orbit.
Picard: Any sign of life?
Worf: Negative, sir.
Data: Captain, sensors are picking up an unusual temporal disturbance on a small area of the planet's surface. Forty two degrees seven minutes north by eighty eight degrees declination east.
Riker: Temporal disturbance?
Picard: Put us in a standard orbit above those coordinates.
Data: Spectral analysis shows a high level of triolic waves emanating from the same location.
Riker: Any correlation with the readings from Earth?
Data: Affirmative, sir. The magnetic signature is identical to the one found in the cavern.
Picard: Would these triolic waves be dangerous to humanoids?
Data: Only with long term exposure, sir. There is no immediate threat.
Picard: Take an away team.
Riker: Worf. Geordi. Troi. Join me in transporter room three for an away team.
Data: Commander.
Picard: Mister Data, I'll need your help to monitor the sensor readings during this investigation.
Data: Captain, may I speak to you alone?
Data: Sir, it is standard procedure that the second officer accompany the away team.
Picard: Yes, yes, Mister Data, I am aware of that.
Data: Then I must assume your decision is related to the discovery on Earth of
Picard: I think it is reasonable to take precautions.
Data: Captain, there is no rational justification for this course.
Picard: Then I'll be irrational.
Data: It is possible, sir, that the events leading to my death will not occur for years, even centuries.
Picard: I hope that's true, Mister Data. Nevertheless, this investigation began with your death. I am simply trying to see that it doesn't end that way.
Data: I appreciate your concern, Captain, but, to employ an aphorism, one cannot cheat fate.
Picard: Cheat fate? Perhaps we can't, Mister Data. But at least we can give it a try.
Laforge: The concentration of triolic waves falls off about here. It increases exponentially the closer in we go.
Riker: What's the source? Something underground?
Laforge: Negative, Commander.
Riker: What's the explanation?
Laforge: I don't have one yet. La Forge to Enterprise.
Data: Go ahead.
Laforge: Data, run a spectral field correlation for me. Let's find out if these triolic readings are in any way related
Laforge: To the temporal distortions.
Data: Acknowledged.
Riker: Deanna?
Troi: There's life here. A child. An old woman. Dozens more. Hundreds. Terrified.
Riker: Terrified?
Troi: My God, Will. They're human.
Riker: Whatever they are, Troi's convinced they're human. They may be trapped somehow. We're not sure.
Data: Captain, the results of my temporal analysis may be pertinent.
Picard: Go ahead.
Data: Geordi, it indicates a synchronic distortion in the areas emanating
Data: Triolic waves.
Laforge: That explains a few things. How much, Data?
Data: A positive displacement of point zero zero four percent.
Laforge: Well, whatever or whoever is there, we're out of phase with it, but we're only talking by a fraction of a second.
Worf: A fraction of a second would make them invisible?
Laforge: A millisecond, a year, it wouldn't make any difference. If what we're reading is true, then we're occupying the same space but in a different time.
Riker: How do we compensate?
Data: Commander, we might be able to
Data: Manipulate the synchronic distortion.
Laforge: Maybe. If we were to create a contained subspace force field.
Laforge: But to get a point zero zero four variance, we'd need an incredibly sensitive phase diskriminator, Data. I don't think we've got one that would come close.
Data: Yes, we do.
Data: It is built into my positronic decompiler. It will be necessary for me to join the away team, sir.
Picard: Proceed, Mister Data.
Riker: Mister Data.
Data: Sir.
Laforge: Let me give you a hand with that, Data.
Data: Once I have adjusted the forcefield, I will no longer be visible, Commander. I have taken steps, however, to ensure that you will still be able to hear me. If you would assist me in a test of the comm. system. My voice will be transmitted on a delay correlated to the phase adjustment. That should allow me to maintain verbal contact.
Riker: Will we be able to talk to you?
Data: No, sir. That will not be possible.
Laforge: The subspace field has been established. You're set to go, Data.
Data: Adjusting the synchronic distortion. Point zero zero one. Point zero zero two. Point zero zero three. Point zero zero four.
Data: I have made visual contact. There are lifeforms here.
Data: They're either unaware of me or choosing to ignore me. I am moving approximately ten meters north of my starting position to observe more closely.
Data: They range from two to three meters in height. Silver gray in color. They have four limbs. No eyes or ears are noticeable. There is a single orifice where a humanoid forehead would ordinarily be. They are reclined against the rock face surrounding an apparatus of some sort approximately one point five meters in height.
Data: It is releasing what appear to be energy fragments, which are then ingested by the entities through the orifice. Perhaps some sort of nourishment.
Data: The upper portion of the apparatus seems to be a holding facility for the energy segments. There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of these fragments inside. I have resumed a northerly direction. There is no evidence yet of humans.
Laforge: Okay, that's enough Data. Come on back now,
Data: I have encountered
Data: Another lifeform. An ophidian. It seems to be restricted by a forcefield.
Data: Two of the silver-gray entities are approaching it. They have released the forcefield.
Data: I am reading a temporal distortion of massive proportions. The ophidian is cap time-space continuum.
Data: Caught in the after effect. I am attempting
Troi: Data!
Riker: Over here.
Picard: Commander Riker, report.
Riker: We've lost him.
Data: Excuse me. Pardon me. I am searching for two individuals with an ophidian. A snake.
Man: Frenchman.
Beggar: Could you help out a Forty Niner? I fell down a shaft. I got blown up in a tunnel.
Data: That is unfortunate.
Beggar: It is most unfortunate. I require large amounts of whiskey as a linament.
Data: I am sorry, but I have no whiskey to give you.
Beggar: I'll take a dime.
Data: I am sorry, but I have no form of legal tender.
Beggar: Well, we're in the same boat, huh? Well, this is my street. You'll have to go find one of your own.
Data: I would be happy to do so, but I am presently in need of information.
Beggar: Stockbrokers are cheap as hell. Don't even bother to ask. Your best handout is from a young fella with his lady. You give him a chance to show her he's generous. Steer clear of sailors. Most likely you'll get a fist across the jaw for your trouble.
Data: Thank you for your advice, but I'm trying to find two individuals with a snake.
Beggar: A snake? You're an odd fellow, aren't you? But just don't be too particular where you get your funds from.
Data: You are in need of medical attention. I will get a doctor.
Beggar: No, no, no, it's too late for that. Could you help out a Forty Niner?
Bellboy: Thanks.
Bellboy: Hey, put it on Gentleman Jim. Knockout in the fifth.
Man: All right.
Data: Sir, I need temporary lodging.
Bellboy: Looks like the missus booted you out in the middle of the night.
Data: I understand the source of your misperception. However, this is not sleepware and I do not have a missus.
Bellboy: Well.
Data: I am a Frenchman.
Bellboy: Oh. Well, everybody's from somewhere. That doesn't matter at this hotel. It's six bits a day or four dollars a week.
Data: I have no money.
Bellboy: Well, now, that matters.
Data: But I am capable of performing significant tasks both mental and physical. Perhaps your hotel would offer me a job.
Bellboy: Geez, I don't know. We're pretty happy with the maid we've got. Cook's decent. Dishwasher's drunk all day, but at least he gets here on time. And there's me. I do everything else. Sorry. Lady Luck not with ya, tonight, Mister Lane? Poor fella. Hasn't filled a straight in five weeks.
Data: Poker?
Gambler: Fold.
Man: Me too.
Seaman: Go to blazes.
Gambler: A poker face carved in marble.
Data: Excuse me, gentlemen.
Seaman: What in hell do you want?
Data: I would like to join the game.
Native: Pale face.
Seaman: I don't like Easterners, personally.
Data: I am a Frenchman.
Gambler: Ah. Mes parents sont originaires de Bourgonais. Je suis ne a la New Orleans.
Data: Alors, nous sommes presque frères. Je suis heureux de vous connaitre.
Gambler: Please, sir.
Gambler: The game is poker. The deal is yours. The ante is four bits.
Gambler: Family heirloom?
Data: In a manner of speaking. It is a crystalline composite of silicon, beryllium, Carbon seventy, and
Seaman: Gold.
Data: Gold.
Gambler: I'll give you three bucks for it.
Data: I accept.
Bellboy: Did you see the looks on their faces? I did everything I could not to laugh.
Data: To whom are you referring?
Bellboy: Frederick La Rouque and Joe Falling Hawk. Those guys are card sharks. Oh sure, they play easy at first not to scare off the marks, but you give them a little time, they'll bleed a man dry. Especially an out-of-towner like yourself..
Data: What was the source of your jocular reaction? What was it you found humorous?
