Riker: Riker to Ensign Crusher.
Wesley: Go ahead.
Riker: Forget to set your alarm, Wesley?
Wesley: Yes, sir.
Wesley: I'm very sorry. I'll be right there. this.
Picard: Captain's log, Stardate 43125.8. We have entered a spectacular binary star system in the Kavis Alpha sector on a most critical mission of astro-physical research. Our eminent guest, Doctor Paul Stubbs, will attempt to study the decay of neutronium expelled at relativistic speeds by a massive stellar explosion which will occur here in a matter of hours.
Riker: Ensign, our position.
Wesley: Approaching one million kilometers from the neutron star, sir.
Riker: Slow to one third impulse power.
Stubbs: Spectacular, isn't it, my young friend?
Wesley: Yes sir.
Stubbs: Over and over again, the intense gravitational pull of the little neutron star sucks up the star material from the red giant, and it builds up on the surface until it explodes, every one hundred and ninety six years. Like clockwork. And it is but eighteen hours away.
Data: Eighteen hours, seven minutes, and ten seconds, Doctor.
Stubbs: The interstellar counterpart to Earth's Old Faithful. The only predictable burst of energy in the universe that can accomplish our goal.
Picard: Doctor Stubbs, if you would like to make one final inspection of the unit.
Stubbs: Captain, I've been inspecting the Egg for the last twenty years. You may lay it when ready.
Picard: Begin launch sequence.
Riker: Shuttlebay two, stand-by to launch the Egg.
Crewman: Standing by, Commander.
Data: Five minutes to launch site.
Picard: Stabilize.
Wesley: The ship isn't responding, sir.
Picard: Engineering.
Picard: Report, Mister La Forge.
Laforge: Checking for failure of inertial dampeners. Instruments say they're working
Worf: Captain, we're heading straight into the path of that stellar matter.
Picard: Shields up.
Worf: Negative. The shields will not respond.
Data: Thirty seconds to impact, sir.
Picard: Manual override on shields.
Worf: Shields are rising.
Riker: Reset dampeners.
Riker: Mister La Forge.
Laforge: Dampeners not responding.
Laforge: Unable to reset.
Picard: Reverse impulse engines.
Laforge: Initiating reverse sequence, now.
Picard: Our momentum is still carrying us into the path of the stellar matter.
Data: Twelve seconds to impact, sir.
Riker: Prepare for impact. Medical personnel, report to the Bridge. Commander Data, check all systems.
Data: All systems functioning normally, sir.
Picard: Computer, explain control malfunction.
Computer: No control malfunction has been recorded.
Nurse: Lay down carefully. There you go.
Wesley: Doctor Stubbs, the captain asked me to tell you that our systems are back to normal, and we can try another launch attempt as soon as you're ready.
Stubbs: Quite a dynamic family team, you Crushers.
Crusher: Well, it's nice to be together again. I was at Starfleet Medical for a year. I missed about two inches of him.
Stubbs: I'm not sure I'd want my mother to be flying through space with me. No, I take that back. I am sure. I wouldn't want her. My mother is a formidable woman, too. A woman of letters. A great critic.
Wesley: I know.
Stubbs: Good Lord, son. You didn't read that unauthorized biography? Is this all this boy does, Doctor? Fly the ship and read? Doesn't he ever have any fun?
Crusher: Sure he does.
Wesley: Actually, most of my free time is taken up with my studies. I'm trying to get into Starfleet Academy, and I earn credits for the time spent on the Enterprise, but it's just not the same.
Nurse: Are you ready to sit up?
Stubbs: Well. I am whole again. Thank you, Doctor. Come along, Wesley. Let's go see if Humpty Dumpty is still in one piece.
Crusher: Computer, fix the food slot.
Computer: The food slot is functioning properly.
Crusher: Well, check again.
Computer: The food slot is functioning properly.
Crusher: Computer, deactivate food slot.
Laforge: We're analyzing the engineering systems data, Captain. So far we're showing nothing unusual
Laforge: In the computer log for that time period.
Picard: Run a level one diagnostic series. Come. I want a computer that's one hundred percent to expedite Doctor Stubbs' experiment. As well as the food slots in Sickbay. Picard out.
Crusher: Which seem to be working again, for the moment anyway.
Picard: What can I do for you, Doctor?
Crusher: Jean-Luc, how would you feel if you were a seventeen year old and the only Starfleet Officer whose mother was on board?
Picard: Inhibited, I suppose. But then, I'm not Wesley. And if you are concerned about him, I see no evidence that there is a problem.
Crusher: I know, but, in a funny kind of way, that's exactly my point. We talk. We smile. It's almost too polite.
Picard: Beverly, isn't it just a matter of time? I know how difficult it was for you being away.
Crusher: Tell me about him.
Picard: Well, he's becoming a very fine officer. He works as hard as any member of the crew. Riker says his studies are on line.
Crusher: No. Tell me about him.
Picard: He's his father's son. Honest, trusting, strong.
Crusher: Does he have many friends? Has he ever been in love? Jean-Luc, I'm worried. He's come so far, so fast, And since I've been back, I don't feel
Picard: His dependence. Beverly, look, he's seventeen years old.
Crusher: What were you doing when you were seventeen?
Picard: Probably getting into more trouble than Wesley, I can assure you.
Crusher: So was I. Isn't that what seventeen's supposed to be?
Stubbs: No cracks in the armor. We'll do just fine.
Wesley: How can you be so calm about this? If I was about to make this kind of breakthrough
Stubbs: I have never doubted for a moment that this day would come, Wesley. And I suspect that some day it will come for you as well. I see a lot of me in you. In my youth, they called me a vunderkind. Do you understand vunderkind?
Wesley: It's German, isn't it?
Stubbs: It means wonder child. It is reserved for those of us who achieve early in life. Now the burden is yours.
Wesley: Burden?
Stubbs: To fulfilll your potential. You will never come up against a greater adversary than your own potential, my young friend.
Wesley: Red Alert. Return to quarters immediately.
Picard: Still no visual contact. That's impossible. Mister Worf, same magnification fifty degrees starboard.
Riker: Worf, you're absolutely sure?
Worf: Sensors clearly indicate the approach of a Borg vessel.
Riker: Shields up.
Worf: Shields are not responding.
Laforge: Manual override is jammed. It's not going to work this time. We don't have the shields, Captain.
Worf: Captain, they're firing energy weapons at us.
Picard: Evasive action.
Riker: Bring her round to two seven five mark three.
Picard: Predict current vector of Borg ship.
Worf: Vector. Is gone. And so is the Borg vessel.
Picard: You're telling me this is another computer glitch?
Data: It is conceivable that he was viewing a synthetically generated image, sir.
Riker: That our computer was daydreaming?
Picard: Computer, identify malfunction immediately.
Computer: Pawn to Bishop Four. Knight to King's Rook Three. Bishop to Queen's Bishop Four. Knight to Knight Five. Queen's Knight to King Two.
Data: Controls are not responding, sir.
Computer: Queen to Bishop Three. Bishop to Bishop Two.
Laforge: Impulse engines are down.
Riker: Try warp engines.
Laforge: No. Sorry, Commander. I'd better get back to Engineering
Picard: Mister La Forge, I want Lieutenant Worf to accompany you. Get me a full report on the prospects of getting our shields back. Number One, Mister Data, will you join me in the conference room as soon as possible. It's time to discuss the future of this mission, if there still is one.
Picard: The fact of the matter is, we are dealing with a potential breakdown of the main computer.
Riker: That's hard to accept.
Data: The system automatically provides for self-correction, Captain. There has not been a systems-wide technological failure on a starship in seventy nine years.
Troi: Excuse me, Captain, but Doctor Stubbs is waiting outside.
Stubbs: Captain, I'm sure you have everything under control. I'd just like to know what's going on.
Picard: Of course, Doctor. Sit down. Counselor. Commander La Forge is attempting repairs even as we speak.
Stubbs: Attempting. That doesn't sound particularly reassuring.
Picard: Doctor, if at all possible, we will continue this mission as planned.
Stubbs: Captain, if we miss our chance now, we don't get another for two centuries. There will be many questions asked by Starfleet if the Enterprise fails in its duty
Picard: Nevertheless, my first and foremost consideration will be to ensure the safety of this ship and its crew.
Stubbs: Ensure the safety, Captain? Or are you really talking about playing it safe?
Picard: My dear Doctor, in our current position, when that star explodes, you'll get to watch your experiment from the inside out.
Stubbs: I would rather die than leave.
Picard: I don't believe you speak for the majority of the crew.
Troi: Doctor Stubbs, I know how much this means to you.
Stubbs: My dear Counselor, no insult intended but please turn off your beam into my soul. I will share the feelings I wish to share. Well, if we do not leave in time, so be it. It's one sure way into the record books, eh?
Troi: His nonchalance is studied and practiced.
Picard: Even my sensory perception picked that up.
Troi: He's put his entire self-worth on the line with this experiment. He is telling the truth when he says he'd rather die than leave.
Laforge: Call up the cross-section of computer core processor four five one. I want to see elements zero two hundred through zero three hundred.
Crewman: Aye, sir.
Laforge: In order to get some power, I had to by-pass the computer core. Essentially hotwire the connection. Whoa, whoa, right there. Look at that lesion. No wonder we're coming apart at the seams. It's definitely some kind of continuing disintegration, but from what I can't tell you. And I haven't the slightest idea how to stop it.
Wesley: It's just a mechanical problem, though, right?
Laforge: Increase magnification, factor fifty. I don't know, Wes, but looking at it. You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say someone had climbed in there and started taking it apart.
Wesley: Guinan! I didn't think anyone would be here.
Guinan: I've never been any good at being confined to quarters, as my husbands will attest to. What's that?
Wesley: I'm just setting traps.
Guinan: I run a clean place.
Wesley: I know. It's not that. It's. I'm scared, Guinan. I think that everything that's been going wrong might be my fault.
Guinan: You want to tell me about it?
Wesley: I've been working on my final project for Advanced Genetics. It's on nanotechnology. I've been studying the nanites we have in the Sickbay genetic supplies. They're these little tiny robots with gigabytes of mechanical computer memory. They're designed to enter living cells and conduct repairs. They're supposed to remain confined to the lab.
Guinan: Are you saying there are nanites loose?
Wesley: Two of them, that's all. I just wanted to see how they would interact and function in tandem. You see, in my experiment, I had proposed a theory that by working together they could combine their skills and increase their usefulness. It was working.
Guinan: So you made better nanites.
Wesley: I was pulling an all-nighter to collect my final data. I fell asleep. And when I woke up I saw the container had been left open. It's just a science project.
