Worf: Captain. Communication from Starfleet. They have reported a disturbance in the Neutral Zone.
Picard: Of what nature?
Worf: A battle. Quadrant nine, coordinates zero seven zero, mark three. There's no information who is involved. They are asking if we can investigate.
Picard: Answer affirmative. Lieutenant La Forge, lay in the course.
Laforge: Aye, sir.
Data: I have no reports of any Federation ships in that area, sir.
Riker: Ferengi?
Picard: It's a little out of their territory.
Riker: Shall we separate the saucer?
Picard: Let's get a little more information first.
Laforge: Course set, Captain.
Picard: Speed, warp seven.
Laforge: Aye, sir, warp seven.
Picard: Engage.
Laforge: We are now approaching the Neutral Zone.
Tasha: Sir, sensors indicate several recent photon explosions and heavy phaser activity.
Data: Sir, I have analyzed the residue from the explosions. This is of no known Ferengi design. It is possibly Romulan.
Picard: Now there's a name we haven't heard for a while.
Riker: I could go a lot longer without hearing it.
Picard: If the Romulans have returned to this sector we should know about that. Mister Worf, any further activity?
Worf: Negative, sir.
Picard: Slow to half impulse.
Laforge: Going to one half impulse. Now entering quadrant nine zero seven, mark three.
Picard: Shields and deflectors up. Go to Yellow Alert.
Data: I have located a vessel, sir. It is drifting.
Picard: Put it on main viewer.
Tasha: Aye, sir.
Picard: Magnify.
Data: The life support systems on the ship are failing, sir. Propulsion, navigation, and all communication, inoperative.
Picard: Any trace of the other vessel?
Data: No, sir.
Riker: If it is a Romulan vessel, it could be cloaked.
Picard: Tell Starfleet we're entering the Neutral Zone.
Data: Yes, sir.
Picard: Mister La Forge, take us in a little closer.
Laforge: Aye, aye, sir.
Picard: Stay sharp everyone.
Riker: It's Talarian.
Picard: Life signs?
Worf: Nothing yet, sir.
Data: I have identified the vessel, Captain. It is the Batris, a general cargo vessel.
Riker: A long way from home.
Picard: Keep alert.
Worf: Captain, possible life signs.
Picard: What do you mean, possible?
Worf: The readings emanate from a location near what is left of main Engineering. There is a great deal of magnetic and radioactive clutter making a positive determination difficult.
Riker: I'll prepare an away team.
Picard: Lieutenant Yar, you stay at your post. If this is the result of a Romulan attack, they may still be in the area.
Tasha: Aye, sir.
Riker: Data, Geordi, let's go.
Picard: Mister La Forge, are we close enough to use the Visual Acuity transmitter?
Laforge: We can certainly try it, sir.
Picard: Please do. And Number One? Everything about this seems wrong.
Riker: Agreed. It smells like a trap. Let's go.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 41503.7. We have entered the Neutral Zone, where a Talarian freighter has been severely damaged in a battle. I have sent an away team to investigate.
Riker: What exactly does this device do?
Laforge: Data and I have been working on a way to transmit what my visor sees. If it works, the Bridge'll be able to monitor us.
Data: It has restrictions. The information from Geordi's visor is so complex it is difficult to encode. Therefore the signal breaks down easily.
Riker: That means it doesn't have much range.
Laforge: Exactly. So far, the effective range is only few kilometers, but we're working on it. La Forge to Bridge.
Worf: This is the Bridge.
Laforge: Worf, I've switched on the Visual Acuity Transmitter.
Worf: We are receiving. The signal is strong.
Laforge: Okay, Worf. I am switching off for transport.
Riker: Set phasers on stun. Let's be ready for anything. Energize.
Laforge: La Forge to Bridge.
Picard: This is the Enterprise.
Laforge: Captain, I'm switching on the transmitter.
Picard: Ready to receive. Put this on main viewer.
Tasha: Aye, sir.
Picard: Extraordinary. Now I'm beginning to understand him.
Picard: Geordi. What was that? Over to the left.
Laforge: What?
Picard: Yes, that. No, no, back. Yes, that. Right there. What is that?
Laforge: That's Commander Riker.
Picard: Ah, to me it's just an undefined form, standing in a visual frenzy. Can you filter out the extraneous information?
Laforge: No, I get it all simultaneously.
Picard: But it's just a jumble.
Picard: How can you make head or tail of it?
Laforge: I select what I want and then disregard the rest.
Picard: But how is that possible?
Laforge: Well, how, in a noisy room, can you select one specific voice or sound?
Picard: Of course, something you learn.
Laforge: Exactly.
Laforge: It's something I have learned. Does that make it more clear?
Picard: Look over at Data. There's an aura around Data.
Laforge: Well, of course. He's an android.
Picard: You say that as if you think that's what we all see.
Laforge: Don't you?
Riker: Sir, I hate to break this up, but
Picard: Oh, yes, of course, Number One. Proceed.
Riker: Let's go.
Data: I am detecting high levels of deuterium gas, probably from the leakage in the drive system.
Riker: Toxic?
Data: Not as yet, sir. The life signs are emanating from the far side of Engineering.
Riker: What's the safest way around?
Data: All routes are equally dangerous, sir.
Laforge: Well, what's the least dangerous route, Data?
Data: There is no significant difference.
Riker: Steady on.
Laforge: Commander Riker! Commander.
Riker: Yes, Geordi.
Laforge: There's a fissure developing in the bulkhead. The skin of the ship is losing its integrity.
Riker: Where is it? I can't see it.
Laforge: Right there.
Picard: Geordi, step closer. It looks to me like a spectrograph indicating metal fatigue.
Picard: Is that how you interpret it?
Laforge: Very good, Captain. Exactly right.
Riker: How long before this hull ruptures?
Laforge: It's impossible to be exact. I'd say five minutes. Probably less.
Riker: Let's go.
Picard: Geordi, we've lost transmission.
Laforge: Signal overload. I'm surprised it lasted this long.
Riker: We've reached the core, Captain.
Data: The life signs are very strong now, sir. They are coming from over there.
Riker: Is there any other way around?
Data: Negative. This is the only way. The safest way to proceed is for me to cross alone. The heat and toxic gasses have less effect on me.
Riker: Agreed. Captain, Data's gone ahead.
Riker: The life signs seem to be coming from the far side of Engineering.
Data: I've found them, sir. The door to their compartment is jammed.
Data: The control mechanism's not operative, sir.
Riker: This is Commander Riker of the USS Enterprise. Do you hear me?
Data: I advise against the use of phasers, sir. The gas buildup is too great.
Laforge: He's right, sir. A phaser discharge now could blow us all out of here.
Data: Shall I, sir?
Picard: Number One, what's going on?
Riker: We're about to force the door.
Picard: What is it? What do you see?
Riker: Klingons.
Picard: Klingons?
Korris: I am Korris.
Riker: We'll handle the formalities later. Right now we have to get off this ship. Are there any others survivors?
Korris: No.
Data: I believe I have found a quicker way out of here, sir.
Riker: Check him out.
Data: He is alive, sir, but just barely.
Riker: Then pick the body and let's get out of here.
Korris: No. I will carry him.
Data: As you wish.
Laforge: Come on, let's go!
Picard: Tasha, go to transporter room three. I want you there when the away team returns.
Tasha: Aye, sir.
Laforge: Commander, we are out of time. This ship is blowing.
Riker: Transporter room, have you got a lock on us?
Tasha: Too much interference. You have to get farther away from the Engineering section.
Worf: Sir, the Engineering section is critical. Destruction of the Batris is imminent.
Picard: They're out of options. Do it!
Picard: Now!
Riker: Bridge, this is Commander Riker.
Riker: We are taking the survivors to Sickbay.
Picard: I'll be in Sickbay.
Worf: Captain. Request permission to join you.
Picard: Granted.
Worf: Debris is still being analyzed.
Picard: Inform me as soon as it is complete.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Picard: Situation, Doctor.
Crusher: His injuries are very critical.
Picard: I am Jean Luc Picard, Captain of this vessel.
Korris: My name is Korris, Captain of the Klingon Defense Force. This is Lieutenant Konmel.
Picard: Would you mind telling me what has happened?
Korris: We were passengers. The Talarians were taking us to outpost M Zed Five.
Picard: What was the ship doing in the Neutral Zone?
Korris: We were attacked without warning by a Ferengi cruiser. During the course of the battle we must have unknowingly entered the Neutral Zone.
Worf: The weapons were not Ferengi.
Korris: What is your name?
Worf: I am Lieutenant Worf.
Korris: And you are a member of this crew?
Worf: Yes.
Korris: You are correct. The weapons were Klingon, but the vessel was Ferengi.
Picard: What precipitated the attack?
Korris: I don't know. We were in our quarters.
Konmel: The captain of the freighter had no combat experience so he did not anticipate the first attack, which was nearly fatal.
Korris: We took control with his permission. The Ferengi called for surrender. I told the Captain to agree to all their terms. We had only one chance, but I was confident it would be enough.
Konmel: As adversaries the Ferengi are not very worthy.
Worf: Still, your weapons were limited and their ship superior.
Korris: Yes. All we had was an ancient battery of Merculite rockets. Our only chance was to trick them into lowering their shields.
Konmel: We reduced power and lured them in.
Korris: They suspected nothing.
Konmel: Then, when they lowered their shields to beam over a boarding party, we opened fire.