Bellboy: Don't you see? They had you pegged for a sap. The clothes you got on, the way you talk, it's like you were born yesterday. You sure fooled them, though.
Data: It was not my intention to deceive.
Bellboy: Have it your way. This is the place. Breakfast is six to eight. Checkout's at noon when you're ready to leave.
Data: Thank you. It has been a pleasure.
Data: It would be advisable to monitor that cough. I have read that there is currently a cholera epidemic in San Francisco.
Bellboy: Never felt better.
Data: Of course. The gratuity. Thank you for your assistance.
Bellboy: A dollar? If there's anything you need. It can get lonely in San Francisco. You might want some company. I can introduce you to Lillian.
Data: I have no need for companionship. However I do require some supplies.
Bellboy: Anything you need. I can get it for you wholesale. I can get it for you less than wholesale if you don't ask me where it came from.
Bellboy: What do you need all this stuff for?
Data: I am an inventor.
Bellboy: No kidding. Well, this stuff's going to take a while. I'll have to go clear cross town. And it's not going to be cheap.
Data: Will this be enough?
Bellboy: More than enough.
Data: You may retain the surplus for yourself.
Bellboy: Keep the change?
Data: Exactly.
Bellboy: Done.
Beggar: Help out a Forty Niner. Fell down a shaft. Forty Niner. Help me. Help me out.
Beggar: No. No.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. Close range sensor analysis has yielded no further trace of Commander Data. Despite the emotional repercussions among my crew, I must move this mission forward.
Riker: I'm not willing to accept that he's dead and just leave it at that.
Picard: We cannot make Mister Data our priority.
Riker: What is more important than Data?
Troi: Look at what we have so far. Evidence that these aliens have been traveling back in time to Earth.
Crusher: What if they're trying to undermine our history for some reason.
Worf: Some kind of guerilla war?
Picard: We must assume that there is a threat, if not to us then to 19th century Earth. We have to determine what that threat may be. Mister La Forge, we have to find some way to communicate with these life forms.
Laforge: It's not going to be easy to reproduce what Data did. We can create a contained subspace field, but we'd need an extraordinarily sensitive phase diskriminator to get that point zero zero four variance.
Picard: Can you build one?
Laforge: It won't be as good as Data's.
Riker: Will it be good enough?
Laforge: I don't know. I can try. It's going to take some time though.
Picard: I don't want anyone else going in alone.
Laforge: I can probably create a large enough subspace field to encompass everyone. But adjusting the phase inside the field, that's going to be the hard part.
Picard: Make it so.
Riker: We have to assume one thing, sir. Wherever Data may be, he's doing the same thing we are, which is trying to get to the bottom of this. He may have a better idea about what's going on than we do, so it might be in the best interests of this mission to find him.
Picard: Perhaps in the course of this investigation, we will. I hope so.
Worf: If we find Commander Data, it may be our fate to die with him in the past. If our remains are in that cavern, they would have turned to dust long ago.
Picard: I'm afraid to interrupt.
Guinan: Captain, you didn't have to come all the way down here. I would've been more than happy to come up to you.
Picard: And miss all this? I haven't seen such a complex operation since the Academy lab final in exochemistry.
Guinan: It's a Tzartak aperitif. It's very, very touchy. The trick is to change the evaporation point of the main ingredient. You want the temperature where the liquid goes to vapor to be a half a degree below the body temperature of the customer. That way, when the liquid touches the tongue, it evaporates, and the flavor is carried entirely by the vapor. A few molecules off, the vapor point crashes, and poof! It's all gone. All of it.
Picard: What is it you wanted to see me about?
Guinan: I hear you're sending an away team down to the surface. Are you going?
Picard: Well, now, this is rather unusual for you to be curious about an away mission.
Guinan: Maybe it's an unusual away mission.
Picard: If you have something to say, I'm listening.
Guinan: Starfleet captains don't usually accompany away teams.
Picard: It's general policy.
Guinan: This time, you have to.
Picard: Why?
Guinan: You just do. Do you remember the first time we met?
Picard: Of course.
Guinan: Don't be so sure. I just mean, if you don't go on this mission, we'll never meet.
Bellboy: Sorry it took so long, Mister Data.
Data: Apology is not necessary.
Data: Ow.
Bellboy: Are you all right?
Data: I believe I have overexerted myself.
Bellboy: Yeah, I'll say. Did you get it working?
Data: Yes.
Bellboy: Whatever it is.
Data: This is for your trouble.
Bellboy: What are you going to do with the anvil?
Data: I require a low intensity magnetic field core. I believe the iron mass of the anvil will provide that.
Bellboy: What's it going to be when it's finished?
Data: What do you think it is going to be?
Bellboy: If I were to guess, maybe a new kind of motor for one of those horseless carriages.
Data: That is a good guess.
Bellboy: Hot damn. You really think there's money in those things?
Data: Perhaps.
Bellboy: Isn't that what makes America great?
Data: To what are you referring?
Bellboy: Well, a man rides into town in his pajamas, wins a grub stake at a poker table, turns it into a horseless carriage and makes a million bucks. That's America.
Data: I believe I have given you an erroneous impression.
Bellboy: You know, some day my ship's going to come in.
Data: You have a ship?
Bellboy: Oh yeah, and it's full of gold too. I'm just biding my time til it gets here, raising a stake any way I can. I've been a newsie, cut fish at a cannery. Heck, I've even been an oyster pirate.
Data: You have had a considerable spectrum of occupations.
Bellboy: Yeah, well, you can't stay in one place too long. I'm always looking for the angle, you know. Say, maybe you and I could go into business together, selling your horseless carriage and all. You invent them, I sell them. I can sell anybody anything. What do you say?
Data: I believe your plan is a bit premature.
Bellboy: Keep it in mind, though. I better get back. Oh, I forgot. I got you something at the bakery on Third.
Data: Thank you, Jack.
Bellboy: Oh, no, no, no. It's on me, partner.
Clemens: The eminent scientist Alfred Russell Wallace has revived the theory that Earth is at the center of the stellar universe. This distinguished natural philosopher has reaffirmed our planet as the only habitable globe in the heavens. A world, furthermore, constructed for the sole benefit of man. He's got a lot of folks excited about the notion.
Guinan: My dear Mister Clemens, why do I think you're not one of them?
Clemens: Your suspicions, Madam Guinan, are undoubtedly based upon your keen observational skills. Now, if you'll permit me, I'll continue my character assassination unimpeded.
Guinan: My dear Mister Clemens, please do. Please do.
Clemens: According to our best geologic estimate, the Earth is approximately one hundred million years of age. Perhaps it is less, perhaps more.
Guinan: Perhaps a great deal more.
Clemens: Indeed. But regardless, it is ancient in the extreme. Now, geology also tells us that man himself has existed for but a microscopic fraction of those years. Curious, isn't it, that the world got by for such a great long while with no humans around to fill up space? I suppose Mister Wallace and his supporters would say that the Earth needed all that time to prepare itself for our illustrious arrival. Why, the oyster alone probably required fifteen million years to get it to come out just right.
Guinan: But if the Earth is not alone, and there are millions of inhabited planets in the heavens.
Clemens: Quite my point. Man becomes a trivial creation, does he not? Lost in the vastness of the cosmic prairie, adrift on the deep ocean of time. A single one among countless others.
Guinan: Someone may argue that a diamond is still a diamond, even if it is one amongst millions. It still shines as brightly.
Clemens: Someone might say that, dear lady, if someone thought that the human race was akin to a precious jewel. But this increasingly hypothetical someone would not be me.
Doorman: Good afternoon, sir.
Data: Good afternoon. I would like to speak to Guinan.
Doorman: And you are?
Data: Data.
Doorman: Mister Data. Could it be under another name?
Data: No.
Doorman: I can't seem to find your name on the guest list, sir.
Data: I am a personal friend.
Doorman: Madam Guinan has discovered many personal friends since the newspaper announcement, but if your name is not on the guest list, there's nothing I can do.
Data: It is urgent that I speak to her.
Doorman: Sir, unless you leave this house immediately, I will send for the police.
Data: That is an excellent idea. I will wait for them in there.
Doorman: Sir, please, you can't go in there.
Data: Guinan! Excuse me. I must speak to you immediately.
Doorman: Forgive me, madam. He just barged right in.
Data: I am sorry for the disruption, but he would not believe me when I told him we were friends.
Guinan: Do I know you, Mister?
Data: Data. Yes. We were on a ship together.
Guinan: I do so much traveling. What ship would that be?
Data: The Enterprise.
Guinan: Is that a clipper ship?
Data: It is a starship.
Clemens: A starship? What registry would that be?
Guinan: Of course! Mister Data. Excuse us. We have so much to catch up on. Excuse us. How are you?