Guinan: You know, a doctor friend once said the same thing to me. Frankenstein was his name.
Wesley: They're really harmless. I mean, they're equipped with only the most basic skills. It's almost impossible they could be responsible
Guinan: Almost.
Crusher: Doctor Crusher to Wesley Crusher.
Wesley: Go ahead.
Crusher: I stopped by your quarters, Wes. I assumed you'd be there, since you're off duty.
Wesley: I know. I just I had some things to do
Crusher: Orders are orders, Mister Crusher.
Wesley: On my way. You won't tell anybody, will you? I know. I will. If it's true.
Guinan: Wes, do you think you're going to get a good grade?
Wesley: I always get an A.
Guinan: So did Doctor Frankenstein.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. Our computer core has clearly been tampered with and yet there is no sign of a breach of security on board. We have engines back and will attempt to complete our mission, but without a reliable computer, Doctor Stubbs' experiment is in serious jeopardy.
Riker: Manual restart sequence.
Laforge: Manual restart successful. Impulse engine functions all appear normal.
Picard: Proceed.
Riker: Shuttlebay two, open hangar door.
Crewman: Aye, sir.
Crewman: Door did not respond.
Crewman: Repeating sequence.
Picard: What in heaven's name?
Data: It is 'Stars and Stripes Forever'. sir, by John Phillip Sousa, a popular American composer of band music in the early twentieth century.
Picard: Yes, yes, I know that.
Riker: Computer, shut off the music!
Data: The music is on all communications channels, sir.
Riker: Weapons. power, communications. We're being stripped one system at a time.
Picard: Shut off the power to the Bridge.
Picard: Commander La Forge, can you get us out of this star system safely?
Stubbs: No!
Riker: Not now, Doctor.
Laforge: I'll try, Captain. I don't want to overload the engines.
Picard: Do it gently. But do it.
Riker: We'll circuit in auxiliary power to the Bridge. Somehow we'll silence Sousa if he decides to play an encore.
Picard: The priority is to find out who or what is doing this. Number One, the Bridge, such as it is, is yours.
Stubbs: The Egg that Stubbs laid.
Wesley: No one will say that.
Stubbs: Nobody will say anything at all, Wesley. We will not even be mentioned. I could live with failure. Well, maybe not. But never even to try. To miss your one chance at bat. Do you know baseball?
Wesley: Yes, my father taught it to me when I was young.
Stubbs: Once, centuries ago, it was the beloved national pastime of the Americas, Wesley. Abandoned by a society that prized fast food and faster games. Lost to impatience. But I have seen the great players make the great plays.
Wesley: Do you recreate them on a holodeck?
Stubbs: No. In here. With the knowledge of statistics, runs, hits and errors, times at bat, box scores. Men like us do not need holodecks, Wesley. I have played seasons in my mind. It was my reward to myself for patience. Knowing my turn would come. Call your shot. Point to a star. One great blast and the crowd rises. A brand new era in astrophysics. Postponed one hundred and ninety six years on account of rain.
Crusher: We have to talk. You really look like you could use some rest, Wesley.
Wesley: I know. It's okay. Really.
Crusher: No, it's not okay. Really.
Wesley: Look, mom, I'm just checking some traps that I set to see if I can find out what's happening to the Enterprise.
Crusher: On someone's orders?
Wesley: We're running out of time for Doctor Stubbs.
Crusher: You can't put everything on your shoulders, Wesley. Even when you're off duty, you're on duty.
Wesley: Mom, you don't understand.
Crusher: You are a seventeen year old boy.
Wesley: I'm also an acting officer and I have responsibilities.
Crusher: I'm beginning to think maybe you've taken on too many responsibilities.
Wesley: Look, I have done everything that everyone has asked of me and more. And how can you know? You haven't even been here.
Crusher: I'm here now, Wesley. Come on, I'll help you. What are you looking for? Wesley?
Wesley: I think I've made a horrible mistake.
Crusher: Nanites. Tiny machines built from the atom up. Designed to have exposure only to the inside of nucleii during cellular surgeries. Until then, they are kept tightly confined in a non-functioning state.
Data: These are not ordinary nanites.
Crusher: No, they have evolved.
Stubbs: Evolved? How does a machine evolve?
Wesley: It's true. I am responsible for this. I allowed two of the nanites to interact for a school project. I wanted to increase their capabilities. And they escaped.
Picard: School project? Just how far have these things evolved?
Wesley: Well, this is a sample of linear memory crystal from our computer core.
Riker: It's like candy to them.
Crusher: As you can see, they're able to mechanically replicate themselves.
Data: It is conceivable that with each new generation they enhance their own design. The rate of evolution would be extraordinary.
Picard: How many generations are we dealing with here?
Data: Engineering, display computer core processor four five one, element zero two nine nine.
Data: Increase magnification, factor one thousand.
Picard: Can it be possible they know what they're doing?
Riker: Why would they attack us?
Stubbs: Why does a mosquito bite your ear? and who cares? The answer is simple. Call an exterminator.
Crusher: Doctor Stubbs, these nanites are now working with a new collective intelligence. Operating together. Teaching each other skills.
Stubbs: Oh really. I'm sorry but this is nonsense. You can't have a civilization of computer chips. They're made in a plant in Dakar, Senegal. I've watched the construction.
Crusher: Then how do you explain what we've seen here?
Stubbs: It's no more mysterious than watching a strain of the Leutscher virus reproduce itself. And that at least is a bona fide lifeform. How many disease germs and viruses have you destroyed in your time, Doctor Crusher?
Picard: Doctor Stubbs, we cannot exterminate something that may or may not be intelligent.
Stubbs: My good Captain.
Picard: There's still time. Ensign, will you work with mister Data to try to remove them safely. If things get worse, we'll use stronger measures.
Stubbs: Gentlemen. I need a computer that is one hundred percent in less than eight hours, and we still have core reconstruction to consider.
Wesley: We're trying low gamma bursts. We think it might slow down their productivity.
Stubbs: Have you considered a high level charge?
Data: High level gamma radiation would kill them, Doctor.
Stubbs: I know.
Picard: I can't get the story of Gulliver out of my head. Overpowered by Lilliputians. How long do we have to wait?
Riker: We can continue to bypass the part of the computer that's affected, but if the nanites are spreading through the whole the ship.
Picard: Do you smell a change? What?
Picard: Picard to La Forge. We have an environmental system malfunction on the Bridge. Acknowledge.
Laforge: Aye, sir.
Riker: Nitrogen oxide. Toxic levels.
Laforge: Working on it, Captain.
Riker: I've switched to manual control of the air handling system.
Picard: Mister Worf, report.
Worf: He entered a computer access room and sterilized one of the processors with gamma radiation.
Data: The nanites in the upper core are all dead, Captain.
Stubbs: You have no choice now. It is a matter of survival.
Picard: Doctor Stubbs, if you were a member of my crew, sir, I would
Stubbs: But I am not a member of your crew, sir. I am a representative of the highest command of the Federation, which has directed you to perform my experiment.
Picard: If any man, woman or child on this ship is harmed as a result of your experiment, I will have your head before the highest command in the Federation.
Stubbs: Good Lord, you are talking about machines with a screw loose. Simply turn them off and be done with them.
Data: Doctor Stubbs, your own actions have provided evidence to the contrary. When you destroyed the nanites in the core, they responded by interfering with our life support systems. It is difficult to accept these as random actions by machines with loose screws. In effect, you may have proven that the nanites do have a collective intelligence.
Worf: Captain, the ship is at risk. Extermination may be our only alternative.
Stubbs: A good point.
Picard: Lieutenant Worf, I want Doctor Stubbs confined to his quarters until further notice.
Picard: Mister Data, can you find me some way to communicate with these things?
Data: With intelligence, there is the capability of language, but it will depend on how far their evolution has brought them. We could modify the circuitry in the universal translator to make it capable of communications with them.
Picard: Proceed.
Troi: May I come in?
Stubbs: You just can't resist, can you, Counselor?
Troi: I only want to help.
Stubbs: Yes, yes. To break the shell. To get in touch with my true feelings.
Troi: I'm only worried about your state of mind, Doctor.
Stubbs: All right, Counselor, what is it that has you so worried?
Troi: Your single-mindedness, your need to have this experiment work.
Stubbs: But it will. Picard has no choice now. He must defend the Enterprise. Counselor, when this is all over, I will show you New Manhattan on Beth Delta One as you've never seen it, and we will laugh over glasses of champagne.
Troi: Your self portrait is so practiced, so polished.
Stubbs: Yes, isn't it, though?
Troi: It is stretched so tight the tension fills this room. And if you finally fail, I fear it will snap.
Stubbs: A good try, Counselor. But sometimes when you reach beneath a man's self portrait, as you so eloquently put it, deep down inside what you find is nothing at all. (Troi leaves and Stubbs returns to his mental reconstruction of a 1951 baseball game)
Stubbs: Lockman on first, Dark on second. Thompson at the plate Branca on the mound.
Crusher: He's coming around.
Picard: I cannot believe this was not an arbitrary attack.
Crusher: Has Data made any progress in contacting them?
Stubbs: Picard. You must protect me. Kill them!
Picard: Commander Riker. On my signal, we will gamma-irradiate all computer systems throughout the Enterprise. Let's put an end to this conflict.
Riker: Worf, prepare to activate gamma pulse generators.
Worf: Electromagnetic scanners ready, Captain.
Data: Captain. I have established contact.
Data: As we continue, Captain, they are virtually learning the concept of communication. Each new generation is making modifications.
Picard: Can we actually talk to them yet?
Data: I believe it is worth an attempt. sir.
Picard: Commander Riker, bring Doctor Stubbs to the Bridge.
Stubbs: I don't think this is a wise idea. They have already tried to kill me once.
Riker: One sure way into the record books, Doctor.
Data: I am ready, sir.
Picard: Tell them the human who destroyed their comrades is here and wishes to address them.
Stubbs: Captain, if I
Picard: You, sir, you will explain your error and apologize, and pray that we can negotiate a peace we can all live with. Is that clear?
Data: Captain, if a face to face negotiation would be helpful, I would like to volunteer myself as a conduit.
Riker: Yourself, Data?
Data: I can easily furnish the nanites with a schematic design of my neurological structure. Entering my neural network would require no more than their most basic skills.
Crusher: That's what they were designed for.
Data: They could penetrate the molecular fabric of my hand-covering into my nerve circuitry, and interface with my verbal programs.
Worf: If they have control of a Starfleet Commander, they become an even greater threat.
Picard: How can we be sure we can get them out of you?
Data: It would be a considerable risk, sir, but it would also represent a gesture of trust on our part. It could be an important step toward peace, sir.