Picard: Still, there are some points that I'm not very clear about.
Korris: Captain, we are hungry and tired.
Picard: Of course.
Korris: If there is anything else you wish to know about this incident, we will be available.
Worf: Permission to show our guests to their quarters, Captain.
Picard: Permission granted.
Riker: What do you think, Captain?
Picard: There's more to this than we've been told. Why was the Talarian ship so far off course? What was its point of departure?
Riker: Why would three Klingon officers hitch a ride on a broken down freighter?
Picard: Contact Starfleet. Find out what they know about Korris and company.
Riker: It'll take forty eight hours for a message to get to Starfleet on subspace frequency.
Picard: They're going to be with us for a while. Let's find out all we can about them.
Riker: Do you think I should have assigned a security team to keep an eye on our guests?
Picard: No. Worf can deal with anything that might arise. How's your patient, Doctor?
Crusher: Not good. I'll keep you posted.
Korris: Sit, friend. Let us eat.
Konmel: O'Mat gri tea and piviots.
Korris: I did not know there were Klingons serving on human Starfleet vessels.
Worf: As far as I know, I am the only one.
Korris: Tell me, what it is like for the hunter to lie down with the prey? Have they tamed you, or have you always been docile?
Konmel: Does it make you gentle? Has it filled your heart with peace?
Korris: Do glorious battles no longer inspire your dreams?
Worf: Why do you mock me? Why do you wish to anger me?
Korris: Only to see if it is still possible.
Worf: It is.
Nurse: Doctor! I think you'd better come and look at this. The Klingon's condition is worsening.
Crusher: He's convulsing. Get the hypospray.
Picard: Commander Korris, this is Captain Picard.
Korris: Yes, Captain.
Picard: I am sorry to report your comrade's injuries are beyond our medical abilities.
Crusher: He's dying.
Crusher: Is there any special arrangement you would like for the body?
Korris: It is only an empty shell now. Please treat it as such.
Konmel: The opponent that killed Kunivas should have been an enemy, then his death would have been even more glorious.
Worf: If the opponent was not an enemy, who was it? Tell me. What really happened?
Korris: I do not wish to anger you. We are after all, brothers lost among infidels. Tell me, how is it that you come to this ship, that uniform?
Worf: Through an act of kindness. The Romulans attacked the Khitomer outpost. Everyone was killed. I was buried under the rubble and left for dead. A human Starfleet officer found me. He took me to his home on Gault and told his wife to raise me as his son.
Konmel: How old were you?
Worf: Before the age of inclusion.
Konmel: That young?
Korris: Gault is a farming colony.
Worf: When my foster brother and I were of age, we entered the Starfleet Academy. He hated it and returned to Gault. I stayed.
Konmel: You have not spent much time among your own kind.
Worf: Hardly none.
Korris: So, when the night was still and quiet, and the sound of the blood rushing through your veins filled your ears, the only way to silence it was to slip out into the night and, like the hunter that spawned you, join in the struggle of life and death. You were unable
Konmel: And those around you did not understand. You frightened them.
Korris: They shunned you. Cursed you. Called you vile names, and you knew not why. Even now do you know why you are driven? Why you cannot relent or repent or confess or abstain? How could you know? There have been no other Klingons to lead you to that knowledge.
Worf: Yes. Yes, those feelings are part of me. But I control them. They do not rule me.
Korris: Yes. To fit in, the humans demand that you change the one thing that you cannot change. Yet, because you cannot, you do. That too is the mark of the warrior. You said that I mock you. I do not. I salute you.
Konmel: But against whom do you test yourself? Against what enemy do you charge into battle?
Worf: I have been in battle.
Korris: Then you understand.
Worf: Yes, I do.
Korris: Brother, this peace, this alliance, is like a living death to warriors like us.
Konmel: You're right, we lied to your Commander. We commandeered that freighter and left the crew behind, and we were in search of a place where we could live our lives like true Klingons.
Worf: You did not battle the Ferengi.
Korris: It was one of our own cruisers sent to bring us back.
Worf: You destroyed a Klingon vessel?
Korris: I did not want to battle our brothers. I had no choice. They had been corrupted by the illusion of peace.
Konmel: They traded our birthright so they could die in their sleep.
Korris: A peace that makes the Klingon heart that beats in my chest wither and die. Is it permitted for you to show us around this ship?
Worf: Yes, of course.
Picard: And as I watched Worf, it was like looking at a man that I had never known.
Data: Captain, long range sensors indicate another vessel approaching this area.
Picard: Can you identify it?
Data: No, sir, not yet.
Picard: Keep a close watch on it. So close to the Neutral Zone it can't be random.
Konmel: What magnificent battles we could have at the helm of this ship.
Worf: Perhaps your dreams of glory no longer fit the time. They belong buried with the past.
Korris: Standing here we will never know. Our answer lies out there. Our instincts will lead us.
Konmel: Instincts that have not been dulled by living among civilized men.
Data: I believe, sir, that was the first time outsiders have witnessed the Klingon death ritual.
Picard: I can understand them looking at a dying man's eyes, but the howling?
Data: It was a warning.
Picard: To whom?
Data: They are warning the dead, sir. Beware, a Klingon warrior is about to arrive.
Laforge: Captain, that unidentified vessel is approaching us at warp five. Intersect one hour, sixteen minutes, thirty three seconds.
Picard: Can we get a visual?
Laforge: I can try, sir.
Picard: Magnify.
Laforge: Hello.
Riker: Klingons.
Picard: Open hailing frequencies, Lieutenant Yar.
Tasha: Hailing frequencies open.
Picard: Klingon cruiser, this is Captain Jean Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise.
K'Nera: I am Commander K'Nera. What is your purpose in this area?
Picard: We came to investigate a battle. We rescued three Klingon survivors.
K'Nera: That is all that is left of the crew of the cruiser T'Acog?
Picard: They were not off the cruiser. They were from the freighter Batris. The leader is Captain Korris.
K'Nera: You have him on your ship? He is alive?
Picard: Yes.
K'Nera: He is a criminal. A renegade, who with two others stole that freighter, and somehow destroyed the Klingon cruiser sent to bring them back. We expect the criminals to be delivered into our custody as soon as we are within transporter range.
Picard: Lieutenant Yar, where are they now?
Tasha: They're with Worf on deck seventeen.
Picard: Deck seventeen?
Tasha: Yes, sir. Near the auxiliary turbolift to the battle bridge. Shall I alert Lieutenant Worf?
Picard: No. Send a security team.
Riker: You don't think Worf would allow them access to the battle bridge?
Picard: I think, Number One, we cannot assume anything.
Tasha: Captain, shall I stay at my tactical position or lead the security team?
Picard: Lead the security team, and, Lieutenant, you understand with whom you are dealing.
Tasha: Aye, sir.
Korris: We have heard this ship can separate in time of battle.
Worf: Yes. When relieved of its bulk, the Enterprise becomes an exceptional weapon.
Tasha: Worf.
Korris: They have come for us.
Tasha: Step aside.
Worf: What is the problem?
Tasha: The Captain wants those two taken into custody.
Korris: Do not let them take us, Worf. Help us.
Konmel: Listen to the voice of your blood. You are not of these people.
Korris: Yes. Join us.
Tasha: Go back! Please, turn around and go back to your mother.
Tasha: Bridge, we have a hostage situation on deck seventeen.
Girl: Mommy.
Tasha: Bridge, this is Lieutenant Yar. Disregard. Situation is under control. By order of the Captain, you are confined to Security.
Tasha: I thought for a minute we had a problem.
Worf: Oh?
Tasha: Yes. It looked like Korris was going to hold that little girl as a hostage.
Worf: That is not our way. Cowards take hostages. Klingons do not.
Korris: Ri'ario.
Picard: Lieutenant. The Klingon vessel has to arrived. They have requested return of the renegades.
Worf: They will be tried and executed, sir.
Picard: I know. Lieutenant, understand that I am not unmindful of the mixed feelings you must have about this incident.
Worf: Thank you, sir. Are there no other options, sir?
Picard: None that I can see.
Riker: He seems to be handling this quite well, sir.
Picard: So far. He must be torn. These are his people.
Data: The Klingon vessel is within range, sir. They are requesting visual contact.
Picard: Open frequencies.
Data: Hailing frequencies open, sir.
K'Nera: We are in position now to receive the criminals.
Picard: We're prepared to transfer.
Worf: Captain. Request permission to address the Captain on the Klingon vessel. I know it is against standard procedure, but there is something I must say.
Picard: Permission granted.
Worf: K'Mongi B'Mus.
K'Nera: G'Armond T'Ris. What is it you want?
Worf: To plead.
K'Nera: You waste your time. Their actions threaten the alliance. They disobeyed and must be punished.
Worf: Yes, they must be punished, but not executed with dishonor.
K'Nera: Why do you care?
Worf: What burns in their eyes, fires my soul. I hear their words, and I see it all as it was. Part of me longs for that time.
K'Nera: It's bred in the bone. We all do.
Worf: Then send them to a planet in the Halee system, where they can meet death on their feet with a weapon in their hands, not tied and helpless.
K'Nera: When one of us dies that way it diminishes all of us.
Worf: Yes.
K'Nera: Brother, I feel as you. I too wish they could fly free, but I have no choice.
Worf: Sir.
K'Nera: We await the transfer.
Picard: Lieutenant Yar, escort the prisoners to the Transporter room.
Tasha: Aye, sir.