Guinan: What exactly are you?
Data: Android. Artificial life form.
Guinan: Ah. Did my father send you here? Because if he did, you must go back and tell him I've not done listening
Data: I was not sent by your father. Circumstances demand that I take you into my confidence. I require your assistance.
Guinan: Sorry.
Data: I am from the twenty fourth century, where you and I serve aboard a starship.
Guinan: And?
Data: Our ship encountered a species who appears to be threatening 19th century Earth. I investigated, and was inadvertently pulled into their temporal vortex. When I saw your photograph in the newspaper, I assumed you had joined me from the future, from the Enterprise. I knew your species was long-lived, but I did not realize you had visited Earth so long ago.
Clemens: Eavesdropping is by no means a proper activity for a gentleman. Nonetheless, the deed is done.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 45965.3. An away team has beamed to the surface with a device which may enable them to phase-shift into the alien world.
Laforge: Okay, Counselor, right over there.
Crusher: The triolic waves end right here.
Riker: Mister Worf?
Laforge: Sir.
Picard: How soon will you be ready?
Laforge: We're ready now, Captain. The subspace field is established.
Riker: I'd be more comfortable if you'd monitor our progress from the Bridge, Captain.
Picard: I have reason to believe that my presence on this mission is imperative.
Riker: Imperative?
Picard: Yes. Mister Worf, you will report back to the Bridge.
Worf: Sir, as Chief of Security, my place is at your side.
Picard: The security of the Enterprise is of paramount importance, Mister Worf.
Worf: Yes, sir. Worf to Enterprise.
Crewman: Go ahead.
Worf: Beam me up.
Picard: Proceed, Mister La Forge.
Laforge: I've modified this tricorder to interface with the subspace generator. It should allow me to control the phase diskrimination, assuming this is going to work at all. I need everyone within the field. Adjusting synchronic distortion. Point zero zero one. Point zero zero two. Point zero zero three. Point zero zero four.
Picard: If we can see them, why they can't see us?
Laforge: The phase displacement might not bring us far enough into their perceptual range.
Crusher: These strands appear to be biomagnetic. Variable flux. Possibly organic in origin.
Picard: A life form.
Troi: No. There is no life here. What I have sensed is more like an imprint. An echo of the last moment of life. Human life. They all died in terror
Riker: My God. They're delivering more of them for the others to ingest.
Troi: Look at what he's carrying. To Be Continued...


Laforge: They found Data's head a mile beneath San Francisco. Been down there about five centuries.
Data: At some future date I will be transported back to nineteenth century Earth, where I will die. It has occurred. It will occur.
Guinan: Do I know you, Mister?
Data: Data. Yes. We were on a ship together. The Enterprise.
Guinan: Is that a clipper ship?
Data: It is a starship.
Clemens: Starship?
Riker: My God. They're delivering more of them for the others to ingest.
Guinan: Did my father send you here? Because if he did, you must go back and tell him I'm not done listening to
Data: I was not sent by your father. Our ship encountered a species who appears to be threatening nineteenth century Earth.
Riker: I'm not willing to accept that he's dead and just leave it at that.
Picard: We cannot make Mister Data our priority.
Riker: What is more important than Data?
Guinan: Do you remember the first time we met?
Picard: Of course.
Guinan: Don't be so sure. If you don't go on this mission, we'll never meet. And now, the conclusion.
Clemens: I have long been interested in the notion of time travelers. In fact, I wrote a book about it. It chronicles the tale of a man of our era who fouled the sixth century by introducing newfangled gadgets and weapons all in the name of progress. This idea of time travel is not so far fetched as it might seem. In fact, I have learned that, even now, there are people from the future right here in San Francisco and I have no doubt that their intent is to foul our world just as my Yankee did in King Arthur's time. Well, sir, let me serve notice. As soon as I have the necessary evidence, I intend to expose them and make it absolutely clear that they are not welcome here.
Reporter: Yes, sir. And will this be a sequel to Connecticut Yankee, Mister Twain?
Clemens: The name's Clemens, son. Sam Clemens. That's with an e.
Reporter: With an e. Got it.
Clemens: Excuse me.
Riker: The coroner said this is where they kept all the cholera victims.
Crusher: It doesn't make sense that so many people are dying of cholera. It just isn't that virulent. Will, this is strange.
Riker: What is it?
Crusher: The cerebellum, the cerebral cortex, the brain stem, the entire nervous system has been depleted of electrochemical energy. Here's another one. Same neural depletion. These people did not die of cholera. They died because their neural energy was drained somehow.
Riker: Drained and taken to Devidia Two for those aliens to ingest? If you were a time traveler with a taste for human neural energy where would you get your supply?
Crusher: I would travel back to a time when there were plagues and epidemics, so I could murder and use disease as a cover.
Crusher: Over half the victims whose neural energy had been drained came from the Sisters of Hope Infirmary.
Riker: A charity hospital near the waterfront.
Troi: If the aliens have been killing people there, well, someone might have noticed something unusual.
Picard: And if they're moving among humans, they must have taken on human form. But the question is, how do we know who we're looking for?
Riker: The tricorder indicated triolic activity from most of the bodies we looked at. If the aliens left that sort of signature, they'll be detectable.
Laforge: You know, we might even be able to rig some kind of alien alarm system.
Riker: Any luck contacting Data?
Laforge: None. The tricorder's broadcasting random emissions on all frequencies his sub-processors might pick up, but the range is limited. Almost anything could interfere.
Laforge: She's back.
Carmichael: Mister Pikerd!
Picard: Yes, Mrs. Carmichael.
Carmichael: Mister Pikerd. I'll be reminding you that it's one o'clock.
Picard: Yes.
Carmichael: One o'clock on a Thursday. I'm sure I made it clear to you that the rent is always due, payable in full, by one o'clock on Wednesdays.
Picard: Ah, yes, er, the rent. Mrs. Carmichael, even now my troupe are in rehearsals for a new production.
Carmichael: Oh? I haven't heard of any new production. What play is it?
Picard: The play? A Midsummer Night's Dream. We have performed in London, Paris, Milan. Milan. To sold out houses. I assure you, you will have the rent, in full, with a bonus.
Carmichael: Oh, no, no, no, no. I've heard you silver-tongued devils before. I'll have the rent in full tomorrow by one o'clock or you'll be out performing on the street.
Bellboy: I wouldn't do this for just anybody, Mister Clemens. And I hope you won't spread it around that I let you in. People start talking.
Clemens: Of course not, Jack. And I assure you that Mister Data would be most upset if you didn't. If I can't find that Letter of Intent that he left me, our major investor is going to pull out and take his business elsewhere.
Bellboy: It has to do with Mister Data's engine, doesn't it?
Clemens: Engine?
Bellboy: Yes.
Clemens: Oh, yes. Yes, this is exactly what it's all about. Ow!
Bellboy: You know, Mister Clemens, I'm going to do you another favor today. You're always looking for good stories, right? Well, I've got a real humdinger for you. The story of my life. Now, I know you may think I'm young, but I've covered a lot of ground and if I do say so myself, it'd make for some pretty fascinating reading. So, what do you think?
Clemens: About what?
Bellboy: About writing my life story. You and me. Literary partners, of course.
Clemens: Young man, I have a maxim that I have always lived by. No one is more qualified to write your story than you are.
Bellboy: Me? Be a writer? You think I could do that?
Clemens: As long as you write what you know. You got any passions, boy? Any dreams?
Bellboy: I'd like to do some traveling, maybe go to sea. And Alaska. I've had the strangest notion to go see Alaska.
Clemens: That's a great idea, son. That's exactly what I would do if I were your age. Alaska, the Klondike, the Aurora Borealis. That's it. Follow your dreams and write about 'em.
Bellboy: Thank you, Mister Clemens. You know, that is exactly what I'm going to do.
Clemens: You do that, son.
Bellboy: You'll see my name in print, too.
Clemens: I'm sure I will.
Bellboy: Don't forget. The name's London. Jack London.
Clemens: Goodbye now. Bye-bye.
Guinan: I found the Head Surveyor, I found the cavern. You will not be able to get to it. The entrance is on a mine shaft that is the middle of the Presidio on an army base.
Data: Perhaps you could arrange for us to get in.
Guinan: How?
Data: With permission to dig for the mine shaft.
Guinan: Oh, no, Data. I've done everything you've asked
Data: I have full confidence in your persuasive abilities.
Guinan: Well, I suppose it's more interesting than throwing a tea dance.
Data: Strange. The transceiver assembly has been removed. Without it I will be unable to track the time shifts.
Guinan: Twain.