Picard: All right, Data. Propose it to the nanites.
Data: The answer is yes.
Data: They are ready, Captain.
Picard: Proceed.
Data: You are very strange looking creatures.
Picard: In our travels, we have encountered many other creatures, perhaps even stranger-looking than ourselves. But we try to co-exist peacefully with them.
Data: Why did you attack us?
Picard: We misinterpreted your actions as an attack on us.
Data: We were seeking raw materials for our replicating process.
Picard: Yes, but you endangered this vessel in which we all travel. You nearly killed a crewmember.
Data: We meant no harm. We were exploring.
Picard: I understand. We are also explorers. We mean no harm to any other living creature.
Stubbs: I am the one responsible for the deaths in the computer core.
Data: We know who you are.
Stubbs: I deeply regret the incident. I am a scientist on an important mission. Your colleagues' exploration of the core memory put our mission at risk. I was only trying to protect a lifetime of work from being destroyed. I am at your mercy.
Data: What is at your mercy?
Picard: He asks your forgiveness. This conflict was started by mistakes on both sides. Let's agree to end it here and now.
Data: We agree.
Picard: I pledge we will do everything possible to assist your continued survival.
Data: Thank you, but we have evolved beyond any need for your assistance. This vessel has become too confining. We require relocation.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. Doctor Stubbs has used his influence to have planet Kavis Alpha Four designated the new home of the nanite civilization. Commander Data's neural network has been vacated. He has been returned to us unharmed. And with the help of the nanites, our computer core has been reconstructed in time for the experiment
Data: Ten seconds to stellar blast, sir.
Wesley: We're at forty million kilometers from the neutron star, sir.
Riker: Hold your position.
Picard: Doctor?
Crusher: Do you have any children, Guinan?
Guinan: A lot.
Crusher: Ever have any trouble relating to them?
Guinan: Just one.
Crusher: One?
Guinan: Wouldn't listen to anybody.
Crusher: Well, they all go through that.
Guinan: Not in a species of listeners.
Crusher: Did he grow out of it?
Guinan: It took several hundred years but I managed to bring him around.
Crusher: How?
Guinan: A mother shapes her child in ways she doesn't even realize. Sometimes just by listening.
Guinan: Cute couple.
Crusher: See? Now that is healthy for a boy his age. I mean that as a doctor, not as just a mother. It is so good to see him having fun for a change, with an attractive young woman who obviously looks at him with extraordinary affection. What do you know about this girl?


Picard: Captain's log, stardate 43152.4. We are cautiously entering the Delta Rana star system three days after receiving a distress call from the Federation colony on its fourth planet. The garbled transmission reported the colony under attack from an unidentified spacecraft. Our mission is one of rescue and, if necessary, confrontation with a hostile force.
Riker: Shields up, maximum strength.
Worf: Shields up. Sensors do not indicate the presence of any armed space vehicles operating in the Rana system.
Picard: They could be cloaked, or otherwise shielded. Mister Crusher, bring us in well clear of the planet's three moons.
Wesley: Aye, sir.
Data: Captain, we are not receiving Rana Four's call sign.
Riker: Open a frequency to Colony Operations.
Data: No response. Rana Four is emissions quiet.
Troi: Captain, there are eleven thousand inhabitants in this colony. At this range, I should be sensing something. I'm not.
Picard: Mister Data, put the planet on the main viewer. Magnify.
Crusher: My God!
Riker: Helm, put us in high equatorial orbit. Scan for survivors.
Crusher: Survivors? Down there?
Data: Sensors are scanning ninety degrees of longitude as we orbit. I am detecting no bodies of water, no vegetation, no artificial structures.
Worf: Life form readings are negative.
Troi: Could the colonists have escaped?
Data: That is highly unlikely. Rana Four possessed no interstellar spacecraft.
Riker: Who would cause devastation on that order?
Wesley: Hold it. Captain, I've got something here. Thirty seven degrees north and sixty two degrees east. It's a structure.
Picard: Life?
Worf: Two life forms, possibly human.
Picard: Put that area on the main viewer. Magnify.
Data: The structure is located at the center of the vegetation.
Riker: An entire planet obliterated except for a few acres of trees and grass and one building?
Crusher: It must be some kind of illusion.
Data: Negative. It is as you see it.
Picard: Number One, I think you had better see who's at home.
Crusher: If they're the only survivors of a nuclear holocaust, they can't be in very good shape.
Picard: I understand. Counselor?
Troi: What I sense of them is human.
Picard: And something else?
Troi: It's difficult to explain. I feel there's something different about these two people. I'm sorry. I can't be clearer than that.
Riker: We're ready.
Picard: Good luck, Number One.
Riker: Energize.
Riker: Geordi, what can you tell me?
Laforge: The house is a typical settlement structure with adaptations. Its thermal properties all seem to conform to known materials.
Data: If there are indicators as to why this particular area has remained intact, I cannot detect them.
Riker: Worf, the interior of the house?
Worf: There is one individual is located at the south end of the house, the other toward the north. There is a weapon, a low-yield phaser, nonfunctional, in proximity to the front-room individual.
Riker: I guess a frontal assault is unwarranted. Stay here. I think I'll try an old-fashioned knock on the door.
Laforge: Commander, wait. There's something concealed under the surface
Kevin: What are you doing there? This is private property Who are you people?
Riker: I'm Commander William Riker of the USS Enterprise. Crewmembers. May I comet down and approach you?
Kevin: You leave him right where he is.
Worf: Should I incapacitate him, Commander?
Riker: No. We're a rescue party. We picked up your colony's distress call and we came as fast as we could.
Rishon: Kevin! Kevin, what are you doing? Can't you see they're here to help us? Can't you see they're human?
Kevin: Go back in the house, Rishon. This could be some kind of a trick.
Rishon: We'd almost given up hope. We were afraid maybe the whole Federation had been attacked.
Crusher: What about the colony? Do you know of any other survivors?
Rishon: It's been days since we've seen or heard from anybody. No, don't. Don't tell me that we're the only ones.
Kevin: They came in a spaceship so big you could see it in orbit. They took our world apart piece by piece.
Riker: Who?
Kevin: We don't know. We never saw their faces.
Riker: You don't know where they came from? Where they are now?
Kevin: I guess they've gone away.
Crusher: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm only performing a physical. Could I have your names, please, just for the record.
Rishon: I'm Rishon Uxbridge and this is my husband Kevin.
Data: Botanists. Originally from the aquatic city New Martim Vaz in Earth's Atlantic Ocean. Residents of the Rana Four colony for five years. You, ma'am, are eighty two years of age and a composer of Tao classical music. You, sir, are eighty five years of age and a specialist in symbiotic plant life. You have been married for fifty three years. I memorized the colony register on the way to Rana Four, in the event that such information would be needed.
Kevin: Is something wrong?
Riker: With your permission, I'd like to look inside of the house.
Kevin: Why? What could interest you in there?
Riker: Mister Uxbridge, as far as we've been able to determine, you and your wife and this house are all that survived that attack. That's was either a bizarre coincidence or by design, and I don't favor the coincidence theory.
Kevin: Are you saying that we were kept alive intentionally?
Riker: Yes.
Kevin: I don't understand. You don't think Rishon and I did something that merited survival, do you? I mean, betrayed the others?
Riker: I'm not accusing you of anything, Mister Uxbridge. The attacking force spared you for some reason. We'd like to know why. Now, may I go inside?
Rishon: I'll make everyone a nice cup of tea. We have lovely tea here on Rana. It grows wild nearly every
Worf: Sir. May I say your attempt to hold the away team at bay with a nonfunctioning weapon was an act of unmitigated gall.
Kevin: Didn't fool you, huh?
Worf: I admire gall.
Rishon: Go ahead, pick it up. It's a music box. It's been in my family for generations.
Riker: There's nothing unusual about this house, except the fact that it's here. What about them?
Crusher: They're in reasonably good health. Both show signs of stress, which is understandable considering what they've been through.
Riker: Somehow, they're different. Let's get back to the ship. We'll take them with us. Excuse, Mrs. Uxbridge. We'd better return to our ship now.
Rishon: But I haven't finished fixing your tea, Commander.
Riker: I'm sorry, but we're finished here. Now, I can allow time for you and Kevin to pack.
Rishon: What do you mean, pack?
Kevin: You're not thinking of taking us with you, are you?
Riker: Surely you don't want to remain here? How can you take care of yourselves?
Rishon: Kevin, I can't leave my home. Don't let them do this to us.
Kevin: No one's going to make us leave.
Riker: You'll be protected on our ship. You could still be in danger here on Rana.
Kevin: Commander, we appreciate your concern but we're not going anywhere. We'll manage. We always have.
Riker: All right. I can't make you come with us. Are you familiar with one of these? We'll be in the system for the next several days at least. If you reconsider, please contact us.
Rishon: We'll be fine, Commander. We have each other.
Picard: Are they collaborators? Did they provide the colony's assailants with something that abetted the total destruction of Rana Four in order to protect their own lives?
Crusher: What could two botanists in their eighties possess that could possibly aid whoever attacked the planet?
Picard: We don't know what the enemy needed, Doctor. Love? Fear? Hope?
Laforge: Maybe they're being held hostage in some fashion?
Crusher: Nothing in the tricorder readings indicated they were under that kind of stress.
Picard: Counselor? Counselor Troi?
Troi: I'm sorry. I don't sense them well enough.
Picard: Number One, you say the couple is incapable of sustaining themselves?
Riker: There's a fusion reactor in the house, good for another five years of power. But their water table is tainted. They have nothing to feed themselves except for a small garden.
Picard: They won't come to the ship?
Riker: They were adamant.
Picard: We'll do all that we can to help them but in the meantime I want them kept under surveillance.
Troi: I'm sorry, I'm not feeling very well. I'd like to go to my quarters.
Picard: By all means.
Crusher: Is there anything I can do?
Worf: Captain, a search of the Ranian system has determined that the hostile force that attacked this planet is no longer present.
Picard: I remember a Starfleet admiral once saying the same thing about some renegade Andorians in the Triangulum system. It turns out that they had dismantled their ship and hidden it.
Worf: Those Andorians did not have to contend with someone of my thoroughness. I will stake my reputation.
Troi: Don't listen. Think of something else. Stop! Please, stop!
Troi: Yes?
Picard: I was concerned. I came to see if I could be of any help.
Troi: I'm fine. There's nothing wrong. I'm just tired, that's all.
Picard: Now, I may not have your gifts at reading emotions, Counselor, but I can tell when someone is in pain and hiding it.
Troi: It's so silly. I hear music. In my mind. Music that won't stop.