Guard: This is Ramos. The forcefield in Security Three has been broken.
Tasha: Lieutenant Yar to Bridge.
Tasha: There's been an escape. At least one of my security is dead.
Tasha: So is Konmel. Korris is loose and armed.
Picard: Keep me informed, Lieutenant.
Tasha: Aye, sir.
Picard: Data, visual on K'Nera.
Data: Visual on, sir.
Picard: Captain, there will be a short delay. Korris has escaped.
K'Nera: He is a trained Klingon warrior, Captain. Perhaps more than you can handle. It is not a disgrace to request our assistance.
Picard: I think we can handle the situation.
Crewman: He's up there!
Tasha: Captain, Korris is in main Engineering.
Picard: Commander Korris.
Picard: This is a futile effort.
Picard: You cannot win.
Korris: I will speak only to my countryman!
Korris: Only to Worf!
Tasha: Captain, he has a phaser aimed directly at the dilithium crystal chamber.
Tasha: At that range, one blast and
Picard: I understand, Lieutenant.
Worf: Captain, permission to leave the Bridge.
Picard: We'll both go.
Picard: What's the situation?
Tasha: He's on the second level armed with a phaser. We do not have a clear field of fire.
Picard: How do you suggest we proceed?
Tasha: Wait him out.
Worf: Captain, let me talk to him.
Tasha: I do not think that's a good idea, Worf. Right now he's running on adrenalin. Let it cool. There's no where he can go.
Worf: He will wait only as long as he believes it is to his advantage. The moment it is not, he will fire his phaser into the dilithium crystal chamber.
Tasha: That would destroy the Enterprise and him along with it.
Worf: Yes. He knows.
Picard: Talk to him, Worf.
Korris: Brother, I knew you would come. Now I, we have a chance. I could not do it alone, but I would rather die here, than let the traitors of Kling pick the meat from my bones. With you it will work.
Worf: What will work?
Korris: I will demand Captain Picard give us access to the battle bridge. We will separate from the rest of the ship, then together we will light up the galaxy. Imagine the fear which will roll before us.
Worf: Captain Picard will not comply.
Korris: He can not, dare not refuse us. In order to save themselves, they will give us what we demand. Then, brother, we are free.
Worf: Put down the phaser.
Korris: Wait. I do not believe this.
Worf: Believe it.
Korris: I have tasted your heart. You have been with them, but you are still of us. Do not deny the challenge of your destiny. Get off your knees and soar. Open your eyes and let the dream take flight.
Worf: My brother, it is you who does not see. You look for battles in the wrong place. The test of the warrior is not without, it is within. Here, here we meet the challenge. It is the weaknesses in here a warrior must overcome.
Korris: No.
Worf: You have talked of glory and of conquest and legends we will write.
Korris: Yes, the birthright of every Klingon.
Worf: Yet in all you say, where are the words duty, honor, loyalty. Without which a warrior is nothing.
Korris: What are you saying? Living among these humans has sucked the Klingon heart out of you.
Worf: Put down the phaser.
Korris: You are a sham! My words were dust upon the ground. Your blood has no fire. You are weak like them. I don't care what you look like you are no Klingon.
Worf: Perhaps not.
Picard: Wait.
Picard: Mister La Forge, open hailing frequencies.
Laforge: Hailing frequencies open, sir.
Picard: Commander K'Nera, this is Captain Picard.
K'Nera: Yes, Captain?
Picard: Korris and the other Klingon are dead.
K'Nera: May I speak with Lieutenant Worf?
Worf: Yes, Commander?
K'Nera: How did they die?
Worf: They died well.
Picard: Do you wish the bodies returned?
K'Nera: They are now only empty shells. Dispose of them as you see fit. Worf, when your tour of duty on the Enterprise is complete. consider serving with us. Your training and experience would be of benefit to us, and perhaps there are some things we could teach you.
Worf: I am honored. Thank you.
Worf: I was just being polite, sir.
Picard: Ah. Commendable, Lieutenant. Mister La Forge, set course for Starbase Eighty four.
Laforge: Aye, sir.
Worf: Really. I have no desire to leave the Enterprise.
Picard: Good.
Laforge: Coordinates set in, Captain.
Picard: Speed, warp five.
Laforge: Aye, sir, warp five.
Picard: And Mister Worf, the Bridge wouldn't be the same without you. Engage.


Picard: Captain's log, stardate 41601.3. We are crossing through the Zed Lapis sector, where we will rendezvous with shuttlecraft thirteen, carrying Deanna Troi, who is returning from a conference. Because Engineering is involved in preventive maintenance on our dilithium crystals, we are presently traveling on impulse power.
Worf: Routine deep sensor probe indicates no obstacles or vessels within a range of three light years.
Tasha: Confirm.
Worf: The martial arts competition is in three days. Are you prepared?
Tasha: I will be if you'll meet me on the holodeck later. I need your help on the Mishiama wrist-lock and break. If it works on you, I can use it on anyone.
Worf: A valid assumption. Who is your first competitor?
Tasha: Science Officer Swenson.
Worf: You will defeat him easily.
Tasha: I'm more concerned with Lieutenant Minnerly's kick boxing.
Worf: You are favored in the ship's pool.
Tasha: You bet on me?
Worf: A sure thing.
Laforge: Captain, estimated rendezvous with the shuttle in one hour and ten minutes.
Picard: Thank you, Lieutenant.
Laforge: Aye, sir.
Picard: It'll be good to have Counselor Troi back, won't it, Number One?
Riker: It certainly will.
Worf: Sir, I'm receiving an emergency transmission from the shuttle.
Picard: On main viewer.
Tasha: I can't, sir. We're receiving audio only.
Picard: Open the frequency.
Tasha: Aye, sir.
Prieto: What a jolt!
Riker: Position report.
Prieto: Sir, I have an onboard systems failure. You'll have to tell me where I am.
Laforge: I read your coordinates at three seven zero point two three six. Confirm.
Prieto: I can't confirm. My instruments are haywire.
Picard: Lieutenant Prieto, is Counselor Troi all right?
Prieto: Yes, sir. Just a little shaken. We're being buffeted a bit. Losing more power! My flight control computer's fried.
Picard: Main Engineering.
Lynch: Lieutenant Commander Leland T. Lynch here, sir.
Picard: How long before we can return to warp power?
Lynch: Captain, I'm in the middle of realigning the dilithium crystals.
Picard: There is an emergency. We need warp drive. How long?
Lynch: Twenty minutes. Maybe more.
Picard: We don't have it, Mister Lynch.
Lynch: I'll align it by hand.
Picard: Whatever it takes.
Lynch: Aye, sir.
Laforge: Shuttle, this is the Enterprise. Your coordinates now read two three seven point one zero one. Ben, you're dangerously close to a planet.
Prieto: I can see it.
Data: The planet is Vagra Two, sir, in the Zed Lapis sector. Uninhabited.
Picard: Lieutenant, report!
Troi: This is Counselor Troi. I'll relay, sir. The pilot is busy. We've lost most of our impulse power.
Picard: Engineering, status report.
Lynch: Working on it, Captain. Three minutes.
Lynch: But there are no guarantees.
Prieto: Captain, we're out of control. We're caught in the planet's gravity.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. We've lost all contact with shuttlecraft thirteen, and can only assume they've crash-landed on Vagra Two. Meanwhile, main Engineering is trying to return us to warp power.
Lynch: Forget the final check. Initiate start-up sequence.
Computer: Beginning check list.
Lynch: Override. We are going directly to start-up.
Computer: That procedure is not recommended.
Lynch: Understood. Now. Prime matter-antimatter injectors. Set ratio at twenty-five to one
Computer: Ratio set.
Lynch: Power engine core. Inject reactants.
Lynch: Leland T. Lynch here, Captain. We now have minimum warp drive.
Laforge: Course plotted and set for Vagra Two.
Picard: Warp eight.
Lynch: I said minimum warp drive, Captain.
Picard: You heard the order, Mister Lynch. Make it so.
Lynch: Yes, sir.
Laforge: Approaching Vagra Two, Captain.
Data: Strange, sir. There's no emergency signal from the shuttle as yet.
Picard: What is this place, Mister Data?
Data: There is little information in the library computer other than the fact of its existence. Our sensor show no signs of life forms, virtually no vegetation.
Riker: Atmosphere?
Data: Minimum for our needs, sir.
Picard: Standard orbit.
Laforge: Aye, sir. Standard orbit.
Worf: I've located the shuttle.
Picard: Life signs?
Worf: Not yet, sir. Still probing. It appears to be buried under a lot of debris. I may have something, sir. Faint life signs. Very faint.
Riker: How many?
Worf: There's no way of telling from here.
Picard: Data, can we beam up the injured?
Data: No, sir. Our sensors are not fully penetrating whatever the debris is.
Picard: That's very unusual.
Data: Yes, sir. I cannot explain.
Picard: Number One, prepare your away team.
Riker: Right away. Data, Yar.
Picard: Doctor Crusher, have you been monitoring all this?
Crusher: Yes. I'll meet the away team in transporter room four.
Crusher: Let's go. The life signs are weak.
Riker: What is this?
Tasha: No idea. We'll go around, just to be on the safe side.
Tasha: Let's try the other way.
Riker: Enterprise, this is Riker. We've got a problem.
Picard: What kind of problem, Number One?
Riker: I'm not sure yet. There appears to be some kind of a slick blocking our path. Will keep you apprised.