Data: Clemens?
Guinan: Yes. He's been driving me crazy. He watches the house, he follows me down the street asking me questions. If anyone took this you can believe it was him.
Data: If you are correct, he must be warned. The device has been modified in such a way that prolonged contact with human tissue would be highly toxic.
Clemens: Madame Guinan. Mister Data.
Guinan: Shame on you, Mister Clemens. Shame.
Clemens: Shame, madam? I think not. I find no shame in my efforts to uncover your plot.
Guinan: I keep telling you, there is no plot.
Clemens: Yes, you do keep telling me that. What an interesting pair you are. Where in Switzerland did you say you were from, Mister Data?
Data: I am French, sir, not Swiss.
Clemens: Oh yes, that's right, now I remember. A Frenchman with a talent for poker, from what I hear. You know, I was talking to a friend of mine, Ches Whitley. He says to say hello and wonders when you're coming back.
Data: I do not believe I know Mister Whitley.
Clemens: No? He works at the County Assayer's office. He says you've been in there a number of times claiming to be a geological engineer and wanting information about mining operations during the 1850's. You remember him now?
Data: I am unfamiliar with the gentleman's name. I have spoken to several people at that office.
Clemens: Yes, I know. And in the Hall of Records, and in the Geological Society, and a little-known mineral shop in Chinatown. You do get around, don't you?
Data: As apparently you do, Mister Clemens.
Clemens: I must admit you've got me mystified. This contraption, for instance. It's very unusual. It looks quite futuristic. Tell me, might it have something to do with time shifts?
Data: In a sense. The time shift is a gearing system I have invented for the horseless carriage.
Clemens: Do not insult me. You have come here to this century and brought your infernal technology with you for God only knows what purpose, but I have no doubt it will be the people of this century who will suffer for it.
Guinan: My dear Mister Clemens, I do think we've heard enough. Mister Data's business is his own, and I will thank you to leave now.
Clemens: Pardon me, Madam Guinan, but it is my business too. It is the business of all humanity, I believe, to stop both of you from whatever it is you are doing here. And that is what I intend to do.
Doctor: Just what are you doing with those lamps?
Picard: Replacing the burners. City ordinance. Makes it safer in case of earthquake.
Doctor: There hasn't been an earthquake here in thirty years.
Picard: Well, that's takes care of this ward. Time to be moving on.
Doctor: Earthquakes. Nurse. If you can handle things here, I've got a meeting with the Board of Patrons.
Crusher: I'll try to manage.
Laforge: There, by that bed. I can see an afterimage of triolic waves. They've been here recently. I'd say within the last twenty four hours.
Crusher: That's the bed where the man died last night.
Troi: This man was complaining about a strange doctor and nurse who visited that patient. Perhaps they're still in the hospital.
Crusher: Here. This'll make you more comfortable.
Crusher: Do you need any help, Doctor? Doctor Apollinaire felt he had entered the algid stage. He was cyanotic, pulse unobservable. That's an interesting cane.
Laforge: Doctor!
Policeman: Stand aside, stand aside. Let me in here. People said there was gunfire in here. What's going on?
Riker: Just a little misunderstanding. I was just clearing these people out of here.
Policeman: I haven't seen you before.
Riker: I was just assigned here this morning. I was working downtown.
Policeman: I worked downtown for three years. I don't remember you.
Picard: We'll be on our way.
Policeman: No, wait. Wait. I'm going to ask all of you to come down to the station for questioning. Including you. Where'd you get that? That's a gentleman's cane. Never seen a cane like this before. I'll have to confiscate it for evidence.
Riker: I just want you to know that I have the utmost respect for the law.
Picard: Let's go.
Riker: Data!
Laforge: Boy, are we glad to see you.
Data: I suggest we postpone our greetings for another occasion.
Picard: Agreed. Get us out of here.
Laforge: If we tune a phaser to the approximate frequency of triolic waves and lay down a field burst, it might respond.
Troi: The ophidian the aliens were carrying.
Riker: What the?
Laforge: These look like minute distortions in the space-time continuum, like the one we saw on Devidia Two.
Riker: They were so small, and they lasted only a second.
Data: The aliens appear to be able to concentrate the distortion and direct it to a specific time and place.
Crusher: Maybe they have something, a mechanism that focuses it.
Laforge: Any device like that would produce significant levels of triolic waves. Like the ones in the cavern where Data's head was found.
Data: I have located that cavern.
Carmichael: Mister Pikerd! I know you're in there. Open the door!
Troi: Mrs. Carmichael.
Data: How now, spirit. Whither wander you?
Crusher: Over hill, over dale, thorough bush, thorough brier,
Troi: Mrs. Carmichael, thank goodness you're here.
Picard: We need someone to read a part. You're just in time.
Carmichael: Mister Picard, I need to be talking to you.
Crusher: My mistress would that he be gone.
Riker: Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.
Picard: Now, Mrs. Carmichael Right there.
Riker: Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.
Carmichael: What, jealous Oberon. Fairies skip hence. I have foresworn his bed and company.
Picard: Well, I don't think I need to hear any more. That was truly unique.
Carmichael: Really?
Picard: Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have found our Titania. Don't you agree?
Carmichael: Well, I did do a church play when I was a lass.
Picard: Well, there you are. We start rehearsals tomorrow.
Guinan: You're back. I have wonderful news. I've found a way to get into the Presidio and into the mine shaft.
Data: It is all right.
Guinan: Do you know me?
Picard: Very well.
Guinan: Do I know you?
Picard: Not yet. But you will.
Reporter: Thanks for your help, officer.
Policeman: Now, be sure you put in the part about me spotting that phony policeman.
Reporter: Yes, sir.
Clemens: Hello, son.
Reporter: Mister Clemens. What brings you here?
Clemens: Writer's curiosity. I heard that two people vanished into thin air in this Infirmary.
Reporter: One of the patients said that, yes, sir, but the police deny it.
Clemens: I bet they do.
Reporter: They say a band of outlaws set off an explosion in the hospital and then escaped.
Clemens: Well, what did these outlaws look like?
Reporter: The carriage they escaped in was driven by an albino.
Clemens: Oh. Mister Data.
Reporter: You know him?
Clemens: You bet I do. You say there were others with him?
Reporter: Yes, at least a dozen.
Clemens: His accomplices. They've come from the future. My God, it's an invasion.
Reporter: An invasion from the future? Mister Clemens, what can you tell me about this? Do you have any proof?
Clemens: When's your deadline, boy?
Reporter: Five o'clock, sir.
Clemens: I'll meet you at your paper at four thirty with a story that will make your career.
Reporter: Thanks, Mister Clemens
Clemens: Take me to the Presidio, driver, and don't spare the whip.
Riker: The triolic levels are as high as they were on Devidia Two. There's no indication of a control mechanism.
Laforge: I'm not so sure. My visor is picking up crystalline fractures. These cavern walls have undergone some kind of selective molecular polarization. In fact, if I'm right this whole cavern has been configured to focus the space-time distortion. Just like a lens. Captain, we think we might be on to something. The cavern itself seems to be acting as a focusing mechanism. I'm willing to bet it's the same at their habitat back on Devidia Two.
Picard: If we can get back there and destroy that site, it might put an end to their time traveling.
Riker: We have the ophidian.
Laforge: Truthfully, I don't know that we can get back. The aliens use triolic energy as a power source. The energy our phasers generates might not be entirely compatible.
Picard: We have no choice but to try.
Clemens: An event I would most certainly enjoy witnessing. However, I will regretfully waive that opportunity for the privilege of taking you all in to the authorities.
Data: Mister Clemens, it is imperative that we continue our mission.
Clemens: Mister Data, I have listened to your stories and your excuses and your evasions, and I will listen no longer. It is my moral duty to protect mankind from whatever devious plan you have in mind. Now, move along. I suspect that even time travelers are vulnerable to the Colt forty five. Now, let's go. I made a young fellow a promise and I don't want to be late.
Picard: Follow him!
Riker: Is everybody all right?
Crusher: I think so.
Riker: You!
Clemens: Where are we? And when?
Riker: This is the twenty fourth century, we're on Devidia Two, and you're not supposed to be here.
Clemens: Well it seems to me I have as much right to be in your time as you had to be in mine. I wanted to see how you've conducted my future affairs.
Troi: Your future affairs?
Clemens: The affairs of mankind.
Riker: But the disappearance of Mark Twain, one of the most noted literary figures of the nineteenth century
Clemens: Thank you.
Riker: That's not supposed to happen.
Clemens: I only took advantage of an irresistible opportunity, as any good writer would.
Worf: Bridge to Away team. Acknowledge.