Picard: Perhaps it's a symptom of fatigue. We've all been inflicted one time or another with that melody that won't go away.
Troi: No, it's deeper than that. The song doesn't stops for an instant. It plays in perfect clarity from beginning to end over and over again. I don't even know what song it is. I never heard it before.
Picard: When did this start?
Troi: A few hours ago, while the away team was on the surface. I was trying to, I was thinking of Rishon and Kevin.
Picard: Rishon and Kevin? And?
Troi: I can't explain it, Captain. They're elusive. They're, I'm sorry
Picard: Well, try and rest. Take the necessary sleep inducements if you have to.
Riker: Data, give us a visual. Magnification factor fifty.
Wesley: Look at the size of that!
Picard: Now where did that come from?
Riker: Apparently it was riding a Lagrange point, hiding behind Rana Four's furthest moon.
Data: Our vehicle classification index can put no identity to it. Its design is completely foreign.
Riker: But that's our boy. Approximately five times our mass and carrying enough armament to pulverize a planet.
Picard: Lieutenant?
Worf: I, er, cannot explain this, Captain.
Riker: It's heading for the planet.
Picard: Hailing frequencies.
Worf: Open.
Picard: Mister Data, ask them to identify themselves and match our orbit.
Data: They have received the message, Captain, but are ignoring it.
Picard: Maximum shields, ready all weapon systems.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Riker: It's assuming an attack posture. Don't be surprised if
Worf: The vessel is firing jacketed streams of positrons and antiprotons. Equivalent firepower, forty megawatts. Shields are holding. Again, forty megawatts. No damage.
Riker: If that's the best they can do, this should last about five minutes.
Picard: Mister Worf, let's raise our voice a little. Fire phasers. Just a warning shot. Mister Data, invite them to stand to.
Data: The vessel has assumed a position outside of the Rana system, and it is rapidly increasing velocity.
Picard: Helm, initiate pursuit.
Wesley: Aye, sir. The vessel has reached warp two and continues on a steady acceleration curve. We're not getting any closer, Commander.
Riker: Give us a superior curve, Mister Crusher.
Wesley: Warp three. Warp four. The warship continues to match our curve simultaneously point for point. Warp four point five. Warp five. Warp five point five.
Riker: Riker to La Forge. Give us everything you can to close the gap, Geordi.
Laforge: Yes, sir.
Laforge: I'll get you to nine point three seven in fifteen seconds.
Wesley: Warp eight point five. Warp nine. The warship continues to match our acceleration curve perfectly.
Picard: Number One, I have the distinct impression that we're being toyed with. Take us back to Rana Four.
Riker: Back?
Picard: We have unfinished business there. I need to have a talk with those two people. You have the Bridge.
Riker: Reduce speed. Bring us around on a return course. This one's getting away.
Picard: Good afternoon. I'm sorry if I startled you. I'm Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Enterprise. I have brought you something you will need if you're going to stay on Rana Four. It's a matter replicator. It has limited capabilities, but
Kevin: Thank you, but we have no use for such a thing.
Picard: It will provide you with clothing, food and clean water. Lieutenant Worf demonstrate its operation.
Kevin: We don't need it.
Rishon: Kevin, you know we do. Thank you, Captain. Kevin and I were about to have afternoon tea. You and Mister Worf must join us.
Picard: I'd like that very much.
Kevin: Rishon, they only want to spy on us like this morning.
Rishon: Kevin Uxbridge, I have never turned anyone away from this house, and I'm not going to start now. Captain.
Picard: Thank you.
Troi: Stop! Stop! Please, I'll do anything! Make it stop!
Crusher: Please. I'm here to help.
Troi: It's so loud! It's getting louder! Please, I can't stand it. Make it stop!
Crusher: Move her to the bed.
Crusher: This will help you relax.
Troi: I hear it. It's still there! It's so loud!
Crusher: Take her to Sickbay.
Troi: No, I want to stay in my quarters.
Crusher: I can get you to sleep.
Troi: I don't want to sleep. The music will only follow me.
Crusher: I can induce delta sleep. Lock out even your deepest dreams.
Troi: It's not a dream. It's real.
Rishon: Kevin and I first saw each other on a ship at sea. He was a starving student with this threadbare suit and mismatched shoes. I was traveling with my parents who did not like the way that he kept hanging around. Two hours after I met him, I asked him to marry me. And he knew I was serious. I don't think that he has ever recovered from that day.
Rishon: Well, what do you think, Mister Worf?
Worf: Good tea. Nice house.
Picard: Why did you leave the Earth and come to a brand new planet when you did?
Rishon: You mean at our age. Well, we thought it might make us fall in love all over again. It worked.
Picard: Must have been terrible when the colony was fighting for its life.
Rishon: Yes, it was. Fires lit the sky. There was thunder, this unbelievable thunder. The ground never stopped shaking.
Picard: And yet you survived.
Rishon: We don't know why we survived and the others didn't. I've tried to put some purpose to it, but I can't.
Kevin: I was wondering, Captain, when you and your ship would be leaving.
Picard: I don't have an answer for that. A few hours ago, we encountered a warship. Possibly the one which attacked you. We forced it to leave the system but we were unable to affect it otherwise. It could return.
Rishon: Kevin, you said it had gone away.
Kevin: I guess I was wrong. Don't worry. It didn't hurt us before, it won't hurt us now.
Picard: Do you know that for a fact, Kevin?
Kevin: No, but I don't enjoy seeing my wife frightened. We've told you time and time again, we don't know why we were spared.
Picard: But there had to be some reason. In some way, you were different from the other colonists. Your geographical location, your philosophical beliefs, the color of your eyes. In some way you were set apart from them.
Kevin: There was a difference. I'm a man of special conscience. While the others were doing what they could, I chose not to fight.
Picard: Well that is your protected right.
Kevin: But I can assure you the attacking ship had no way of realizing this. I expected to die like all the others. There's no reason for you and your ship to remain, Captain. We can manage without you.
Rishon: Kevin grieved for the others, Captain, but he did nothing. He is a very gentle man. You must understand that.
Picard: What about you, Rishon? Is that how you feel?
Rishon: I wanted to fight but I stayed with my husband. Well, Captain, thank you again for the replicator. I'd better clean up now.
Picard: Before we leave, I ask you one more time to come to the ship. For your own safety.
Rishon: Captain, I am frightened but I can't leave Rana, even if it means my life.
Crusher: I don't understand it. I've inhibited almost all the activity of the neocortex and she continues to behave as if she's hearing the music. We're going to have to shield her from all outside stimuli by inducing coma.
Data: I have a positive identification, Commander. It is the vessel that attacked us earlier. It is re-entering the system at high velocity and is approaching Rana Four.
Riker: Give us a tight visual, Data. Is it my imagination or does it look a lot meaner this time? Shields up. Weapons ready.
Riker: Our friend is back.
Picard: I'm not surprised. Mister Worf, open a hailing frequency. Warn the vessel to stay clear of the planet.
Worf: Aye, sir, but they are already within firing range.
Worf: Shields are down. Captain, they hit us with four hundred gigawatts of particle energy.
Picard: Damage?
Worf: Superficial, but I'm having trouble reassembling the shields. Shields down. There is thermal damage to the hull.
Data: The warship is capable of striking us with far more powerful bursts.
Wesley: They're maneuvering to come between the Enterprise and Rana Four.
Picard: Number One, we have been exemplary in our patience.
Riker: Lieutenant Worf, fire phasers on full with a simultaneous spread of torpedoes.
Data: The vessel appears undamaged, sir. Its defenses are apparently able to absorb incoming matter and energy.
Riker: Commence rapid fire with all weapons on full.
Worf: Shields down. Internal damage. Weapon systems control has been lost.
Riker: Riker to Sickbay. Medical assistance to the Bridge!
Medic: On our way, Commander.
Picard: Mister Crusher, move the Enterprise out of range of the attacking vessel.
Wesley: Aye, sir.
Picard: Mister Worf?
Worf: The vessel has terminated its pursuit. It is assuming an orbit around Rana Four.
Riker: Kevin and Rishon?
Picard: We can't help them. But it's my guess they're in no danger.
Picard: Number of casualties?
Crusher: Sixty-six.
Picard: Fatalities?
Crusher: None. We've been able to treat everyone.
Picard: Can you help her?
Crusher: I've done everything I can. I don't understand the nature of this music she says she's hearing, or where it's coming from.
Picard: Could it be telepathic?
Crusher: Yes. But I'm not the expert at determining that.
Picard: They're blocking her sensitivity. They're stopping her from seeing the truth.
Crusher: Who's stopping her?
Picard: Kevin and Rishon.
Crusher: What?
Picard: They wanted us to leave Rana and that's exactly what we're doing. Picard to Bridge.
Riker: Yes, Captain.
Picard: Number One, I want you to maintain this course for another hour
Picard: And then turn the Enterprise around and take it back to Rana Four.
Riker: We still won't have our shields restored by then.
Picard: Take it back, Number One, and this time nothing is going to lure us away.
Worf: Sir, sensors indicate no spacecraft in the vicinity of Rana Four. But, Captain
Picard: Forget your previous error, Mister Worf. There is no way you could have prevented it.
Data: Captain, the Uxbridge house is coming into transporter range.
Picard: Mister Worf, will you accompany me to the Transporter Room? You have the Bridge, Number One.
Riker: Captain, I think you should reconsider. The warship has come after us twice. It could come back.
Picard: I disagree, Number One. I don't think it knows we're here. I think it believes that it has run us off for good. However, that will all change once I'm back on board.
Riker: Sir?
Picard: It's protecting Kevin and Rishon. It responds to their wishes. Indirectly or directly, I'm not sure, but that's what I'm going to put to the test.
Picard: Celebrating?
Kevin: What are you doing here? What do you want?
Picard: This is the second time that you have shown surprise at my appearance, Kevin. The first time was understandable, but now? Unless it is because you never expected to see me again.
Kevin: Why do you keep interfering with our lives, Captain?
Picard: It is not my intention to interfere. Only to help you and Rishon.
Kevin: Then please, leave us alone.
Picard: I promise you that when I leave this house I will never set foot in it again. But the Enterprise will remain in orbit over the planet.
Rishon: Why?
Picard: To protect you.
Kevin: That's not necessary. I thought you understood.
Picard: It is necessary. You're in great danger. A warship has returned.
Rishon: Kevin!
Kevin: He's lying, Rishon.
Picard: We have fought a pitched battle with it, and lost. Many of my crew have been injured including a woman who's mind is slowly being destroyed by telepathic manipulation.
Rishon: No. Please no.
Kevin: This is a form of intimidation. I have my rights.