Picard: Maintain an open frequency.
Riker: Aye, sir.
Riker: Analysis, Mister Data.
Data: Inconclusive, sir. I cannot tell you what it is, but I can tell you what it is not.
Riker: Explain.
Data: There is no evidence of neural or circulatory systems. No internal organs. Cellular structure unknown. It does not have any proteins which are known to us.
Crusher: It's narrower over here. We can get over it.
Riker: How is it moving, Data?
Data: I do not know, sir. It does not appear to have a skeletal framework or musculature.
Riker: Then what's causing it to move?
Data: It appears to be following us, sir.
Riker: No sign of intelligence, no brain as we know it, yet evidence of thought, Mister Data?
Data: Insufficient information, sir.
Picard: Is it a life form, Data?
Data: Again, insufficient information, sir.
Picard: Theorize.
Data: It is possible.
Armus: Very good, tin man.
Picard: What is it, Number One? What are you seeing?
Riker: Trouble.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. While on a mission to rescue survivors from an unexplained shuttle crash, the away team has encountered a strange creature which seems able to assume different forms, including one which resembles humanoid.
Picard: Easy, Number One. Let's find out what it is we're dealing with.
Riker: Agreed, Captain.
Picard: Number One, I don't believe that the location of the crash and the proximity of the creature is a coincidence.
Riker: I am Commander William Riker of the USS Enterprise.
Armus: I am Armus. Why are you here?
Riker: We mean you no harm. We have injured crewmen in the shuttlecraft. We need to get to them. May we pass?
Armus: You haven't given me a good enough reason.
Riker: Preserving life, all life, is very important to us.
Armus: Why?
Riker: We believe everything in the universe has a right to exist.
Armus: An interesting notion which I do not share. You may now leave, if you wish.
Tasha: We're not going without our shuttle crew.
Armus: I warn you.
Tasha: Enough! We have people who need attention. We won't hurt you, but we must help them.
Picard: Number One!
Riker: The creature attacked us. Lieutenant Yar is down.
Data: It seems to feed on our phaser energy.
Riker: We had no effect on it.
Picard: What's Lieutenant Yar's condition? Doctor Crusher, report!
Crusher: She's dead.
Picard: Transporter room, get them up, now.
Crusher: I need her in Sickbay now.
Picard: Go to Yellow Alert, Lieutenant Worf. I'll be in Sickbay.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Picard: Status, Doctor?
Crusher: Unchanged.
Picard: Can you bring her back?
Crusher: We'll see. Neural stimulator.
Nurse: Neural stimulator locked in.
Crusher: Interlock current feeds. Set sensitivity factor to four point four.
Nurse: Affirmative.
Nurse 2: Monitoring two point three, one point eight.
Riker: You did it.
Crusher: No. I've got her on full support. There is no independent brain function.
Nurse 2: Current feeds operating.
Nurse: She's not responding, Doctor. Her synaptic network is breaking down.
Crusher: Inject norep.
Nurse: Neurons are beginning to depolarize.
Crusher: Let's go for direct reticular stimulation.
Nurse: Direct?
Crusher: Do it! Increase to seventy microvolts.
Crusher: Eighty five microvolts. Again. Ninety. Again. Again. She's gone.
Picard: Gone?
Crusher: There was too much synaptic damage. That thing just sucked the life right out of her. There's nothing I can do.
Armus: Your friends have deserted you. They're not coming back.
Troi: You're wrong.
Armus: I killed one of them.
Troi: Yes. I know.
Armus: How could you be in there and know that?
Troi: I felt her die.
Armus: Do you want to know why I killed her?
Troi: Your answer would be meaningless. That act had no reason.
Armus: Exactly. It had no meaning. I did it because I wanted to. It amused me.
Troi: No. You thought it would amuse you, but it didn't. You felt no satisfaction.
Armus: No. It was too easy.
Troi: You wanted her to suffer. You have a great need.
Armus: I need nothing.
Troi: Liar. End this. Let us go.
Armus: Not yet.
Troi: They won't give you what you want.
Armus: And what is that?
Troi: To break their spirit.
Armus: Oh, is that what I want? If breaking their spirit will amuse me, then that's what I will have.
Troi: Never.
Crusher: She didn't do anything. Her phaser was lowered.
Data: She only wanted to get to Troi and Lieutenant Prieto.
Riker: There was nothing provocative about what she did.
Crusher: She was killed in a brutal, senseless act.
Picard: Lieutenant Yar's death is very painful for all of us. We will have to deal with it as best we can for now. Until the shuttle crew is safely beamed aboard this ship, our feelings will have to wait. Is that understood? Lieutenant Worf, you are now Acting Chief of Security.
Worf: I will do my best, sir.
Picard: Doctor, what is the state of the shuttle crew?
Crusher: We're still receiving faint life signs, but the sensor readings are fluctuating. They may not be accurate.
Data: Armus is capable of creating undefined forcefields. In effect, we are powerless to communicate or use the transporter unless it allows it.
Picard: A creature against whom we seem to have no defense. Number One?
Riker: It's down on that planet waiting for us to come back. It killed Tasha and it could have killed us, but it didn't. Deanna and Ben are alive for a reason, and it knows we're not going anywhere as long as they're still alive.
Picard: Are you saying it's attack on Yar was not arbitrary but part of some tactic?
Riker: The only way to find out is to go back down.
Laforge: Commander, I may be able to see something in the creature which might be helpful.
Picard: Agreed. Prepare your away team, Number One.
Riker: Lieutenant Worf?
Worf: I will remain on the ship. The object here is not to engage the creature in battle. The goal is the safe return of Counselor Troi and Lieutenant Prieto. I can best accomplish this at the Tactical Station.
Picard: Very good. Number One?
Riker: Enterprise.
Picard: Number One.
Riker: We're approaching the shuttlecraft. The creature is covering it.
Armus: I lied to you. They came back.
Troi: Let me talk with them.
Armus: No.
Troi: Why? Does the thought of my having contact with them make you uneasy?
Armus: No. Not being able to contact you, not knowing if you are alive, makes them uneasy. Can't you feel how worried they are?
Troi: Yes. Yes, they are worried.
Armus: They care for you. You must be very special.
Troi: We are members of a community. We all care for one another.
Armus: Equally?
Troi: You were really surprised they came back.
Armus: Yes.
Troi: Why? Because the others did not?
Armus: What others?
Troi: You can't hide the emptiness from me. The others. The ones who hurt you. Who left you alone, rejected. The ones who make you so angry.
Armus: What do you know of them?
Troi: Only what you tell me.
Armus: I will tell you nothing.
Troi: Not now. But soon.
Worf: Captain, look at this. The force of the energy field around the shuttlecraft decreased for a few moments when the creature was draped over it.
Picard: But not low enough to beam them out.
Worf: Almost.
Wesley: It's approaching the away team now, and the energy field over the shuttlecraft is back to full intensity.
Picard: Chart it. I want to see if there's a pattern.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Armus: She said you'd be back.
Riker: Then she is alive.
Armus: For now. Why have you returned?
Riker: We have no choice. We're here to negotiate for our team. What do you want?
Armus: Maybe I want nothing.
Riker: Then you would have killed all of us.
Armus: I still might.
Riker: What do you want? Tell me. Maybe we can reach an accommodation.
Armus: If I tell you, will you give it to me?
Riker: I might. It depends.
Crusher: I am a doctor. I need to treat our injured friends.
Armus: Say please.
Crusher: Please.
Armus: You ask nicely. I will allow it. Wait! I've changed my mind. Talk to her from here.
Crusher: How? Troi, can you hear me?
Beverly: Deanna, are you all right?
Troi: Beverly?
Troi: I can hear you.
Crusher: Are you all right?
Troi: Yes.
Crusher: We've encountered some difficulty.
Troi: I know.
Riker: She needs our help.
Armus: So what.
Crusher: Our friends are suffering only a few meters away, yet you block our path. Why?
Armus: You are all ungrateful.
Crusher: What is he made of?
Data: It did not register on the tricorder.
Armus: It? Does that mean I am not alive?
Data: No. Clearly you are some kind of intelligent form.
Armus: But you said I did not register on your instrument. Perhaps your instruments are useless.
Armus: Don't help him.
Riker: Data.
Data: Half meter to the right, Geordi.
Armus: Aren't you going to lead him to his sight again, robot?
Data: No. You will just move it again, and I will not help you hurt him.
Armus: Then give it to him. I will find something else to amuse me.
Armus: You said they wouldn't amuse me. You were right.
Troi: And the emptiness remains. You sound so alone.
Armus: I am alone.
Troi: Abandoned. Who deserted you?
Armus: Creatures whose beauty now dazzles all who see them. They would not exist without me.
Troi: You were together?
Armus: They perfected a means of bringing to the surface all that was evil and negative within. Erupting, spreading, connecting. In time it formed second skin, dank and vile.
Troi: You.
Armus: Yes.
Troi: They diskarded you and left.
Armus: And here I am.
Troi: You have my pity.
Armus: Your pity? Save that for yourself.
Riker: Help! Data, something's got me!
Armus: Touch him and he dies.
Riker: No! No, don't!
Data: Enterprise?
Data: Armus has enveloped Commander Riker.
Picard: I'm beaming you up.
Armus: If any of you leave now, he dies.
Armus: And so do the survivors of the crash.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. There is grave danger to the crew on Vagra Two. My first officer is missing, attacked by this entity known as Armus.