Riker: We're here, Mister Worf. Stand by to transport five.
Laforge: Commander.
Riker: Mister Worf?
Worf: Yes, Commander.
Riker: Make that six to transport.
Clemens: Where are we now?
Riker: The Federation Starship Enterprise. Ensign, call security. I want an escort for this man.
Clemens: Security? What for? Are you afraid I'm going to go around stealing things?
Clemens: A werewolf!
Riker: It's a long story, Mister Worf. I'll brief you later.
Laforge: Let's have Data's body taken to the science lab. I'll try and re-attach the head we have.
Crusher: Geordi, that head is over five hundred years old.
Laforge: Yeah, but it's the best chance we've got.
Riker: I want Mister Clemens kept under escort at all times.
Troi: Commander, perhaps I could handle that. I'd be happy to take Mister Clemens to his quarters.
Riker: Good idea. If you would accompany the Counselor.
Clemens: Madam, I'd be delighted. So, this is a space ship? You ever run into Halley's comet?
Picard: Gently. Don't sit up too quickly.
Guinan: Where'd everybody go?
Picard: I hope they're all safely back on the Enterprise by now.
Guinan: But you're still here.
Picard: You were hurt. I had to make sure you were all right.
Guinan: And so you stayed for that?
Picard: I didn't want anything to happen to you. You're far too important to me.
Guinan: You know an awful lot about me.
Picard: Believe me, in the future the tables will be turned.
Guinan: So we become friends?
Picard: It goes far beyond friendship.
Guinan: Oh, but I'll have to wait almost five hundred years, and when we meet I won't be able to tell you about this, will I?
Picard: No. Because for me, none of this will have happened yet.
Guinan: What's that?
Picard: That's history fulfillling itself.
Guinan: History has to fulfilll itself. Even Picard knew that.
Riker: You were there in the cavern. You know what happened. What am I supposed to do?
Guinan: If I told you what happened in that cavern, it would affect any decision you'd make now. I can't do that. I won't.
Riker: Not telling me might affect my decision. Did you think of that? We're talking about Jean-Luc Picard. I can't sit around and hope it all works out. I've got to do something.
Clemens: Any place that doesn't stock a good cigar doesn't rank high in my book.
Troi: If you must have one, I'm sure we can replicate it for you.
Clemens: You think one of these imitations can take the place of a hand wrapped Havana?
Troi: I wouldn't know.
Clemens: Well, that's the problem I see here. All this technology it only serves to take away life's simple pleasures. You don't even let a man open the door for a lady.
Troi: I think what we've gained far outweighs anything that might have been lost.
Clemens: Oh? Well, I'm not so impressed with this future. Huge starships, and weapons that can no doubt destroy entire cities, and military conquest as a way of life?
Troi: Is that what you see here?
Clemens: Well, I know what you say, that this is a vessel of exploration and that your mission is to discover new worlds.
Clemens: That's what the Spanish said.
Troi: Deck thirty six.
Clemens: And the Dutch and the Portuguese. It's what all conquerors say. I'm sure that's what you told that blue-skinned fellow I just saw, before you brought him here to serve you.
Troi: He's one of the thousands of species that we've encountered. We live in a peaceful Federation with most of them. The people you see are here by choice.
Clemens: So there're a privileged few who serve on these ships, living in luxury and wanting for nothing. But what about everyone else? What about the poor? You ignore them.
Troi: Poverty was eliminated on Earth a long time ago, and a lot of other things disappeared with it. Hopelessness, despair, cruelty.
Clemens: Young lady, I come from a time when men achieve power and wealth by standing on the backs of the poor, where prejudice and intolerance are commonplace and power is an end unto itself. And you're telling me that isn't how it is anymore?
Troi: That's right.
Clemens: Well, maybe it's worth giving up cigars for after all.
Troi: Any luck?
Laforge: Not so far. His activating units won't initialize. I thought they would have been protected by his buffering program, but I guess five hundred years is just too long a wait.
Clemens: My watch.
Laforge: Yeah. It was found in the cavern where Data's head was. I guess after five hundred years, that's not likely to work either.
Clemens: Mister Data, I fear I sadly misjudged you. As I have misjudged many things.
Picard: Can you communicate?
Alien: Yes.
Picard: You're injured.
Alien: Why have you interfered with us?
Picard: You hunt us. You kill us. We cannot allow that.
Alien: We need your energy.
Picard: Perhaps we can find a substitute.
Alien: No. There is none. We must continue.
Picard: We know how you move back and forth through time. My crew have returned to the twenty fourth century to destroy your transport site on Devidia Two.
Alien: Destroy it? Your weapons will only amplify the time distortion. You will annihilate your own world.
Riker: I'm going back for Captain Picard. Mister Worf, assemble an Away team to accompany me to the surface. Doctor, I need to know anything you can tell me about that ophidian.
Crusher: I've just started running some tests. If I can have a few hours.
Riker: I can't give the alien any more time.
Crusher: Will, I haven't been able to determine if our phaser energy can generate a stable field. The risk would be
Riker: I'll take that risk.
Worf: Sir. Permission to speak frankly.
Riker: Go ahead.
Worf: Our priority is to stop the aliens from any more incursions to Earth. Any delay is unacceptable.
Riker: If I can save Captain Picard, I consider that very acceptable.
Worf: The Captain would not. I recommend we target photon torpedoes on the alien habitat and destroy it. Immediately.
Troi: He's right, Will.
Riker: Power up the photons, Mister Worf. Alert me when they're ready.
Laforge: Computer, initialize the reload circuits.
Computer: Reload circuits are initializing.
Laforge: Okay. Data? This ought to do it.
Laforge: I don't get it. I don't understand why isn't this working. Computer, run me a diagnostic on the input polarizers.
Computer: There is intermittent contact in the input polarizers.
Laforge: Intermittent?
Laforge: What? An iron filing. How'd that get in there?
Worf: Commander, I have set the photons to fire in staggered rounds, detonating in ten second intervals.
Riker: Very well. Fire when ready.
Worf: The sequence will be ready to initiate in one minute.
Laforge: Computer, run another diagnostic on the input polarizers.
Computer: Polarizer circuits are functioning.
Laforge: Well, then, that ought to do it. Okay, Data. Come on, now.
Data: Torpedoes. Phasing. Alien. I am processing a binary message entered into my static memory by Captain Picard. Geordi, are we planning to fire on the alien habitat?
Laforge: Yeah, but
Data: It is imperative that we do not. I will explain later.
Laforge: La Forge to Riker. Hold your fire!
Data: The binary message left by the Captain is not entirely clear. He seemed to be concerned about the phase differential of our photon torpedoes. That firing them might produce catastrophic effects.
Crusher: Then how do we destroy their habitat?
Data: If I am correct, we must modify our weapons so that the force of the explosion is re-phased into the aliens' time continuum.
Laforge: If we outfit the photons with phase diskriminators we could get the variance we need.
Riker: How long will it take you?
Laforge: At least a couple of hours.
Riker: Fine. I'll have time to go get him.
Data: Sir?
Riker: I'm going back to the nineteenth century to get the Captain. Doctor?
Crusher: My analysis of the phasers suggests you'd be able to open the rift, but it won't be stable enough to transport more than one person.
Riker: You mean if I go back, only one of us can return?
Crusher: That's right.
Clemens: Then I have the perfect solution for you. I'm the one who should return to the nineteenth century and remain there so your Captain can return here.
Riker: There's a risk. We're not sure how stable the rift will be.
Clemens: There's risk in everything. The point is, it's the right choice. I've got more books to write, and your Captain has a job to do here.
Riker: Geordi, you'll brief him on what he needs to know?
Laforge: Aye, sir.
Clemens: I'm glad I have the chance to thank you.
Data: For what, sir?
Clemens: Why, for starting me out on the greatest adventure a man's ever had. And for helping a bitter old man to open his eyes and see that the future turned out pretty well after all.
Guinan: I'm thirsty.
Picard: I'm going to get help. We have to get you out of here.
Guinan: No, don't go. They'll be back for you soon.
Picard: No, you need help.
Clemens: This thing put me down in the middle of Market Street. Took forever to get here.
Worf: Commander La Forge has completed the reconfiguration of the photon torpedoes.
Riker: If Clemens got back, the Captain should have been here by now.
Worf: We have no way of knowing if Mister Clemens was successful.
Riker: Re-establish your firing pattern, Mister Worf. We'll wait five more minutes.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Clemens: No time for chit chat, sir. According to Mister La Forge, who did get your message by the way, a frequency setting of point oh four seven on your phaser will correctly activate this creature.
Picard: Now you have to get help. Guinan needs medical attention.