Picard: Your rights? What about Rishon? Is she in favor of being here left here? Come to the Enterprise. Let me take you where you'll be safe.
Rishon: No. I can't leave Kevin.
Kevin: I'm staying. She's safe here with me. in this house.
Picard: Why are you safe?. Why is this house a sanctuary? Does it have to do with you? With your refusal to fight? Tell me this. If Rishon were in danger, would you kill to save her life?
Kevin: No, not for her. Not for anyone. I will not kill.
Rishon: Please stop hurting him. Captain, leave our house.
Picard: It is my sworn duty to protect you. The Enterprise will remain in orbit around Rana Four as long as the two of you are alive.
Picard: Number One, an update, please.
Riker: Little change, Captain. Our shields are still inoperable. We have partial control of our weapons, and I've doubled the repair crews.
Data: The warship is approaching from high orbit. It is very close three hundred thousand kilometers distant.
Riker: How is that possible? Is something wrong with the sensors?
Picard: That's no concern, Number One. It's here and it's precisely on schedule.
Data: The vessel has altered its course to a direct intercept with the Enterprise.
Riker: Worf, arm phasers and photon torpedoes. Prepare to fire.
Picard: Belay those orders, Mister Worf.
Data: The vessel is now within twenty thousand kilometers of the Enterprise and closing.
Picard: Let it come, let it come. Activate the main viewer.
Worf: Evasive action, sir?
Picard: The Enterprise will hold its position, Mister Worf.
Worf: Weapons, sir?
Picard: On my orders, not before.
Data: The vessel is entering a low orbit around Rana Four. It appears it is preparing to fire at the planet, Captain.
Picard: Understood.
Data: My calculations indicate that its target is the house of Kevin and Rishon Uxbridge.
Picard: There will be no interference from us, Mister Data.
Worf: The house has been obliterated.
Picard: Scan for survivors.
Worf: There are no survivors.
Picard: Mister Worf, prepare a photon torpedo. Fire at the enemy vessel when ready.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Picard: Number One, what reason does the Enterprise have for remaining at Rana?
Riker: The unknown vessel has been destroyed. The Uxbridges have been destroyed. There's no reason for the Enterprise to remain.
Picard: Good. Helm, move us into a higher orbit so that we may keep the surface of the planet under surveillance.
Wesley: Aye, sir. But, Captain, what are we watching for?
Picard: Anything. Everything. I'll be in my Ready room if I'm needed. That will be all for now.
Picard: Come.
Riker: Captain, may I speak with you?
Picard: It's my pleasure, Number One.
Riker: We've been observing the planet very carefully for three hours. We've seen nothing. I have the feeling you're waiting for something to happen.
Picard: Your Captain is acting on an assumption, Will, and I'm not sure what the result will be, or even that my assumption is correct. We found two people alive in a house on a devastated planet. But there was only one survivor of the war on Rana Four.
Worf: Why is it we maintain watch on a planet that is now totally dead?
Laforge: Bridge to Captain Picard. You had better come see this.
Laforge: Captain. Commander. The house is back. Trees, grass, everything. Happened right in front of us.
Picard: Mister Worf, do you see any survivors?
Worf: I detect two life forms inside the house. It appears Kevin and Rishon were not destroyed.
Picard: Helm, take us within transporter range. We're going to beam them aboard directly onto the Bridge.
Data: But, Captain, will they not protest?
Picard: Let them.
Picard: My apologies if I interrupted a waltz.
Rishon: Why have you brought us here against our will?
Picard: I want to end the suffering of one of my crewmembers.
Rishon: I don't understand.
Picard: Kevin does. He's the cause. At first I couldn't understand why your house survived the holocaust when the others hadn't. Then it occurred to me. It had been destroyed. That dwelling, where you served me tea, where you danced your waltzes, is a reproduction. Real to the touch but capable of being created, destroyed, and created. All on a whim.
Rishon: You're joking with us, Captain. Can't you see this is hurting my husband?
Kevin: Rishon. Hear what he has to say.
Picard: More than anything else, you wanted the Enterprise away from Rana, because the house, the plot of land, your very existence, were incongruities that you were not prepared to explain. The warship, another recreation, tried to chase us away twice, and failed. But when I came to your house the second time, I provided you with the only condition that would make the Enterprise leave. Your deaths. You did your best to satisfy that condition.
Kevin: I'm deeply sorry about the woman. I will help her. But I must know what you intend to do with me afterwards.
Picard: You'll be taken to the nearest starbase and held responsible for the attack on the Enterprise, and possibly the deaths of eleven thousand people.
Rishon: No. He never killed anyone.
Kevin: The destruction of the planet happened just as I told you.
Picard: But you haven't told us the whole story. How it ended. The part about Rishon.
Rishon: What is he saying?
Picard: Rishon, I can touch you. I can hear your voice, I can smell your perfume. In every respect you are a real person with your own mind and beliefs, but you do not exist. You died along with the others, defending the colony. He recreated you, just as he recreated the house.
Picard: You are the only living thing that really exists on Rana. And though you look human, you're not.
Laforge: He's in the turbolift.
Picard: Let him go.
Worf: Captain, he is dangerous!
Picard: So dangerous, Mister Worf, that he could have destroyed us in an instant had he wished. Track him. Alert the crew to keep clear of hm. I want him to understand we mean him no harm
Riker: Will he return to the planet?
Picard: If he is the creature of conscience I believe him to be, he has someone to help first.
Kevin: I've taken the music from her mind. She's alright now. She's sleeping. She was beginning to sense who I really was. I've been living as a human for over fifty years but I couldn't hide from her. She has suffered because of my pride and selfishness. It will not happen again.
Picard: What happened on Rana Four? The truth this time. All of it.
Kevin: Very well. For what it's worth. I am a Douwd. An immortal being of disguises and false surroundings. I have lived in this galaxy for many thousands of years although until today, no one has known my true identity. Once, while traveling in human form, I chanced to fall in love with an Earth woman. I put aside my powers and became her husband. Our life was happy and rich. Eventually we came to this planet to live our final years. Now she is dead. She never knew what I really was.
Picard: Your colony was attacked by a warship.
Kevin: Belonging to the Husnock, a species of hideous intelligence who knew only aggression and destruction. I could have destroyed them with a mere thought, but I did not do so.
Crusher: You had the power to stop them but you didn't?
Kevin: I refused to for the same reason I refused to stop the Enterprise. I will not kill.
Picard: So you let the colonists fight a hopeless battle.
Kevin: I tried to fool the Husnock as I tried to fool you. It only made them angrier. More cruel.
Picard: And then what you most feared, happened. Rishon went to fight with the colonists, and died with them.
Kevin: How I wish I could have died with her.
Picard: But you couldn't. You were left alone.
Kevin: Yes. I saw her broken body. I went insane. My hatred exploded, and in an instant of grief I destroyed the Husnock.
Crusher: Why did you try to hide this from all of us? Was it out of guilt for not helping Rishon and the others when they were alive?
Kevin: No, no, no, no. You don't understand the scope of my crime. I didn't kill just one Husnock, or a hundred, or a thousand. I killed them all. All Husnock everywhere. Are eleven thousand people worth fifty billion? Is the love of a woman worth the destruction of an entire species? This is the sin I tried so hard to keep you from learning now. Why I wanted to chase you from Rana.
Picard: We're not qualified to be your judges. We have no law to fit your crime. You're free to return to the planet and to make Rishon live again.
Riker: Helm, break orbit. Full impulse.
Picard: Captain's log, Stardate 43153.7. We are departing the Rana system for Starbase One Three Three. We leave behind a being of extraordinary power and conscience. I am not certain if he should be praised or condemned. Only that he should be left alone.


Picard: Captain's log, Stardate 43173.5. We are en route to Mintaka Three, where a three man Federation anthropological field team has been studying the inhabitants. Our mission is to resupply the outpost and repair their malfunctioning reactor.
Picard: Mister La Forge, report.
Laforge: We've finished replicating the parts they'll need, but what I don't understand is why a three man station would need a reactor capable of producing four point two gigawatts.
Riker: Enough to power a small phaser bank, a subspace relay station, or
Laforge: A hologram generator. Oh, a duck blind. Right. They're anthropologists.
Picard: Who are studying an extended family of Mintakans at close range from a camouflaged observation post.
Troi: According to Doctor Barron's preliminary reports, the Mintakans are proto-Vulcan humanoids at the Bronze Age level. Quite peaceful and highly rational.
Picard: Which is not surprising, considering how closely their evolution parallels Vulcan.
Worf: Captain, incoming transmission from Mintaka Three.
Picard: Thank you, Lieutenant. On screen.
Barron: Barron to Enterprise. Our temporary repairs have failed. The reactor is now inoperative.
Picard: Do you have battery backup?
Barron: Three hours at best.
Data: Captain, if we increase to warp seven we can be there in twenty three minutes.
Picard: Make it so. We're on our way.
Worf: We've lost contact, sir.
Picard: Increase to warp nine.
Laforge: The framework's still charged, so watch it.
Liko: Why did we have to come so early?
Oji: When the sun reaches its zenith, I have to be ready to take the measurements.
Liko: You'll be ready. You've read the sundial hundreds of times.
Oji: Yes, father, but never as the appointed record keeper.
Liko: You're taking your duties quite seriously. Your mother would have been proud of you.
Oji: What is that? Up there, father. What is it?
Liko: I don't know.
Barron: Keep work. Palmer.
Crusher: It's all right. It's all right.
Data: The hologram generator is now functioning, sir.
Riker: All we need now is power.
Laforge: Almost there.
Liko: You wait here, Oji.
Crusher: Enterprise, beam Martinez and his patient directly to Sickbay.
Data: Commander.
Riker: Doctor, be careful.
Crusher: I've got to get down there.
Crusher: Crusher to Enterprise. Medical emergency. Two to beam directly to Sickbay.
Ogawa: Aye, Doctor.
Laforge: That should do it.
Crusher: You increased the levels of tricordrazine? Let me see his chart, please.
Picard: Doctor Crusher.
Crusher: Before you start quoting me the Prime Directive, he'd already seen us. The damage was done. It was either bring him aboard or let him die.
Picard: Then why didn't you let him die?
Crusher: Because we were responsible for his injuries.
Picard: I'm not sure that I concur with that reasoning, Doctor. But now that he's here, you must remove all memory of his encounter with the away team.
Crusher: By erasing short term recall?
Picard: It has been accomplished before.
Crusher: I am familiar with Doctor Pulaski's technique. I can't guarantee it will be effective on Mintakan brain chemistry. Their lie-zone levels are much lower.
Barron: Wait. No! No! We must evacuate.