Worf: Captain, perhaps you should look at this. We have the chart of the energy field surrounding the shuttle.
Picard: There are a great deal of fluctuations.
Worf: Yes, but there is a pattern. Here is when it killed Lieutenant Yar, and here is when it absorbed Commander Riker.
Picard: And here, here, where the energy is lowest?
Worf: Both times it had enveloped the shuttle.
Picard: It has something to do with Counselor Troi. Somehow when it's dealing with her, the energy field is affected. I want to talk to her. I'm going to beam down. Lieutenant Worf, you have the conn.
Troi: Imzadi! No! Please, stop hurting him!
Armus: He resists. If he would give himself over, the pain would diminish. He struggles. You should feel his strength.
Troi: I can.
Armus: Should I let him go?
Troi: You only ask to torment me.
Armus: Perhaps.
Troi: How should I answer? What can I offer except myself?
Armus: And would you give yourself for him? Would you give that much?
Troi: Yes. Without hesitation.
Armus: Just for him?
Troi: No, not just for him. I would do the same for any of the others. Armus, you have me. Let them go.
Armus: Perhaps. Ah, another has arrived.
Armus: You are the one in charge?
Picard: Is Commander Riker alive?
Armus: Answer, Tin Man.
Data: I would guess that death is no longer sufficient entertainment to alleviate its boredom. Therefore, Commander Riker is alive.
Armus: Maybe. Don't you want to ask me what I want?
Picard: No.
Armus: Not even to protect your own existence?
Picard: I want to see my people in the shuttle.
Armus: Entertain me. Then I will do it myself. You, Tin Man.
Armus: Now tell me, how would you feel if you were the instrument of death for your leader?
Picard: Don't struggle, Data.
Data: I have no control over what you do with the phaser. Therefore, I would not be the instrument of his death.
Armus: Perhaps killing the Doctor would engender more feeling?
Data: No, the control is still yours.
Armus: And what about you, Doctor? Are you ready to die? Tell me you are not afraid.
Crusher: I am afraid.
Armus: Beg me to spare you.
Crusher: No.
Armus: One of you is going to die, and you, Doctor, get to choose. You don't like that, do you?
Crusher: Then I choose myself.
Armus: No. You are going to live. One of them dies.
Armus: Maybe this one. Though I would not call it death, since he is only a device. Tell me, Tin Man, how does it feel to face your own extinction.
Data: Curious. You are capable of great sadism and cruelty. Interesting. No redeeming qualities.
Armus: So what do you think?
Data: I think you should be destroyed.
Armus: A moral judgment from a machine.
Picard: Data. Armus, we're finished dealing with you.
Armus: I have your man in here, and the others in the shuttle.
Picard: It doesn't matter. We will no longer be a source of amusement.
Armus: I can kill them.
Picard: Yes. You can. But only I can command them. They follow my orders.
Armus: Have them amuse me.
Picard: Only if you let me see my people on the shuttle first. I must see them.
Armus: Not possible.
Picard: Then our business with you is concluded.
Armus: And you claim you care about your comrades.
Picard: I care. Which is why I must see them.
Armus: You want to see your people? Then, here. Look at this one.
Crusher: He's alive. Don't move.
Picard: Is he all right?
Crusher: All signs show normal.
Riker: So much frustration. It had to get rid of me.
Picard: Now, let me see the others.
Armus: No.
Picard: I will not allow my people to entertain you until you do.
Armus: They are incapable of entertaining me.
Picard: I want the four of you out of here. Enterprise, beam up the away team immediately.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Picard: They're no longer involved. This is between you and me.
Armus: They may leave.
Picard: Now.
Armus: I want to leave this place.
Picard: You want me to give you transportation?
Armus: For which I will trade you lives.
Picard: I must see my people in the shuttle.
Armus: Will you give me what I want?
Picard: I have the means. But first I must see my people.
Armus: If you must.
Picard: Troi, are you all right?
Troi: Yes, but Ben is not.
Picard: He's alive.
Troi: Were you able to help Tasha?
Picard: No. Troi. Troi, we must talk. I believe it's possible to outmaneuver this creature, and beam you and Ben back up to the ship. We've been monitoring the energy field that surrounds the shuttle. When the creature is here, the field weakens. Do you know why?
Troi: The creature is filled with rage. Undirected, unfocused rage. When he confronts it, his guard goes down because he's feeling it instead of suppressing it. Acknowledging his needs makes him vulnerable.
Picard: What caused the rage?
Troi: He was left here. Abandoned.
Worf: The forcefield will have to drop below two point seven before we can beam them up.
Armus: Satisfied?
Picard: Yes.
Armus: Then can we leave?
Picard: Where do you want to go? Do you want to try to find those who left you here?
Armus: She told you about them.
Picard: How long have you been here?
Armus: Since they left. A very long time.
Picard: A long time to be alone.
Armus: Save your compassion. It's revolting. You offer it like a prize when in fact it's an insult.
Picard: Because you feel unworthy.
Armus: You overrate your gift. You humans are puny, weak.
Picard: But our spirit, it is indomitable.
Armus: And still you die from a flake of my power.
Picard: A great poet once said, 'all spirits are enslaved that serve things evil'.
Armus: You do not understand. I do not serve things evil. I am evil.
Picard: Oh, no, you are not.
Armus: I am a skin of evil left here by a race of Titans who believed if they rid themselves of me, they would free the bonds of destructiveness.
Picard: Yes. So here you are. Feeding on your own loneliness. Consumed by your own pain. Believing your own lies.
Worf: Set the computer. When the energy level reaches two point six point two zero five, automatically beam up Troi and Prieto. We'll do a parallel transport on the Captain.
Wesley: Yes, sir.
Picard: You say you are true evil? Shall I tell you what true evil is? It is to submit to you. It is when we surrender our freedom, our dignity, instead of defying you.
Armus: I will kill you, and those in there.
Picard: But you will still be here. In this place. For ever. Alone. Immortal.
Computer: Stand by for parallel transport.
Worf: The energy level has dropped to two point six point three.
Picard: That's your real fear. Never to die. Never again to be united with those who left you here.
Worf: Energy field is two point six. Computer beginning transport.
Picard: I'm not taking you anywhere.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 41602.1. The shuttlecraft has been destroyed to prevent any possibility of Armus leaving the planet. Vagra Two will be declared off limits. But the damage has been done. One of the saddest duties I've ever had to perform is now ahead of me.
Picard: We are here together to honor our friend and comrade, Lieutenant Natasha Yar. Coming to terms with the loss of a colleague is perhaps the most difficult tasks we must face in the work we have chosen to pursue. We will all find time to grieve for her in the days that are ahead, but for now she has asked that we celebrate her life with this.
Tasha: Hello, my friends. You are here now watching this image of me because I have died. It probably happened while I was on duty, and quickly, which is what I expected. Never forget I died doing exactly what I chose to do. What I want you to know is how much I loved my life, and those of you who shared it with me. You are my family. You all know where I came from and what my life was like before. But Starfleet took that frightened, angry young girl and tempered her. I have been blessed with your friendship and your love. Will Riker, you are the best. You trusted me, you encouraged me, and most of all you made me laugh. Deanna, you are capable of so much love. You taught me without ever having to say a word. I realized I could be feminine without losing anything. Ah, Worf. We are so much alike, you and I. Both warriors, orphans who found ourselves this family. I hope I met death with my eyes wide open. Beverly. Your fierce devotion comes from within. It can't be diminished. From you, I have learned to strive for excellence, no matter what the personal cost. Wesley, I'm sorry I won't be able to see you grow into the exceptional man you'll be. But your kindness and innocence are ageless. Geordi, in those moments I felt the most despair, you took my hand and helped me to see things differently. You taught me to look beyond the moment. My friend Data. You see things with the wonder of a child, and that makes you more human than any of us. Captain Jean-Luc Picard. I wish I could say you've been like a father to me, but I've never had one, so I don't know what it feels like. But if there was someone in this universe I could choose to be like, someone who I would want to make proud of me, it's you. You who have the heart of an explorer and the soul of a poet. So, you'll understand when I say, death is that state in which one exists only in the memory of others. Which is why it is not an end. No goodbyes. Just good memories. Hailing frequencies closed, sir.
Picard: Au revoir, Natasha. The gathering is concluded.
Data: Sir, the purpose of this gathering confuses me.
Picard: Oh? How so?
Data: My thoughts are not for Tasha, but for myself. I keep thinking how empty it will feel without her presence. Did I miss the point?
Picard: No, you didn't, Data. You got it.


Picard: All hands, this is the Captain. As you may know, the sun in the Delos system is undergoing large-scale magnetic field changes, producing violent, gigantic flares. Now, we shall be studying this star at close range. Even though we shall be running with full deflectors, the closeness of this event and its severity are going to create problems.
Picard: Intense magnetic fields have a disruptive effect on electrical systems. Therefore we can expect communications interruptions, as well as potential temporary loss of other systems. As a precaution, we are now going to Yellow Alert. Stay sharp, everyone.
Computer: Attention all decks. Yellow Alert.
Data: Engineering, this is Lieutenant Commander Data. Bring all systems online and direct full power to the shields.
Data: All sections secure, sir.
Picard: Lieutenant La Forge?
Laforge: Course is set, Captain.
Picard: Half impulse.
Laforge: Aye, sir, one half impulse.
Picard: On main viewer. Mask out the photosphere. Magnify. Quadrant one seven, magnification factor twelve.