Clemens: I promise you she will be attended to.
Picard: And there is a bill to be settled at Mrs. Carmichael's boarding house.
Clemens: I'll settle it.
Picard: Thank you. I wish, I wish time would have allowed me to know you better.
Clemens: You'll just have to read my books. What I am is pretty much there.
Guinan: I'll see you in five hundred years, Picard.
Picard: And I'll see you in a few minutes.
Data: Commander, I am picking up massive triolic wave activity on the surface.
Riker: Is it the Captain?
Data: There are no human life signs.
Riker: No sign of a temporal distortion?
Data: No, sir, but triolic activity is increasing.
Riker: The aliens. Mister Worf, are the photons ready?
Worf: Yes, sir.
Riker: Fire.
Worf: Torpedoes away, sir.
Data: Sir, I am detecting a temporal distortion on the surface and human life signs.
Riker: O'Brien, get him out of there!
Riker: Transporter room, have you got him?
Picard: He has indeed, Commander. And believe me, it's good to be back.
Worf: We have destroyed the target. There is no further indication of triolic activity.
Riker: Ensign, lay in a course to the nearest Starbase. Warp six.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 46001.3. Everyone who should be in the nineteenth century is safely there, and those who should be in the twenty fourth are here. Mister Data has been restored to us, head and all, and Samuel Clemens will write the books he was to have written after our encounter.
Clemens: Now be careful, boys. Don't jostle her too much. Don't worry, Madam Guinan, you're going to be fine. (as young Guinan is stretchered away, Clemens picks up his broken watch then puts it down again to be found with the other artifacts in 500 years time)


Scene: Captain's Log, Stardate 46041.1. We have located the USS Yosemite, a Starfleet science vessel sent to the Igo sector to observe a remote plasma streamer. The ship has not been heard from in several days.
Picard: Magnify.
Riker: The last report we have says they were observing the streamer at medium range. Maybe they went in for a closer look, got more than they bargained for.
Picard: Hail them.
Worf: No response.
Picard: Life signs?
Data: Our scanners cannot penetrate the plasma streamer's distortion field.
Picard: Can we tractor them out?
Data: No, sir. Ionic interference is too heavy.
Riker: I'll take a shuttle in.
Picard: Too risky. You could be pulled in too. Bridge to Engineering.
Picard: Mister La Forge, can we beam an away team onto the science ship?
Laforge: We can beam them over there, Captain, but with all this interference, we might not get a positive lock to bring them back.
Barclay: Commander, if we bridged our transporter system with theirs we might be able to cut through the ionic field.
Laforge: That's a good idea, Barclay. Captain, I think we can do it. We're going to bridge the two transporter systems.
Picard: Acknowledged. Meet Commander Riker in Transporter room three.
Laforge: Aye sir. Barclay, I'm going to need a systems engineer on this Away Team.
Barclay: I'll ask Ensign Dern to join you.
Laforge: I meant you, Barclay.
Barclay: Shouldn't I stay here and set up the remote link?
Laforge: Dern can do that. Come on, let's go.
Riker: Status, Mister O'Brien?
O'Brien: I'll have to send you over one at a time, Commander, because of band width limitations, and the transport cycle will take a little longer.
Riker: How much longer?
O'Brien: Four, five seconds. About twice the normal time. I'm afraid you're in for a bumpy ride, Commander.
Barclay: What do you? What exactly do you mean by a bumpy ride?
O'Brien: There may be a small amount of static charge accumulation. You'll feel a bit of tingling. It's nothing to worry about.
Riker: Let's do it. Mister Worf.
O'Brien: Engaging system interlock. Pattern buffers synchronized. Phase transition coils at stand by. Energizing. He's there.
Riker: I'll go next.
O'Brien: Engaging interlock. Buffers synched. Energizing.
Crusher: I'm ready.
O'Brien: Engaging interlock. Buffers synched. Oh, wait a minute. I'm reading an ionic fluctuation in the matter stream. Oh, no problem. Okay. Energizing.
Laforge: Reg, you're up. Reg.
Barclay: Aye, sir.
O'Brien: Engaging interlock. Buffers in synch. Phase coils
Barclay: I'm sorry, I just can't do this.
Troi: Reg, you were faced with a difficult transport. Anyone would have been apprehensive in that situation.
Barclay: Tell that to Commander La Forge and the rest of the away team.
Troi: I'm sure they understand. As soon as you feel up to it, you can probably still join them.
Barclay: No!
Troi: Reg, is there something you're not telling me?
Barclay: Actually, this isn't the first time I've been apprehensive. Every single time that I tried to do it, I had a certain feeling. I guess you could call it mortal terror.
Troi: Why have you kept it a secret?
Barclay: Why? Because my career in Starfleet would be over, that's why.
Troi: I doubt that.
Barclay: I've always managed to avoid it somehow. You wouldn't believe how many hours that I've logged in shuttlecraft. I mean, The idea of being deconstructed, molecule by molecule. It's more than I can stand. Even when I was a child, I always had a dreadful fear that if ever I was dematerialized that I would never come back again whole. I know it sounds crazy, but
Troi: It's not crazy about it. You are being taken apart molecule by molecule. Reg, you're not the first person to have anxiety about transporting. We can desensitize you to this type of fear. It's a slow and gradual process, but it works.
Barclay: It does? How?
Troi: Well, you might first try a relaxation technique, like plexing.
Barclay: Plexing?
Troi: Yes, it's a Betazoid method. The next time you feel nervous about transporting, you stimulate a neural pressure point, like this.
Troi: There's a nerve cluster just behind the carotid artery. It stimulates the part of the brain that releases natural endorphins.
Barclay: Plexing. Sounds easy enough.
Troi: Here. There.
Barclay: You know, I feel better already. I think I can do this.
Troi: There's no need to rush.
Barclay: No, no. We talked about confronting my fears. The best way out is through. You said that once, remember?
Troi: I suppose I did.
Barclay: I'm going to beam over there. I can do it.
Riker: There's no sign of any survivors. No sign of anyone.
Laforge: Maybe they abandoned ship.
Worf: Unlikely. The escape pods are still on board.
Laforge: There was an explosion. That much we do know.
Riker: Any idea what caused it?
Laforge: I've ruled out a reactor core failure and there's no sign of a systems overload.
Worf: Blast analysis indicates the explosion originated here, in the center of the transport chamber.
Laforge: How is that possible? The transporter is still functioning.
Riker: Could they have beamed an explosive device aboard?
Crusher: Commander Riker? Could you come here, please.
Riker: Excuse me.
Crusher: Lieutenant Joshua Kelly. He was the ship's engineer.
Riker: How did he die?
Crusher: He has second and third degree burns over most of his body, but I don't think they were the cause of his death. I'm like to take him back to do an autopsy.
O'Brien: You're sure about this, sir?
Barclay: Sure. Please proceed.
O'Brien: It'll only take a minute. It should be a smooth ride over.
Barclay: Good. Good.
O'Brien: I know how you feel about this, sir.
Barclay: You're afraid of transporting, too?
O'Brien: No. Arachnids. Sickening, crawly little things, don't you think? All those legs.
Barclay: Spiders? They've never bothered me.
O'Brien: A few years back, I was called in to re-route an emitter array at a Starbase on Zayra Four. Turns out the entire system was infested with Talarian hook spiders. You ever seen a Talarian hook spider? Their legs are half a meter long. Well, I had a choice. Do I walk away and let the emitter blow itself to hell, or do I crawl in the Jeffries tube with twenty hook spiders?
Barclay: What happened?
O'Brien: It was the hardest thing I ever did, but I got through it. After that, I was never quite as afraid of spiders.
Barclay: Thanks.
O'Brien: Energizing.
Laforge: Reg. Welcome aboard. You ready to work?
Barclay: Yes, sir.
Laforge: Good. Why don't you start by downloading the ship's science logs over there.
Barclay: Aye, sir.
Riker: Still four members of the crew unaccounted for. Did you come up with anything?
Laforge: I don't know how these fit in, but I found them all around the transporter platform.
Riker: What are they?
Laforge: They look like pieces of a standard sample container.
Riker: Take them back to the ship, analyze them there. Mister Barclay. Glad you could join us.
Barclay: Me too, sir.
Hayes: The Ferengi are claiming two of their freighters were destroyed by a Cardassian warship in your sector.
Picard: Is there any evidence to support this?
Hayes: Although I'm loathe to believe the Ferengi about anything, there was evidence of Cardassian weapons. If the Cardassians also attacked the Yosemite, it could indicate a large scale movement into this sector.
Picard: I have an away team on board the ship. The initial report indicates there was an explosion on board, but we're not sure if it was from an attack.