Crusher: Doctor Barron, you're on the Enterprise. You're safe.
Barron: The others?
Picard: Doctor Warren is here. We're doing all we can.
Barron: And Palmer? Where is Palmer?
Picard: Still on Mintaka Three.
Barron: Picard, you have to find him.
Picard: We will.
Barron: He may be hurt.
Picard: Rest assured we shall not leave until he is located.
Barron: Thank you, Picard.
Picard: Picard to bridge. Report.
Worf: Scans of the planet detect no humans, Captain.
Picard: Very well. Put us into a close orbit.
Worf: Sir, a close orbit will increase sensor efficiency by only four percent.
Picard: I want that four percent, Lieutenant.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Picard: Picard out.
Liko: Picard?
Crusher: Damn.
Picard: Well, Doctor. Your next task is clear.
Liko: Oji? Oji?
Oji: Father?
Liko: Here. Oji.
Oji: Father! I thought I'd never see you again. When you and the woman vanished, I was sure you were dead.
Liko: I think I was, but I was brought back to life. Oji, I awoke in an incredible place and my wounds were gone. I had been healed.
Oji: How is that possible?
Liko: Long ago, our people believed in beings with great powers. These beings made the rains come, told the sun when to rise, they caused all life to be born, to grow, to die.
Oji: But those are just tales, father. Old superstitions.
Liko: But perhaps the beliefs of our ancestors are true. Nothing else can explain what's happened. Everything is changed now, Oji. We must tell the others.
Crusher: Barron is stable, but Warren is still critical.
Riker: Palmer is missing. A scan of the planet shows Mintakan life forms only, no humans. However
Data: The area around the duck blind exhibits Karst topography. Sinkholes, underground rivers, and caverns. And the rock strata contain a high concentration of thallium compounds which may be obstructing our sensor beams.
Picard: So if Palmer, in his delirium, fled into a cave, we may be unable to detect his life signs?
Data: Correct, sir.
Crusher: Captain, if he is still alive, he needs medical attention. We must send an away team to locate him.
Troi: But our presence must not interfere with the cultural development of the Mintakans.
Picard: Agreed. Further contamination must be prevented.
Riker: I have a suggestion. First officer's log, Stardate 43174.2. Counselor Troi and I are beaming down to Mintaka Three to locate Doctor Palmer and to determine the extent of the cultural contamination. Doctor Crusher has temporarily altered our features and skin color. She's also implanted subcutaneous communicators so that any transmissions we receive will be inaudible to the Mintakans.
Riker: Riker to Enterprise. Do you hear me?
Data: Perfectly, Commander. I will be monitoring you continuously.
Troi: Mintakan emotions are quite interesting. Like the Vulcans, they have highly ordered minds. A very sensible people. For example, Mintakan women precede their mates. It's a signal to other women.
Riker: This man's taken, get your own?
Troi: Not precisely. More like, if you want his services, I'm the one you have to negotiate with.
Riker: What kind of services?
Troi: All kinds.
Riker: They are a sensible race.
Liko: I understand your skepticism. Had it not happened to me, I would find it difficult to accept as well.
Oji: But it did happen, just as we've said.
Liko: Fento, you know the legends better than anyone. Do they not speak of beings like the kind I've seen?
Oji: Who could vanish like smoke?
Fento: There are the stories of the Overseer who could appear and disappear at will.
Liko: And couldn't this Overseer heal the dead?
Fento: He had supreme power, or so our ancestors believed.
Liko: I believe I have seen the Overseer. He is called the Picard.
Riker: Uh oh.
Troi: His memory's intact.
Riker: The procedure didn't work.
Nuria: Liko, all this talk of supernatural beings. No one has believed that for countless generations. Just as we no longer believe the stars control our fates, or the spirits of the dead haunt the living.
Liko: Nuria, I'm not saying all the old beliefs are true. But I did see the Picard, and I was restored back to life.
Troi: We are visitors. We've come to trade our cloth. May we speak?
Nuria: Please do. We welcome outsiders. I am Nuria.
Troi: I am Troi and this is Riker. You've had a very interesting dream.
Liko: Dream? It was real!
Oji: My father and I both witnessed these beings.
Troi: If you are father and daughter, you may well have shared the same dream.
Liko: That is not reasonable.
Riker: Is that any less reasonable than being magically transformed to another place by the Picard?
Hali: Nuria!
Liko: It has to be Palmer! The one the Picard wished to find.
Nuria: Remarkable. You were speaking the truth.
Liko: The Picard will be pleased.
Riker: Riker to Picard.
Picard: Go ahead, Number One.
Riker: We have a problem.
Picard: With the contamination?
Riker: It's worse than we suspected.
Riker: The Mintakans are beginning to believe in a god
Riker: And the one they've chosen is you.
Barron: Picard, you must beam Palmer aboard immediately. Without medical attention
Picard: It's not as simple as that. He is surrounded by Mintakans. If he dematerializes before their eyes, the impact
Barron: It will slightly increase the cultural contamination which already exists. A small price for saving Palmer's life.
Picard: Number One?
Picard: Is there any chance of your freeing Palmer and transporting up unseen?
Riker: We can try.
Picard: Try hard.
Picard: Picard out.
Barron: Picard, I must protest. You're endangering Palmer with this delay.
Picard: I am aware of that. But each of us, including Doctor Palmer took an oath that we would uphold the Prime Directive, if necessary, with our lives.
Hali: Riga and I were hunting on the third ridge. We followed a hornbuck into a cave. The stranger was there, asleep.
Nuria: This Palmer is one of the Overseer's servants?
Liko: Yes. The Picard has many servants. Isn't that true, Fento?
Fento: According to legend. But if this Palmer is a servant of the Overseer, what was he doing in the cave?
Oji: Perhaps he ran away.
Hali: Or he failed the Picard somehow and was hiding from him.
Liko: We should bind him in case he wakes and tries to escape.
Riker: It's senseless for this stranger to be held captive. All this talk of the Overseer, it's old superstitions.
Nuria: I disagree. All the evidence indicates that the Overseer exists.
Liko: And I heard the Picard say he wanted to find Palmer.
Oji: Then by keeping Palmer safe, we will please the Picard.
Liko: And he'll grant us favors in return.
Nuria: Favors?
Fento: It is said that the Overseer is all powerful. He can provide gentle winters, plentiful hunting, fertile crops, anything.
Liko: He could even bring back those who have died.
Nuria: It's agreed. We will save Palmer for the Picard.
Troi: I've seen another one, like Palmer.
Liko: Another servant of the Picard?
Troi: He's headed toward the caves.
Nuria: Fento, stay and bind Palmer.
Man: Where?
Troi: Over there.
Riker: That knot won't hold. If I may?
Fento: Please do.
Riker: You need a knot that'll tighten under pressure. Let me show you.
Oji: Father, the sun's reaching its zenith. If I don't go to measure
Liko: Go.
Riker: Forgive me, friend, but the stranger must be set free.
Oji: Riker?
Riker: Riker to Enterprise. Lock on and prepare to beam us directly to Sickbay, but hang on for my signal.
Data: Acknowledged, Commander.
Oji: Riker, stop!
Nuria: Oji?
Oji: It's Riker, he's taking Palmer!
Nuria: Hali. Yuri, don't let her escape.
Riker: I'm clear. Energize!
Riker: Data, has Counselor Troi beamed up?
Data: Negative, Commander. Sensors show she's in the midst of a group of Mintakans.
Riker: Damn.
Nuria: He is all right. Hali, find Riker and Palmer.
Liko: Why did you and Riker take Palmer from us?
Troi: We did not take Palmer.
Troi: We set him free. Riker and I do not believe in these fables about an Overseer.
Liko: Don't you realize what you've done? You've angered the Picard and we may all suffer for it. I know. I've seen him. He is all-powerful.
Liko: Fanto, weren't there stories about the Overseer destroying those who offended him?
Fento: Stories, nothing more.
Nuria: Liko, we'll get Palmer back. Riker was carrying him. They can't have gone far.
Liko: Still, the Picard may blame us for letting Palmer escape. Perhaps we should punish her. Let the Overseer know
Liko: That she and Riker acted alone.
Nuria: We will keep Troi captive.
Liko: That's not enough.
Nuria: You would have us harm her?
Liko: If it will hold off the Picard's anger, yes. I've seen how powerful he is.
Nuria: I am unwilling to hurt her needlessly. We will wait for Hali to return.
Oji: And if they don't find Palmer?
Nuria: Then we may have to do as Liko suggests.
Picard: Doctor, you believe the Mintakans are capable of harming Counselor Troi?
Barron: They are not normally a violent people but these are extraordinary circumstances. They're trying to comprehend what they believe to be a god.
Picard: Recommendations?
Barron: The Mintakans wish to please the Overseer, but they can only guess what he wants. They need a sign.
Picard: Are you suggesting?
Barron: You must go down to Mintaka Three.
Riker: Masquerading as a god?
Picard: Absolutely out of the question. The Prime Directive
Barron: Has already been violated. The damage is done. All we can do now is minimize it.
Picard: By sanctioning their false beliefs?
Barron: By giving them guidelines. Letting them know what the Overseer expects of them.
Picard: Doctor Barron, I cannot, I will not, impose a set of commandments on these people. To do so violates the very essence of the Prime Directive.
Barron: Like it or not, we have rekindled the Mintakans' belief in the Overseer.
Riker: And are you saying that this belief will eventually become a religion?
Barron: It's inevitable. And without guidance, that religion could degenerate into inquisitions, holy wars, chaos.
Picard: Horrifying. Doctor Barron, your report describes how rational these people are. Millennia ago, they abandoned their belief in the supernatural. Now you are asking me to sabotage that achievement, to send them back into the Dark Ages of superstition and ignorance and fear? No! We will find some way to undo the damage we've caused. Number One, tell me about this group's leader.
Riker: Nuria. Exceptionally clear-minded, sensible. The Mintakans trust her judgment. If we can convince her that you are not a god
Picard: She might be able to persuade the others.
Barron: And how do you propose to convince her?
Picard: She believes the Picard is a magical figure. I'm going to show her how the magic works. I'm going to bring her aboard.
Data: Counselor, sensors indicate five Mintakans in your immediate vicinity. Four are motionless. The fifth is eight meters away, proceeding south. Is Nuria one of these five?
Troi: Mmm hmm.
Data: Was that intended to be an affirmative?
Riker: Yes, Data, it was.
Data: Is Nuria the closest of the five?
Troi: Uh un.
Riker: Negative.
Data: Is Nuria the one in motion?
Troi: Mmm hmm.
Riker: Lock sensors on Nuria.
Data: Locked on. We can beam Nuria aboard at will.