Riker: I've never seen anything like this before. The violence of these eruptions is awesome.
Data: Captain, I'm reading an unusual number of sunspots and eruptive prominences, sir. The magnetic field is extremely irregular.
Wesley: Captain, deflectors are being hit by a huge burst of X-rays.
Wesley: Wow! Look. Captain, my console seems to be overloading.
Worf: The X-ray burst is disrupting systems, Captain. I'm adjusting deflectors to compensate.
Worf: Engineering, increase power to forward shields.
Crewwoman: Forward deflectors online, sir.
Picard: Status report.
Worf: All systems operational, sir.
Troi: Captain, the level of tension on the ship is mounting.
Picard: Understandable. Mister Data?
Data: If we are to investigate, sir, we must get closer.
Picard: Mister La Forge, move us in closer. This is the Captain. We will be pushing the shields to the limit, but we are getting a splendid view of this phenomenon.
Worf: Captain, I have intercepted what appears to be a distress signal.
Picard: Let me hear it.
T'Jon: This is T'Jon. I am on the Ornaran freighter . We have a serious problem here. Can't seem to fix it. We need help.
Data: The transmission is coming from a freighter in orbit around the fourth planet in the system. However, the receiving station is on the third planet.
Picard: Open hailing frequencies.
Tasha: Hailing frequencies open.
Picard: Unidentified freighter, this is the USS Enterprise. May we be of assistance?
T'Jon: Whoever you are, yes! I'm having trouble navigating. We can't maintain a steady course. Please help us if you can.
Picard: Can't you enhance the frequency?
Tasha: Too much interference.
Picard: Set course to intersect with the freighter. Warp two.
Laforge: Aye, sir.
Picard: Maintain Yellow Alert.
T'Jon: I can't control the helm any longer. I'm losing orbit. We're heading into the atmosphere. Please, do something. We're going to burn up. We haven't much time.
Worf: It is a freighter, very old.
Data: Captain, our sensors are being severely affected by the sun flares.
Picard: Helm, take us in as close as possible to the freighter's orbit.
Laforge: Moving in, sir.
Data: There are six life forms aboard the freighter, sir.
Worf: Captain, the freighter's orbit is decaying.
Picard: How long before it loses integrity?
Worf: A matter of minutes.
Picard: Unidentified freighter, this is the USS Enterprise.
T'Jon: Enterprise, this is the Ornaran freighter Sanction.
Picard: Put this on the main viewer.
Tasha: The visual transmission is still breaking up.
Picard: Freighter Sanction, this is the Enterprise. What is your situation?
Voices: Not so good. Helm isn't working right. What is the problem?
Picard: This is the Enterprise. With all this interference it is difficult to copy your transmission. If you all talk at once it is almost impossible. Now, please say again. What is your situation?
T'Jon: I am T'Jon, Captain of the Sanction.
Picard: At last. How can we help?
T'Jon: We have lost, I don't know, something. I am no longer able to maintain this orbit, nor am I able to use the main thrusters. It's all, you know, dead, I guess. It's all shut down?
Picard: Well, that is a little vague. What is the computer analysis?
T'Jon: Well, the computer's not working very well.
Picard: Data, can you tap into their computer and clarify the situation?
Data: I will attempt it, sir.
Tasha: Captain, the tractor beam is available, if you want it.
Riker: At least we can pull them out of orbit before they enter the atmosphere.
Picard: Freighter, we're going to lock on the tractor beam and pull you out of orbit.
T'Jon: Hey, that's, that's great.
Worf: Captain, the freighter's orbit continues to deteriorate.
Tasha: The solar flares are interfering with the tractor beam, Captain. I can't lock on.
Picard: Captain T'Jon, we are unable to attach our tractor beam because of the intense solar activity.
T'Jon: I understand. Thanks for trying.
Data: Sir, I have determined what is malfunctioning on the freighter.
Picard: Captain, we have analyzed your problem.
T'Jon: Great.
Picard: Data.
Data: Your ship's design uses an electromagnetic coil to constrict the exhaust flow. That coil is misaligned.
T'Jon: Really?
Picard: Do you have the necessary tools to realign the coil?
T'Jon: I don't think so.
Laforge: I believe, Captain, we can provide them with a temporary substitute. Our ship's stores contain a coil of the proper type.
Riker: Can we beam one over?
Tasha: Yes.
Picard: Captain, we're beaming over a replacement coil.
T'Jon: That's great. And that'll fix us up?
Picard: Yes, once it's installled.
T'Jon: Right. And how do we do that?
Picard: What is the matter with these people? How can he be Captain of that vessel and not understand its simplest function?
Picard: Captain, how long have you been in command of this freighter?
T'Jon: Seven years. This is my twenty-sixth voyage to Brekka.
Picard: And you don't know how to align a control coil?
T'Jon: It's never come up.
Riker: Can anyone else over there do it?
T'Jon: Hold on. I'll ask. Sorry. Nobody here knows anything about it.
Riker: I'd better get over with a team.
Tasha: Captain, I strongly recommend against anyone from this ship beaming over. The solar interference is too great.
Worf: The freighter has entered the planet's atmosphere. Disintegration is imminent.
Riker: We're running out of options.
Picard: Let's get them off there. T'Jon, stand by to beam over.
T'Jon: If you think that's best.
Picard: Unless you have any other options, yes, I think that's best.
T'Jon: Whatever you say.
Tasha: I can't maintain a positive lock.
Wesley: Unusual E-M burst, sir. Readings off scale.
Riker: Freighter Sanction, this is the Enterprise. We're having difficulty getting a fix.
Tasha: Have them go to their own transporter room. It will be tricky, but perhaps I can link the two transporters in series and get them over with the increased power.
Riker: It's worth a try. Captain T'Jon go to your transporter room. Contact me from there.
T'Jon: Right, Enterprise. It's right next door. But if you can't get us with your transporter, what makes you think ours will do the job?
Tasha: I'm going to interconnect them.
T'Jon: I didn't know you could do that.
Tasha: Hurry! We're running out of time.
T'Jon: We're on our way.
Tasha: I don't think they're going to make it.
Riker: Captain T'Jon doesn't sound like he cares one way or the other.
Tasha: Worf, how much time do we have?
Worf: One minute, twenty eight seconds.
Tasha: Captain T'Jon, are you there?
T'Jon: We're in the transporter room.
Tasha: Great. Activate your transporter. Set coordinates nine seven zero three mark two six eight.
T'Jon: Did you say two eight six or eight eight six.
Tasha: Mark two six eight!
T'Jon: Got it.
Worf: Sir, the hull temperature of the freighter is passing three thousand degrees.
Picard: What's the hold up, Number One?
Riker: We're establishing the link right now.
T'Jon: We're ready.
Tasha: Then all six of you, get on the transporter platform. On my signal, energize. I've got their initial transporter signal. Interlock complete. Energize on my mark. Four, three, two, one, energize.
Picard: Number One, did you get them off?
Riker: No, sir. They stayed in the freighter
Riker: But they beamed over their cargo.
Picard: Cargo? Are those people crazy? What could possibly be so important?
Worf: Sir, the freighter is disintegrating.
Picard: Their lives are in danger and they're beaming over cargo? Number One, I don't understand these people.
Laforge: Captain, the freighter's hull temperature is approaching critical.
Riker: Unbelievable.
Picard: We're losing the freighter. Got to beam those people over now.
Riker: Clear the cargo. Beam it to a hold.
Tasha: Aye, sir.
Riker: Freighter Sanction, this is the Enterprise, Get to your transporter pad and. No, forget about that. Lock on to any life form you can find and get them over now.
Tasha: Trying, sir.
Laforge: The freighter is going down.
Picard: Transporter Room. You're out of time.
Tasha: Reading six life forms, but I can't get a solid lock.
Riker: We have no choice. Energize. I thought you said there were six. Where are the other two?
Tasha: The lock didn't hold.
Riker: Re-establish.
Tasha: It's too late.
Picard: Number One?
Riker: Two are lost, sir. But we saved four. I'm Commander William Riker of the USS Enterprise. I'm sorry we were unable to rescue the other two. We did everything we could. If you had come instead of sending your cargo, you all would have made it.
T'Jon: The cargo. Where is it?
Romas: You did save it, didn't you?
Riker: Yes, we did. It's in one of our cargo holds. You act like it's more important than your comrades.
T'Jon: The cargo. May we see it?
Riker: Follow me.
T'Jon: Thank you. Thank you. We thought we had lost it.
Sobi: Careful with your choice of words, T'Jon. It's ours, not yours.
T'Jon: We paid a fair price for it!
Langor: You offered a fair price. We have not received it.
Romas: You accepted our goods in trade!
Sobi: Then where are they? Tell me.
T'Jon: That's not our problem.
Langor: No more than the barrel is your property. It's as simple as this. The goods were never delivered. They were destroyed with your ship.
Sobi: Hence the deal was incomplete. Hence possession of the felicium remains ours.
Romas: We need it.
Sobi: Commander, I request you transport my associate and myself down to Brekka, with our merchandise.
T'Jon: Yes, get them out of here. But the barrel stays.
Langor: There's no reasoning with you.
Sobi: Langor, you expect too much from them. You always have, and you've always been disappointed. You didn't pay for it, therefore it's not yours.
T'Jon: Damn you, Sobi.
Tasha: Stop this. Now!
Riker: Security to cargo bay eleven.