Hayes: How soon until you know?
Picard: A few hours. If it looks like Cardassians, I'll contact you immediately.
Hayes: Very well.
Data: Bridge to Captain Picard.
Picard: Go ahead, Mister Data.
Data: The away team is returning to the Enterprise, sir.
Picard: Acknowledged. Have Commander Riker come to my Ready room as soon as he's on board.
Data: Aye, sir.
Laforge: La Forge to Transporter room three. I'm ready to go.
O'Brien: Stand by, Commander.
Barclay: Barclay to Enterprise. One to beam back.
O'Brien: Stand by, sir.
O'Brien: You see, sir? That wasn't so bad, was it.
Laforge: Mission logs, science logs, medical logs, they're all scrambled. Looks like the blast wiped out the ship's core memory.
Barclay: We could try to reconstitute the data stream.
Laforge: It's worth a try.
Barclay: Commander, has anything strange ever happened to you during transport?
Laforge: Like what?
Barclay: I don't know. Anything out of the ordinary.
Laforge: No, not really. This looks hopeless. We're not going to get anything out of these logs. You know, maybe this broken sample container I found can tell us something. Let's try to get this thing back into one piece.
Barclay: I mean, have you ever seen anything?
Laforge: Where?
Barclay: In the, during transport.
Laforge: Sometimes my visor picks up resonance patterns from the matter energy conversion. It's actually kind of pretty. Why?
Barclay: Just wondering.
Laforge: Reg, what are you getting at? Did you saw something during transport?
Barclay: When I was returning to the Enterprise I could've sworn I saw something in the matter stream.
Laforge: Something?
Barclay: There was phased matter all around. At first I thought it was some kind of energy discharge, but then it flew toward me and it touched my arm. How could something be in there? Molecules flying apart, half phased? I mean, it's impossible, isn't it?
Laforge: We'd better check it out. When we're done here, we'll run a full diagnostic on the transporter, all right?
Barclay: All right.
O'Brien: The confinement beam subsystems check out. So do the phase transition coils.
Laforge: The pattern buffer is fine.
O'Brien: Emitter pads, targeting scanners, they're all working fine. This system's clean. So is the science vessel's.
Laforge: Reg, there's a lot of energy floating around in the beam. Maybe you saw a surge in the matter stream.
Barclay: Yeah.
O'Brien: I'll run a scan on the Heisenberg compensators.
Barclay: No, Chief, you've done enough already.
O'Brien: It's no problem. Why don't you give me a hand?
Barclay: You know, maybe ignorance really is bliss.
O'Brien: Sir?
Barclay: Well, if I didn't know so much about these things, maybe they wouldn't scare me so much. I can still remember the day in Doctor Olafson's Transporter Theory class when he was talking about the body being converted into billions of kiloquads of data, zipping through subspace, and I realized there's no margin for error. One atom out of place and poof! You never come back. It's amazing people aren't lost all the time.
O'Brien: With all due respect, sir, I've been doing this for twenty two years and I haven't lost anybody yet.
Barclay: Yes, but you realize if these imaging scanners are off even a thousandth of a percent.
O'Brien: That's why each pad has four redundant scanners. If any one scanner fails, the other three take over.
Laforge: Reg, how many transporter accidents have there been in the last ten years? Two? Three? There are millions of people who transport safely every day without a problem.
Barclay: I've heard of problems. What about transporter psychosis?
O'Brien: Transporter Psychosis? There hasn't been a case of that in over fifty years. Not since they perfected the multiplex pattern buffers.
Laforge: Reg, transporting really is the safest way to travel.
Crusher: I'd like to take a closer look at those burns. Take a tissue sample, please.
Ogawa: Yes, Doctor.
Crusher: Damage to the epidermis only. Initiate a circulatory probe.
Ogawa: Doctor Crusher!
Crusher: His heart's beating! Cardio-stimulator. Now. It's gone.
Ogawa: Neuro-electrical activity in the cerebral cortex. Nothing.
Crusher: Now the respiratory system's active. What the hell is going on?
Barclay: Water, ten degrees Celsius. Computer, access Starfleet Medical Database. Tell me about, er. Describe the disorder transporter psychosis.
Computer: Transporter psychosis was diagnosed in the year twenty two oh nine by researchers on Delinia Two.
Barclay: No, no stop. All I need is, what causes it?
Computer: It is caused by a breakdown of neuro-chemical molecules during transport, affecting the body's motor functions, autonomic systems, and the brain's higher reasoning centers.
Barclay: What are the symptoms?
Computer: Victims suffer from paranoid delusions, multi-infarct dementia, hallucinations.
Barclay: Hallucinations? What kind of hallucinations?
Computer: Victims experience somatic, tactile and visual hallucinations, accompanied by psychogenic hysteria. Peripheral symptoms include sleeplessness, accelerated heart rate, diminished eyesight leading to acute myopia, painful spasms in the extremities, and in most cases, dehydration.
Barclay: Computer what is the treatment for transporter psychosis?
Computer: There is no known treatment.
Crusher: The autopsy showed residual ionization in every one of Lieutenant Kelly's systems. I think that's what caused the muscular and systemic contractions.
Riker: From where did the ionization come?
Crusher: There's evidence of electrical burns on the victim's body, as if he was exposed to ionized gas or high energy plasma.
Laforge: Plasma? There's no way they could've been exposed, unless it was matter from the streamer.
Picard: Is there evidence of a hull breach? Could plasma from the streamer have found its way into the ship?
Laforge: No. Data, what's the report on that broken sample container?
Data: The analysis of the fragments is not yet complete.
Laforge: Captain, if there's evidence of similar ionization in those fragments, it could mean they tried to beam aboard material from the streamer.
Picard: If the plasma exploded that would explain a few things. Let me know when the analysis is complete.
Laforge: Aye, sir.
Laforge: From the looks of these fracture patterns, I'd say that the explosive force came from within the container.
Data: The container does show evidence of residual ionization. I believe your hypothesis was correct. It was used to store high energy plasma.
Laforge: So they were collecting samples from the plasma streamer. They had the proper container. How could it have exploded?
Data: Perhaps we should attempt to recreate their experiment to see what happens when matter is beamed aboard under similar conditions.
Laforge: That's a good idea. We'll prepare a new container. Reg, I don't want to take any chances here. Start setting up a level five containment field here in Engineering, okay?
Barclay: Aye, sir.
Data: Are you all right, Lieutenant?
Barclay: I'm fine. Yes, thank you.
Data: Geordi. Lieutenant Barclay appears inordinately preoccupied with his physiological condition. I have seen him check his pulse rate, as well as his visual acuity several times over the last twenty minutes.
Laforge: Thanks, Data.
Laforge: Reg?
Barclay: Yes, sir?
Laforge: You okay?
Barclay: I'm just fine, sir.
Laforge: You look a little pale.
Barclay: I do?
Laforge: Look, Reg, it's been a long couple of days. Why don't you get some rest. We've got everything under control here.
Barclay: I think I'll do that, sir. Thank you.
Laforge: La Forge to Counselor Troi.
Troi: Go ahead, Commander.
Laforge: Counselor, do you have a minute?
Troi: Lieutenant Barclay, I've been calling you, why haven't you responded? Reg, what are you doing?
Barclay: I'm walking.
Troi: I can see that. Where are you going?
Barclay: Nowhere. I just don't get to these decks very often. Look, there's Stellar Cartography. I thought that was deck eleven.
Troi: Mister Barclay.
Barclay: I was I was having trouble sleeping and I'm trying to wear myself out. It is a perfectly normal thing to be doing, isn't it?
Troi: Commander La Forge said you seemed a little nervous this morning.
Barclay: I'm always nervous. Everybody knows that.
Troi: He also mentioned that you said you saw something in the transporter beam.
Barclay: Well I was wrong. They checked the transporter and there wasn't. I mean, there was nothing there. I imagined the whole thing.
Troi: You don't sound very convinced of that.
Barclay: Listen, Counselor, I really appreciate your concern in this matter but I really wish you wouldn't continue this conversation. I'm really perfectly fine.
Troi: Mister Barclay, you're exhausted and highly agitated, and I cannot allow a member of this crew to endanger himself and others. I think
Barclay: I'm not endangering anyone else and I wish you would
Troi: I think it would be in your best interest to take a leave of absence. Reg, I'm temporarily relieving you of duty.
Barclay: Fine, fine. Do what you have to do, Counselor.
Barclay: Computer more birds. End stress reduction program. Water.
Computer: Specify temperature.
Barclay: I don't care. Just give me water!
Barclay: Calm, calm, stay calm. All right, Computer, let's try some music. Something soothing.