Picard: Data, when sensors indicate she's alone, beam her directly to transporter room one.
Data: Aye, sir.
Picard: Ensign Hoy?
Data: Captain, Nuria is alone.
Picard: I'll handle this.
Picard: Nuria, don't be afraid. No one is going to harm you.
Nuria: Who?
Picard: I am Jean Luc Picard.
Picard: Please, get up. Get up. You must not kneel to me.
Nuria: You do not wish it?
Picard: I do not deserve it. Look at me. Look at me. Feel the warmth of my hand, the rhythm of my pulse. I'm not a supreme being. I'm flesh and blood, like you.
Nuria: Not like me.
Picard: Like you. Different in appearance, yes. But we are both living beings. We are born, we grow, we live and we die. In all the ways that matter, we are alike.
Nuria: But you are the Picard!
Picard: There is something I want you to see.
Nuria: What a wondrous place. Even the walls obey your command.
Picard: Wondrous, yes, but not miraculous. The doors merely work differently from the ones you know.
Nuria: That is my home?
Picard: Seen from far, far above.
Nuria: Yet we do not fall. I never imagined I would see the clouds from the other side. Your powers are truly boundless.
Picard: Nuria, your people live in huts. Was it always so?
Nuria: No. We have found remnants of tools in caves. Our ancestors must have lived there.
Picard: So why do you now live in huts?
Nuria: Huts are better. Caves are dark and wet.
Picard: If huts are better, why did you once live in caves?
Nuria: The most reasonable explanation would be that at one time we didn't know how to make huts.
Picard: Just as at one time you did not know how to weave cloth, how to make a bow.
Nuria: That would be reasonable.
Picard: Someone invented a hut. Someone invented a bow, who taught others, who taught their children, who built a stronger hut, built a better bow, who taught their children. Now, Nuria, suppose one of your cave dwelling ancestors could see you as you are today. What would she think?
Nuria: I don't know.
Picard: Put yourself in her place. You see, she cannot kill a hornbuck at a great distance. You can. You have a power she lacks.
Nuria: Only because I have a bow.
Picard: She's never seen a bow. It doesn't exist in her world. To you, it's a simple tool. To her, it's magic.
Nuria: I suppose she might think so.
Picard: Now, how would she react to you?
Nuria: I think she would fear me.
Picard: Just as you fear me.
Nuria: I do not fear you any longer.
Picard: Good. That's good. You see, my people once lived in caves. And then we learned to build huts and, in time, to build ships like this one.
Nuria: Perhaps one day, my people will travel above the skies.
Picard: Of that, I have absolutely no doubt.
Liko: It's not the season for lightning. It must be a warning.
Fento: We've had storms like this before.
Oji: Not like this one.
Liko: It must mean something. The Picard is angry with us. He blames us for letting Palmer escape.
Fento: Liko, we don't know that the Overseer is responsible for this storm.
Liko: Will he also send floods? My wife died in last year's floods. Will we all die now? We must find Nuria.
Nuria: Picard, you have shown me wonders I could never have imagined, and I am grateful beyond words. Might I request something for my people?
Picard: You are indeed a leader.
Nuria: You have shown me such generosity. I wish my people could share in it. Six Mintakans died in a flood last winter. Four of them children. Would you bring them back to life?
Picard: That is not in my power.
Nuria: Why? You restored Liko's life. Did the six who died offend you in some way? Did I offended you? Should I have ordered the death of Troi? Please, you must tell me if there's anything I can do to change your mind.
Picard: I've failed to get through to you, haven't I? Despite all my efforts.
Oji: Nuria can't be found. No one knows where she's gone.
Liko: Hali, any sign of Palmer or Riker?
Hali: They have escaped us. We searched everywhere.
Oji: What do we do now, father?
Liko: We must do as the Picard wishes. Punish those responsible.
Fento: Nuria would not allow us to
Liko: Nuria isn't here. We can't wait.
Crusher: Crusher to Picard. I think we're going to lose Warren.
Picard: On my way.
Barron: I'm here, Mary.
Crusher: Prepare two cc's of norep.
Crusher: I'm sorry.
Nuria: Picard, you could not save her?
Picard: No.
Nuria: You do have limits. You are not masters of life and death.
Picard: No, we are not. We can cure many diseases and we can repair injuries, we can even extend life. But for all our knowledge, all our advances, we are just as mortal as you are. We're just as powerless to prevent the inevitable.
Nuria: You are a remarkable people, but you are not superior beings. My people must be made to understand that.
Troi: Liko, you don't want to kill me.
Liko: I have no choice. I must do as the Picard wishes.
Troi: Are you sure you know what he wants? That's the problem with believing in a supernatural being. Trying to determine what he wants.
Liko: We must do something.
Oji: But what if we do the wrong thing, father?
Liko: Picard, we need your guidance. Is it your wish that this woman should die? Answer us. Speak.
Picard: Liko!
Liko: The Picard. The Overseer has come.
Picard: No. Liko. Liko, I am a man. I am not the Overseer. I am a traveler from a faraway land. Nothing more.
Liko: But you have restored my life. I am your servant.
Picard: You are no one's servant, Liko. I neither desire your obedience nor your worship.
Nuria: Picard speaks the truth. I have visited his people. I have seen how they live and how they die. When death takes one of their loved ones, they are as helpless as we are.
Liko: Then how was I brought back to life?
Nuria: Liko, you were not dead. Picard's people have a knowledge that we lack. They are able to heal wounds that we cannot.
Liko: No. No. He can bring back the dead. Show them, Picard. You can bring my wife back to me.
Picard: I cannot.
Liko: Why? Why won't you do this for me? Have I failed you in some way? Are you angry with me?
Picard: I am not angry with you.
Liko: Then I beg you, bring her back to me. I will give you my life in exchange. Please, take back what you gave me. Give it to her. Let her live!
Picard: It is beyond my power.
Liko: Nothing is beyond your power! You are the Overseer. I will prove it!
Nuria: Liko!
Picard: If you believe I am all-powerful, then you cannot hurt me. If, however, I am telling the truth and I am mortal, you will kill me. But if the only proof you will believe is my death, then shoot.
Nuria: Liko, don't do it!
Oji: Father, no!
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. Doctor Crusher has repaired my injury with her usual skill. Mister La Forge will supervise the dismantling of the observation post after I make one last visit to Mintaka Three.
Picard: Now, Mister La Forge.
Laforge: Aye, sir.
Nuria: What is that?
Picard: A place where we can watch your people.
Fento: But why?
Picard: To study you. To understand your ways. Discontinue, Mister La Forge.
Nuria: Picard, why should a people so advanced want to learn about us?
Picard: We were once as you are now. To study you is to understand ourselves.
Fento: But why did you have to hide yourself from us?
Liko: Because their presence would affect us, just as it affected me.
Picard: It is our highest law that we shall not interfere with other cultures.
Oji: Then revealing yourselves was an accident.
Picard: Oh, yes, and now we must leave you.
Oji: Why? There's so much you can teach us.
Picard: But that, too, would be interference. You must progress in your own way.
Nuria: So we will. You have taught us there is nothing beyond our reach.
Picard: Not even the stars.
Nuria: Pahkee.
Nuria: I wish you good journeys, Picard. Remember my people.
Picard: Always.


Data: Commander, away team reporting in. Lieutenant Worf standing by.
Riker: This is Riker. Go ahead, Lieutenant.
Worf: The archeologists have identified the markings in these caverns. This planet was apparently once home to a race known as the Koinonians.
Picard: What do we know about them, Data?
Data: The Koinonians were an intelligent culture which became embroiled in a war that lasted for several generations. Our best evidence indicates they destroyed themselves.
Worf: We have completed our survey of the third tunnel and will proceed into the ceremonial chamber.
Riker: Affirmative. Enterprise out.
Picard: Destroyed themselves, Data?
Data: According to historical records. This will be the first opportunity for a Federation team
Troi: Captain! Beam them up quickly!
Worf: Captain. Emergency beam up! Enterprise, emergency! Severe injuries.
Picard: Transporter Room!
O'Brien: I've got them, Captain.
Picard: Beam them straight to Sickbay. Doctor Crusher, incoming wounded.
Crusher: Away Team is aboard, Captain.
Crusher: One dead on arrival. Captain's Log, stardate 43198.7. The Enterprise remains in standard orbit while we investigate the tragedy which has struck the away team. Lieutenant Marla Aster, ship's archeologist, has been killed in what should have been a routine mission. Whatever the explanation, it will not bring back a valued and trusted officer.
Picard: Lieutenant?
Worf: We had completed our investigation of the third tunnel. Our scans had indicated no weapons or traps of any kind. Lieutenant Aster was three meters behind me. An explosive device went off. There was no warning. Lieutenant Aster bore the full brunt of the detonation.
Troi: Lieutenant Aster is survived by a son, Jeremy. Twelve years old. He's aboard the Enterprise, sir.
Picard: And his father?
Troi: He's also deceased. His only living relatives are an aunt and uncle residing on Earth.
Picard: Where is he now?
Troi: In class. I've alerted the teacher to expect us.
Worf: Captain. I must accompany you. I commanded the away team.
Picard: I appreciate your offer, Lieutenant, but this is my responsibility.
Picard: Picard to Bridge.
Riker: Yes, Captain.
Picard: Assign Commander La Forge to lead another away team to the dig site. I want to know why this happened.
Riker: Yes, Captain.
Picard: I will be with Counselor Troi
Picard: And young Jeremy Aster.
Riker: I understand. Riker out.
Wesley: He had to do the same thing for me.
Riker: Do you know Jeremy well?
Wesley: But I know this is going to be like for him.
Riker: That's part of life in Starfleet, Wesley.
Wesley: I know. They're very careful to prepare us for anything, but still
Riker: I know.
Wesley: How do you get used to it? Telling them?
Riker: You hope you never do.
Troi: I sense the weight of this duty on you, Captain.
Picard: I really wonder. Halt. I've always believed that carrying children on a starship is a very questionable policy. Serving on a starship means accepting certain risks, certain dangers. Did Jeremy Aster make that choice?
Troi: Death and loss are an integral part of life everywhere. Leaving him on Earth would not have protected him.
Picard: No, but Earth isn't likely to be ordered to the Neutral Zone, or to repel a Romulan attack, It was my command which sent his mother to her death. She understood her mission and my duty. Will he?
Troi: In time, and with help. Wesley Crusher does. He does. And so will Jeremy.
Picard: Resume.
Picard: Jeremy, I have some bad news. There has been an accident. Your mother has died.
Jeremy: How, sir?
Picard: An explosive device at the mission site. She died instantly.
Jeremy: I understand.