Tasha: Behave yourselves, gentlemen.
Tasha: Escort our visitors to the observation lounge.
Tasha: A natural electrical charge?
Riker: Formidable.
Tasha: Yes, and a difficult weapon to confiscate.
Riker: I have never seen humanoids with that power.
Tasha: Neither have I. I wonder how it evolved?
Riker: I wonder if the strong magnetic field of their sun might have something to do with it.
Tasha: Could be. I wonder how much power our guests can produce?
Riker: Or if they need to recharge?
Tasha: That's an interesting ability. The question is, how do I defend against it?
Riker: You think our visitors pose a threat?
Tasha: I don't know. But if they do, I'd better be ready for it.
Riker: Precisely, Lieutenant.
T'Jon: We have to resolve this soon. There isn't much time.
Sobi: What can you offer?
T'Jon: Everything we had went down with the Sanction.
Sobi: Then it's going to be difficult to accommodate you.
Laforge: Solar flares are increasing in magnitude, Captain. Shields are shaky, but they're holding.
Picard: Maintain.
Picard: How are our rather quarrelsome guests?
Tasha: They're waiting for you in the observation lounge, sir.
Picard: Data, what information can you give us about the inhabitants of this system?
Data: Not very much, sir. The only recorded contact with the Delos system was over two hundred years ago. A scout ship reported two inhabited planets, one of which was on the verge of acquiring space travel.
Laforge: Odd that in two centuries neither civilization advanced much further.
Troi: Sir, I find it strange that none of our visitors feels much remorse about the two freighter passengers who perished. Yet that barrel of cargo is a source of great anxiety to them.
Picard: Yes. Let's pay a call, get some answers. Number One, Mister Data. Mister La Forge, you have the Bridge.
Laforge: Aye, sir.
Riker: Captain, may I present Sobi and Langor from the planet Brekka, and T'Jon and Romas from Ornara.
Picard: I am sorry we couldn't save your ship.
T'Jon: Tell me, you could have repaired it.
Picard: Oh, yes.
T'Jon: We have only two left. Neither works properly. They are critical to our survival. Will you fix them?
Picard: Mister Data?
Data: Our computer has downloaded the specifications for the magnetic coils the freighters depend on. Assuming the malfunction is similar, suitable replacements can be fabricated.
Picard: Instruct Engineering to proceed.
Data: Aye, sir.
T'Jon: Now, as for our cargo.
Sobi: Our cargo, Captain.
Romas: Wrong, Sobi.
Picard: My First Officer has said that ownership of this cargo is in dispute, but this question must be settled by whatever legal mechanism exists between your societies.
T'Jon: Captain, you don't understand. This is a matter of life and death.
Picard: Why is that? What is this cargo?
T'Jon: Medicine.
Picard: Indeed?
Romas: Our planet is in desperate need, Captain. We have people suffering from a lethal plague.
T'Jon: The cargo you have impounded is the only hope of life for our people.
Picard: Is that so?
Sobi: Yes.
Langor: You must think us heartless brutes, Captain, but look at our side of it. The plant which yields the medicine felicium grows only in remote areas of Brekka.
Sobi: It must be painstakingly cultivated, harvested, purified. A complex and expensive process.
Langor: That single shipment of felicium represents an enormous investment. We can't just give it away.
T'Jon: We paid for it. We are asking only for what is ours.
Langor: That is your viewpoint. Ours, of course, differs.
Romas: You are going to hold to that position?
Sobi: I am constrained to abide by the terms of our agreement.
Romas: Then you condemn us to death!
T'Jon: Romas.
Romas: You disgust me! If you could see the suffering the plague has caused. Well, you are going to, when you see what it does to us.
Picard: Romas, are you and T'Jon carrying this plague?
Romas: Yes. Every Ornaran does.
Picard: Then you may have brought it aboard this ship. Was there a medical scan when they transported?
Riker: Unverified. The solar flares could have caused a malfunction in the biofilter.
Picard: Med Alert. Medical emergency. Doctor Crusher to the observation lounge at once.
Sobi: You find us well, I trust?
Crusher: As far as I can tell. Your physiology is somewhat different than I've ever encountered, but I detect no dangerous virus or bacteria.
Langor: I assure you we're in perfect health.
T'Jon: But we are not. We need our medicine.
Sobi: Our medicine.
T'Jon: We paid for it. It's ours now.
Crusher: Enough!
Sobi: Of course. You are right, Doctor. Could we leave now?
Crusher: I see no reason why not. Escort them to their quarters.
Picard: Doctor.
Langor: Captain, could I speak with you please? In private.
Crusher: Not right now. Captain.
Picard: What have you learned?
Crusher: The Brekkians show no sign of infection. The Ornarans show all the symptoms of a disease but I can't find a cause.
Picard: Perhaps it was filtered out by the transporter when they were beamed aboard?
Crusher: There's no record of it. Then again, the solar flare activity might have caused a malfunction in the biofilters or their monitors.
Picard: Are they going to die?
Crusher: I need to check further, but my instinct says no.
Picard: Do you think we are in danger from this plague?
Crusher: Again, I need more time.
Picard: There are some missing pieces to this puzzle.
Crusher: What's missing is a little compassion.
Picard: Are we losing our professional detachment, Doctor?
Crusher: Perhaps. But Captain, I must tell you, I'm developing a very active dislike for these Brekkians.
Picard: Understandable.
T'Jon: Captain, you must give us back our cargo.
Picard: I can't do that.
T'Jon: Why? It belongs to us.
Picard: The Brekkians claim it belongs to them.
Romas: They lie.
Picard: That may be so, but it's not my decision.
Romas: We need some now. Now! I don't care if it's your decision. Get us some.
T'Jon: Captain, what is happening to us, is happening to thousands more on Ornara. Please understand the magnitude of the problem.
Romas: Your people don't need it. The Brekkians don't need it. Our people do.
T'Jon: If you don't give it to us, you will be a party to murder, not only of us, but of an entire civilization. I'm sorry, I do not mean to insult you. I'm feeling very shaky.
Romas: We cannot hold out much longer.
Crusher: They believe it will help them. That in itself might control their symptoms.
Picard: I'll talk with the Brekkians.
T'Jon: Thank you, Captain. We appreciate anything you can do.
Sobi: May I say, Captain, how impressed we are with your ship and all its facilities.
Picard: Thank you.
Langor: And its crew. Everyone is so efficient and professional.
Picard: I am glad you are comfortable. I've come to seek your agreement to an Ornaran request.
Sobi: We cannot agree
Langor: Wait. Let the Captain speak. We want to be reasonable.
Picard: The two Ornarans are really quite ill and insisting that they need felicium.
Sobi: That is not surprising.
Picard: Would you object to giving them enough for their own immediate needs?
Sobi: Captain, we Brekkians are in business. We are not in the habit of giving away what has not been paid for.
Picard: You would see them die rather than share the medicine?
Langor: We want to be fair, Captain. We agree to permitting them two dosages for immediate use.
Sobi: No charge.
Picard: I'll let my Medical Officer handle it.
Langor: Captain, I trust you won't mind if we're present while you open the cargo.
Crusher: What does that device do?
Sobi: This measures the individual portions.
Crusher: What's the dosage?
Langor: Point zero one milliliters.
Crusher: Very potent substance.
Sobi: We've improved our distilllation process over the years.
Langor: In my grandfather's day, the same amount of felicium would have filled five rooms this size.
Sobi: But now with our improved processes, this one barrel contains over four billion doses.
Data: I would estimate four billion, three hundred seventy five million
Picard: Thank you, Mister Data.
Crusher: How long is the dosage effective?
Langor: It varies with the individual.
Sobi: But never more than seventy two hours.
Crusher: And then the symptoms return.
Langor: Yes. Unfortunately, there is no cure for the plague.
Sobi: But felicium inhibits the sickness with total efficiency.
Langor: Allowing the Ornarans to lead normal lives.
Crusher: An unusual disease. Virulent, extremely persistent, yet I can't isolate it.
Langor: The plague has baffled doctors on both planets for two hundred years.
Sobi: We've therefore concentrated on treatment, finding new ways to improve the potency and purity of felicium.
Data: No doubt you have applied your technology from other industries to the refinement of this product.
Sobi: We have no other industry.
Picard: None at all?
Langor: We don't need any. The Ornarans provide us everything we need in exchange for this.
Data: Fascinating. Your society is dedicated exclusively to the production of a single product.
Picard: A product for which you have no use, but which the Ornarans can't live without.
Langor: One of the little ironies of life, Captain.
Sobi: But one we'd be fools not to take advantage of. It's mutually beneficial.
Langor: The Ornarans provide us with the necessities of life, and we provide them with the necessities of living. It is a fair exchange.
Picard: Interesting relationship.
Crusher: Excuse me. I'll take that to Sickbay.
Crusher: Can I help?
T'Jon: No.
Romas: Hurry up!
Crusher: You're feeling better?
T'Jon: Yes, thank you. I'm fine now.
Picard: Come.
Picard: Doctor.
Crusher: I may not know felicium's full effect on Ornarian physiology, but I know how to interpret physical reactions.
Picard: Are the Ornarans recovering?
Crusher: T'Jon and Romas are feeling fine. In fact, too fine. Felicium's a narcotic.
Picard: Then T'Jon, and Romas, indeed everyone on their world?
Crusher: Is a drug addict.
Riker: I think you'll find it's a fascinating tale that we've come across here, Captain.