O'Brien: Sir, begging your pardon, but couldn't this wait til the morning?
Barclay: No. Chief, I've just, I've been reviewing the transport logs. What are these energy variations that keep appearing? There was one when I transported to the science ship, you see?
O'Brien: They're just ionic fluctuations, sir. A result of our interlock with the Yosemite's transporter system.
Barclay: A fluctuation occurred while I was inside the matter stream?
O'Brien: It's nothing to worry about, sir.
Barclay: I need you to transport me to the science ship and then directly back again. And while I'm in the beam, can you recreate one of those ionic fluctuations?
O'Brien: I guess so. But if you don't mind my asking, sir, what for?
Barclay: I need. Commander La Forge wants some tricorder readings on those fluctuations.
O'Brien: We can do that from right here.
Barclay: No, I, the transporter sensors may not be sensitive enough. I'm giving you an order, Mister O'Brien.
O'Brien: Aye, sir. If you don't mind my making an observation, sir, you forgot to bring a tricorder.
Barclay: Either there's something in there or I'm going crazy, and I've just got to know. You can understand that, can't you?
O'Brien: Yes sir, I can. Stand by, sir.
Barclay: I want you to wake the senior staff.
Barclay: Then I saw it again, just twenty minutes ago. It was the same exact thing just moving around in the transporter beam.
Riker: Let me get this straight. You think this thing was alive?
Barclay: It was dark and distorted, and it had what looked like a mouth.
Worf: A mouth.
Crusher: I don't see anything wrong with his arm.
Troi: Reg, why did you wait so long to tell anybody about your arm?
Barclay: Well, I thought I was hallucinating, that I had, that it was transporter psychosis. But now I know what I saw in there was real. I was the only one who experienced ionic fluctuations in the transport. Maybe that's why no one else saw it.
Picard: Mister Barclay, I've been told you've been under a considerable amount of strain the past couple of days. Isn't it possible that you simply imagined
Barclay: I know what you're going to say, Captain. I know I've been acting strange lately. But you've got to believe me. I would never have called you in here unless I was absolutely certain.
Picard: Commander La Forge, get Mister O'Brien. Take that transporter system apart piece by piece if you have to. Mister Worf, I want a level three security alert until further notice.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Crusher: I'll run a micro-cellular scan of Mister Barclay's arm. It might take some time, but if there's a problem, I'll find it.
Picard: Keep me apprised. Dismissed.
Crusher: I'm reading minute levels of residual ionization in the subdermal tissue of his left arm. The patterns correspond exactly to those we measured in Lieutenant Kelly's body and in the sample container from the science ship. There's no question. You have been exposed to the same high energy plasma they were.
Barclay: So something did happen to me in the transporter beam.
Crusher: You might've been exposed to something from the science ship. You did say something touched your left arm during transport, and that's exactly where the ionization is focused.
Riker: Does this ionization pose a threat to Mister Barclay?
Crusher: It might. I'll have to run a base pair correlation to see if there's any sign of DNA breakdown.
Barclay: Sir, Commander La Forge and I were planning to recreate the circumstances of the explosion on the Yosemite. That might give us some answers. Permission to continue with the experiment?
Riker: Granted. Tell Mister O'Brien to take all the primary transporters offline. I don't want to risk any further contaminations. Make sure you take all the necessary safety precautions.
Barclay: Aye, sir.
Crusher: I'd like you to wear this monitoring device. It will tell me if there's the slightest sign of increased ionization.
Barclay: Yes, Doctor.
Data: Structural reinforcement is at two hundred forty percent.
Laforge: Activating containment field. Well, that should do it. Okay, Reg. We've locked onto the coordinates of the plasma streamer. Go ahead and beam aboard a sample, will you?
Barclay: Aye, sir.
Laforge: Okay. What would they have done first?
Data: A standard analysis begins with a resonance frequency scan.
Laforge: That sounds like a good place to start. Let's get it done.
Data: Initiating resonance sweep. Frequency range at three
Laforge: Barclay, check the containment field.
Barclay: The field is at its maximum limit, but it is holding.
Laforge: My visor's picking up bio-magnetic energy. Highly complex patterns. You know, I think these things are alive. Reg.
Laforge: Reg? Reg.
Barclay: Life forms?
Data: That is correct. They appear to be quasi-energy microbes that exist within the distortion field of the plasma streamer.
Laforge: We didn't detect them until we tried to run the resonance frequency scan. Apparently, they didn't like it very much. They shattered the sample container.
Barclay: Which caused a plasma explosion similar to the one on the science ship.
Laforge: Exactly. When we linked up with their transporter system, one or more of the microbes must have got into our system. We think they're still caught in the buffer. It might explain what you saw.
Barclay: But what I saw was much bigger than a microbe.
Data: Normal spatial relationships are often distorted within the matter stream. Your perceptions may have been exaggerated.
Crusher: Some of these microbes are also in your body, Reg.
Barclay: Inside me?
Crusher: They were in Lieutenant Kelly's body as well. That's what caused the contractions during the autopsy.
Laforge: The biofilter should have screened them out but it didn't.
Data: The microbes exist simultaneously as both matter and energy. The biofilter cannot distinguish them from the matter stream.
Laforge: Right, but if we held Barclay suspended in mid-transport at the point where matter starts to lose molecular cohesion.
Data: The molecules would begin to emit nucleonic particles. We may be able to derive a pattern the computer would recognize.
Laforge: And then reprogram the biofilters to screen the microbes out. I think this'll work, Reg.
Barclay: Suspend me? I don't like the sound of this.
Laforge: We'd have to hold you in there for a while.
Barclay: How long?
Laforge: Thirty, forty seconds. It's tough to tell. But I think it'd be safe.
Barclay: But if I'm in the matter stream too long.
Data: Your pattern would degrade to the point where your signal would be permanently lost.
O'Brien: After fifteen seconds or so in the beam, you may start to feel light-headed. Try to stay calm. Oh, and it's important not to move around too much.
Barclay: Right.
O'Brien: Initializing the back-up pattern buffer. Holding at stand by.
Laforge: Ready, Reg?
Barclay: Energize.
O'Brien: Molecular resolution at sixty percent. Engaging static mode. His pattern is locked and holding.
Laforge: Starting biofilter scan.
O'Brien: Signal's holding.
Crusher: The imaging scanners still haven't isolated the microbes.
O'Brien: I'll try increasing molecular dispersion.
Laforge: His signal resolution's dropped to fifty five percent.
O'Brien: Don't worry. I can hold him together.
O'Brien: Commander, the signal resolution's down to fifty percent. We need to bring him back.
Laforge: I know, I know. Just give me one more second. We need more dispersion. Increase phase transition frequency
O'Brien: Aye, sir.
Crusher: The imaging scanners are actuating.
Laforge: Got it. Pattern acquisition Positive.
O'Brien: Programming biofilter.
Laforge: Don't worry, Reg. This won't hurt a bit.
O'Brien: I'm reading a ninety two percent increase in mass!
Laforge: There's something in the beam with him. Security to Transporter room three.
Worf: Right away.
O'Brien: I'm setting up a force field round the chamber.
Crusher: Drop the force field.
Barclay: There are more crew members in the beam. You have to grab them and hold on.
Worf: Understood. Follow me.
Laforge: Reg, what happened?
Barclay: Well, when I saw there was more than one of them, I thought maybe the other crew was trying the same thing that we were.
Crewman: We're infected with something. Lieutenant Kelly tried to reprogram the biofilter
Laforge: It looks like he pushed molecular dispersion past the integrity point. Your patterns got caught in the beam.
Barclay: The residual energy from the plasma streamer. It must've amplified the charge in the buffer enough to keep your patterns from degrading.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 46043.6. The reprogrammed biofilter was effective in removing the alien microbes from Mister Barclay and the four crewmembers. The microbes have been returned to the plasma streamer.
Barclay: Chief.
O'Brien: Lieutenant. I'm glad you could make it. You know, I think this is the first time we've ever spoken outside of the Transporter room.
Barclay: Well, to be honest, I always avoided you.
O'Brien: Why?
Barclay: Because you run the transporters, and I hate the transporters. At least, I used to. So, what's in the box?
O'Brien: I thought you might like to meet Christina. Christina, Lieutenant Barclay.
Barclay: It's your pet spider.
O'Brien: Lycosa tarantula. Don't worry, she won't bite.
Barclay: She's very large.
O'Brien: I found her on Titus Four. Almost stepped on her by accident. Oh, I'll get us a couple of drinks, okay? Keep an eye on her, will you?
Barclay: Sure.
Barclay: Er, Chief?