Picard: You've piqued my interest, Number One. Please continue.
Riker: Data, what have we got?
Data: Beginning several thousand years ago, the two worlds took different paths. Ornara became technologically sophisticated, Brekka did not. Then two hundred years ago, Ornara was stricken by a devastating plague.
Riker: Their advanced technology could provide no solution.
Data: Somehow, and there is limited information on this point, the cure was found in a plant indigenous to only Brekka, and which resisted all attempts at cultivation on Ornara.
Riker: In any case, a trading situation developed which still exists.
Crusher: A nice arrangement for the Brekkians.
Riker: And for the Ornarans. Without the medicine, they would all die.
Crusher: No they wouldn't. Despite what the Ornarans have been saying, it's not a medicine. It was a medicine, but it cured the plague two hundred years ago. The plague is irrelevant now. It doesn't exist.
Riker: Then why are they so desperate for the felicium?
Crusher: It's an addiction. The physical and psychological need is very real.
Picard: Thank you.
Crusher: What are you going to do?
Picard: Based on what we know so far, there's nothing I can do.
Crusher: You don't think drug addiction and exploitation is sufficient cause to do something?
Picard: This situation has existed for a very long time. These two societies are intertwined in a symbiotic relationship.
Crusher: With one society profiting at the expense of the other.
Picard: That's how you see it.
Crusher: I can synthesize a non-addictive substitute which will ease their withdrawal symptoms.
Picard: No, I can't do that either.
Crusher: You can't let them have the felicium.
Picard: Why? Because it offends against our sensibilities? It is not our mission to impose Federation or Earth values on any others in the galaxy.
Crusher: Well in this case, Captain, I disagree, one hundred percent.
Tasha: Captain, I'm receiving a call from Ornara. The signal is ragged, but I think I can put it on the viewscreen.
Picard: Do it.
Margan: I'm Margan. Are my people on board your ship?
Picard: Some of them, yes.
Margan: May I speak to them?
Picard: Yes. Lieutenant Yar, have the Ornarans brought in. No, wait, I don't want them to have access to the Bridge. We will contact you in a few minutes. I will continue this in the guest quarters. Commander, Doctor.
Wesley: Data, I can understand how this could happen to the Ornarans. What I can't understand is why anyone would voluntarily become dependent on a chemical.
Data: Voluntary addiction to drugs is a recurrent theme in many cultures.
Tasha: Wesley, no one wants to become dependent. That happens later.
Wesley: But it does happen. So why do people start?
Tasha: On my home planet, there was so much poverty and violence, that for some the only escape was through drugs.
Wesley: How can a chemical substance can provide an escape.
Tasha: It doesn't, but it makes you think it does. You have to understand, drugs can make you feel good. They make you feel on top of the world. You're happy, sure of yourself, in control.
Wesley: But it's artificial.
Tasha: It doesn't feel artificial until the drug wears off. Then you pay the price. Before you know it, you're taking the drug not to feel good, but to keep from feeling bad.
Wesley: And that's the trap?
Tasha: All you care about is getting your next dosage. Nothing else matters.
Wesley: I guess I just don't understand.
Tasha: Wesley, I hope you never do.
Picard: Lieutenant Yar, we're ready in the guest quarters.
Margan: T'Jon. Have you got it?
T'Jon: Well, it's here, but
Margan: You've got to get it to us. T'Jon, please. We're dying down here. You don't know. It's worse than it's ever been before.
T'Jon: I'm doing everything I can. You see, what happened was
Margan: Stop! I can't listen any more! T'Jon, there are so many people here. So much suffering. We need the medicine. You've got to get it to us. I can't go on. Help, T'Jon. Please.
Picard: I'm sorry.
T'Jon: You will take us to our planet and leave us there with our medicine or this person dies. Don't you see I have no choice? We were sent to bring the felicium back. The suffering on my planet is too great. People are dying. It doesn't matter whether we're entitled to it or not. We must have it.
Picard: Let him go.
T'Jon: You will take us there now, or give us a shuttle. But we must have the medicine. If you refuse, this person will die.
Picard: I will not be coerced.
T'Jon: I will do it. I will kill him.
Picard: No. No, you won't. You're not a killer.
T'Jon: Help us, please. Help us.
Picard: I'm not sure that I can.
Riker: My insides are still shaking, but I'm all right.
Langor: Captain Picard, could I see you a moment?
Riker: I'll stay here.
Picard: Come with me, Doctor. This could be interesting.
Langor: We have thought about this a great deal.
Sobi: We both of us feel deeply about what is happening on Ornara.
Langor: Although it is going to cause hardship to us and to our people, we have decided to give the felicium to them.
Sobi: They can pay whenever they are able.
Langor: We don't want to be the ones responsible for their suffering.
Picard: There goes the other shoe. They know.
Crusher: What do they know?
Picard: They know that the Ornarans no longer have the plague. They know that felicium is no longer a medicine. So, of course, they are willing to give this shipment because they don't want to take the chance that the Ornarans will lose their addiction. They don't want to lose their only customers.
Crusher: How would they have known all that, unless the plague had once infected their world as well.
Picard: They were infected. They used the felicium to cure themselves, but somehow their ancestors realized that it was a narcotic.
Crusher: They broke the cycle of addiction and never told the Ornarans. They let them continue to believe that without the felicium they would die.
Picard: I think it's worse than that. My guess is this refining process of which you are so proud
Crusher: is only to increase the potency of the felicium and tighten your grip!
Sobi: What are you going to do?
Langor: Are you going to tell them?
Picard: No. I'm bound by the rules of the United Federation of Planets, which order me not to interfere with other worlds, other cultures. If I were to tell them any of this, I would violate that Prime Directive.
Sobi: But you are talking to us about it.
Picard: This is information you already know. And so nothing has changed.
Langor: If you can't interfere, then you are going to allow the Ornarans to have the felicium?
Picard: Yes, I am.
Crusher: No! Don't do it. Jean-Luc, this is not a symbiotic relationship. This is exploitation, pure and simple! The Brekkians have caused all of this suffering and hardship only to make their pitiful lives easier! And all of it based on a lie. No, deny them this shipment. It is the least we can do.
Picard: From the moment they agreed to give them the felicium, my hands were tied.
Langor: You are absolutely right, Captain. It's not your business.
T'Jon: Are these the spare parts for our freighters?
Romas: They look complicated.
T'Jon: Are they already?
Tasha: Aligned?
T'Jon: Right.
Tasha: You'd have to ask the Captain.
Laforge: Captain Picard, we've arrived at Ornara and assumed standard orbit.
Picard: Acknowledged. Thank you.
T'Jon: Captain, please. My planet is suffering.
Romas: We beg you to give us our medicine.
Picard: The matter is already decided. You're beaming down to your world with the felicium.
T'Jon: Great.
Romas: I knew it. I knew you'd help us.
T'Jon: We thank you.
Picard: Don't thank me. Sobi and Langor, they decided to let you have it.
Sobi: We'll discuss the payment terms later.
Langor: In the mean time, there's no need to deprive you of your needed medicine.
T'Jon: That's terrific.
Romas: I'm sure we can come to a fair deal for payment.
Sobi: May we beam down with you and discuss it?
T'Jon: Of course.
Romas: You are quite welcome on Ornara.
Langor: We appreciate your hospitality.
T'Jon: And Captain, we appreciate your gift of the coils.
Romas: Once our freighters are fixed, everything'll be back to normal.
Picard: No.
T'Jon: No?
Picard: The coils stay here.
Romas: What about our freighters?
Picard: You want to repair them, you'll have to learn to do it yourselves.
T'Jon: We can't.
Romas: If you don't help us, our ships will soon be inoperable.
Picard: Quite possibly.
Sobi: If you withhold those coils, you'll be disrupting the stability of both our planets.
Langor: And interfering with a trade arrangement that has lasted for generations! What of your Prime Directive?
Picard: In this situation, Prime Directive prohibits me from helping you.
Sobi: That's absurd!
Picard: You did not think so when it worked in your favor.
Romas: Do you want our world to suffer?
Picard: Oh no, I don't want that.
T'Jon: Without the freighters, there will be no more shipments of felicium. We will die.
Crusher: You must trust yourselves. There are other options.
Picard: Ensign, prepare to beam our guests and their cargo down to Ornara.
T'Jon: Captain, I hope you realize what you've done to us.
Picard: Of that you can be sure. Good luck.
Picard: Main Bridge.
Crusher: When the Felicium runs out, the people of Ornara will suffer horrible withdrawal pains.
Picard: No doubt, but they will pass.
Crusher: That seems so cruel. We could have made their burden easier.
Picard: Could we have? Perhaps in the short term. But to what end? Hold. Beverly, the Prime Directive is not just a set of rules. It is a philosophy, and a very correct one. History has proved again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous.
Crusher: It's hard to be philosophical when faced with suffering.
Picard: Believe me, Beverly, there was only one decision.
Crusher: I just hope it was the right one.
Picard: And we may never know. Resume.
Picard: Mister La Forge, take us out of orbit.
Laforge: Destination, sir?
Picard: I don't care. Let's just get some distance between us and this system.
Laforge: Aye, sir. Course nine seven zero mark three one eight. Speed, warp three.
Riker: Where will that take us, Mister La Forge?
Laforge: The Opraline system.
Riker: An interesting choice. Why?
Laforge: Curiosity. We've never been there.
Picard: Engage.