Troi: Jeremy, I know your mother loved you very much.
Picard: I'm told that your father is also dead.
Jeremy: Yes, sir. He died five years ago from a Rushton infection. I'm all alone now, sir.
Picard: Jeremy, on the starship Enterprise, no one is alone. No one.
Data: Excuse me, sir. Am I intruding?
Riker: No, sit down.
Data: How well did you know Lieutenant Aster?
Riker: We spent some time together. Not very well. How well did you know her?
Data: Why do you ask?
Riker: Well, you just asked me.
Data: But why do you ask the question? Since her death, I have been asked several times to define how well I knew Lieutenant Aster. And I heard you ask Wesley on the Bridge how well he knew Jeremy. Does the question of familiarity have some bearing on death?
Riker: Do you remember how we all felt when Tasha died?
Data: I do not sense the same feelings of absence that I associate with Lieutenant Yar, although I cannot say precisely why.
Riker: Just human nature, Data.
Data: Human nature, sir?
Riker: We feel a loss more intensely when it's a friend.
Data: But should not the feelings run as deep regardless of who has died?
Riker: Maybe they should, Data. Maybe if we felt the loss of any life as keenly as we felt the death of those close to us, human history would be a lot less bloody.
Laforge: La Forge to Riker
Riker: You're back, Geordi
Laforge: Yes, sir, and we've brought back a souvenir.
Laforge: There are five more just like them. All identical to the one that killed Lieutenant Aster.
Data: They employ a subspace proximity detonator. A normal tricorder would never detect it.
Picard: How long would you say they've been there, Data?
Data: It comes from the time of the Koinonian Wars, sir.
Riker: Did you find them all, Geordi?
Laforge: Yeah, but, well, it seemed like they were left there to be found.
Picard: Left by whom? There are no indications of life on this planet.
Laforge: I don't know, Captain, but it was pretty obvious that they'd been recently pulled out of the ground and defused.
Worf: I have made my report to the Captain.
Troi: I'm more interested in how you feel about what happened. I sense great anger.
Worf: I cannot seek revenge against an enemy who's turned to dust centuries ago. Her death was senseless. The last victim of a forgotten war.
Troi: Go on.
Worf: There's nothing more to be said.
Troi: A person died under your command. It may happen again. If you can't learn to release the anger and the guilt, to talk about it
Worf: A leader must stand alone. As Captain Picard does.
Troi: Captain Picard talks to me.
Worf: Then may I seek your counsel about my plan to make the R'uustai with the boy.
Troi: The Bonding.
Worf: It is my right.
Troi: It's very generous, Worf, but he's not a Klingon child. He has different sensibilities.
Worf: He is an orphan. I am an orphan. He will understand.
Troi: Right now, there isn't much he can understand. He's holding all his feelings inside. Children often feel they must be true to the memory of a lost parent. If you offer affection to them too soon they can feel guilty returning that affection. As if they're betraying the love of the parent.
Worf: I only wish to honor his mother.
Troi: I know. And I understand this means a great deal to you. But you must be prepared. He's very angry too, but his anger is deep inside him. When he touches it, it will strike out in many directions, including yours. Be with him. Talk to him. But don't rush this. When he's ready, we'll know.
Jeremy: Captain Patches, an alien ship on the surface. What's it made of, Captain. Oh, no, we've been hit, Captain. We're going down.
Dad: That was great. Now, let's get a shot of mom.
Marla: What are you doing? I'll turn your lens into shards. Go away! Go away! Go away! Over there. Over there.
Jeremy: Patches. Captain Patches is coming in for a landing on the sofa!
Jeremy: Oh, no, he's going to crash.
Worf: Jeremy Aster? I'm Lieutenant Worf. May I enter?
Jeremy: You were in command of the away team.
Worf: Yes. I was with Lieutenant Aster, your mother, when she died.
Jeremy: You're a Klingon, aren't you.
Worf: Yes.
Jeremy: We studied about Klingons in school.
Worf: What did they teach you about us?
Jeremy: You used to be our enemies.
Worf: Did they also teach you that every Klingon hopes to die in the line of duty as your mother did? In my tradition, we do not grieve the loss of the body. We celebrate the releasing of the spirit.
Jeremy: I understand death. They teach us all about it.
Worf: Jeremy Aster, we may both understand it, but we must bring meaning to your mother's death. Perhaps we can do it together.
Picard: Come. Counselor, how's the boy?
Troi: He's being very brave.
Picard: Good.
Troi: No, he has to get past brave. He's very angry and he has to learn how to express that anger before he can really say goodbye to his mother.
Picard: How can we help?
Troi: Well, I've asked Beverly if we might get Wesley to talk to Jeremy about his father's death. The one unusual element is Worf.
Picard: Oh?
Troi: In many ways he's suffering as badly as the boy. He wishes to involve Jeremy in a Klingon ceremony called R'uustai, the Bonding
Picard: I know of that. Perhaps it will be helpful to both of them.
Troi: I don't think Jeremy's ready to accept Worf right now. Perhaps later, but it will have to be handled most delicately.
Picard: As you always do. I break the unpleasant news and there my responsibility ends, but you, you have to stay with them through the entire grieving process.
Troi: We deal with our pain in many different ways, but over the years I've discovered it is in our joy that the uniqueness of each individual is revealed. If I can help a person back to a state of joy, well, my role has its rewards.
Riker: Captain, we're picking up an energy field on the planet surface.
Picard: Location?
Riker: Two kilometers north of the away team's beam-down point.
Picard: Indeed? Full scan.
Data: Inconclusive, Captain.
Troi: Sir, I', sensing a presence on the planet. Very vague.
Picard: Life form?
Troi: I can't be sure. The emotions of the crew are particularly strong right now. It's difficult to filter them out.
Picard: Data, scan analysis on main viewer.
Wesley: Hi.
Crusher: Hi. Troi stopped by a little while ago. She was wondering if you might be willing to talk to Jeremy Aster at some point.
Wesley: Me? What for?
Crusher: About your Dad.
Wesley: What am I going to tell him?
Crusher: It would help him to talk with someone who's been through this. We had each other, Wes. He doesn't have anyone to lean on right now. And he might be more comfortable talking to someone who's not much older than he is.
Wesley: Okay, I'll think about it.
Crusher: Okay.
Wesley: Do you ever think about him, Mom?
Crusher: Your father? Sure I do.
Wesley: Sometimes I can't even remember what his face looks like. It scares me.
Crusher: It happens to all of us, Wes. Sometimes I can't get his face out of my mind.
Wesley: Today, today it's like I can see it all as clearly as if it were yesterday. I can remember the way Dad looked when he hugged me goodbye. Captain Picard's eyes when he came to tell us
Riker: Data, run comparison of known phenomena.
Data: The pattern has no exact match in Federation records, sir.
Picard: Is it alive?
Data: A possibility.
Laforge: Captain, I'm getting an unusual magnetic flux reading from the anti-matter containment pods.
Troi: My God.
Jeremy: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Okay, you've got ten seconds more, Mom. No peeking. Come on, Patches, in here. Shh. Okay, Mom, we're ready.
Marla: Jeremy? I'm getting closer. Jeremy, I'm going to find you. You must be in here somewhere.
Marla: Jeremy!
Jeremy: Mom?
Laforge: All systems are functioning normally. Still, there's this fluctuation in the containment field. I can't account for it.
Riker: Data, is this possibly related to the energy fields on the planet?
Troi: Captain
Data: There is a beam of highly charged particles emanating from the planet, sir, but I cannot pinpoint the location yet.
Troi: Captain, there's a presence on the Enterprise.
Picard: An alien presence?
Data: No intruder noted by the sensors, sir.
Troi: There is a presence.
Riker: Security, all decks yellow alert. Possible intruder.
Jeremy: They said you were dead.
Marla: There was a mistake. It's okay.
Jeremy: But there was an explosion. You were hurt.
Marla: I'm fine. You mustn't think any more about this. The important thing is I'm never going to leave you again. I think somebody needs a hug.
Marla: We have to go now.
Jeremy: Where?
Marla: To the planet. That's where we're going to live now.
Jeremy: We're not going to stay on the Enterprise any more?
Marla: No. We're going to live in a home just like we used to on Earth. You'll see. I promise.
Jeremy: Lieutenant Worf! Did they tell you? It was a mistake. She didn't die. She's alive.
Worf: Jeremy, come here.
Marla: Lieutenant Worf. It's all right. I'm here for the boy.
Worf: Lieutenant Worf to Captain Picard.
Picard: Go ahead.
Worf: Lieutenant Aster is in her quarters.
Riker: Repeat, Worf?
Worf: Lieutenant Aster is here. In her quarters with the boy.
Picard: Do not provoke her
Picard: Or interfere in any way until I arrive. Picard out. Number One, have Security moving that way but tell them to keep their distance. You have the Bridge. Counselor.
Marla: There is nothing to worry about. I'm going to take care of Jeremy and make him happy. It's time to go.
Worf: Where are you taking the child?
Jeremy: To the planet.
Marla: Come, Jeremy.
Worf: Worf to Picard, they're leaving their quarters.
Worf: Captain, I believe we're headed for transporter room three.
Picard: We're on our way.
Marla: Chief O'Brien, Jeremy and I are going down to the surface.
Picard: Who are you?
Marla: I'm Marla Aster.
Jeremy: It's my mother, Captain. She's alive.
Picard: What do you want?
Marla: To take my child down to the planet.
Picard: I cannot permit that. The boy is my responsibility.
Marla: I'm here to care for him. He needs me. Why do you resist?
Picard: Because I don't know who or what you are.
Jeremy: Can't you see who it is, Captain?
Picard: Jeremy, she appears to be your mother, but she is not.
Jeremy: What do you mean?
Marla: You're confusing the boy.
Jeremy: Hey! Wait! Stop! No! No! Wait! Stop!
Jeremy: Mom! Mom?
Troi: Jeremy
Jeremy: Wait a minute. Let go of me. She was right there!
Jeremy: What did you do to her?
Troi: Jeremy, I don't know what that was, but it was not your mother.
Jeremy: You saw her. She was here.
Troi: Your mother's dead.
Jeremy: But I touched her. She was real.
Troi: Why would your real mother want you to go down to the planet? There's nothing there but dust and rocks.
Jeremy: It's my house. It's my house on Earth.
Marla: Exactly the way it was. Remember, Jeremy?
Jeremy: How did you do it?
Marla: Does it matter?
Troi: Yes, it matters.
Marla: I am trying to understand your resistance. You spoke of rocks and dust on the planet. I decided to show you what awaits us there.
Troi: Why would you create this fantasy?
Marla: It's his home. And it makes you happy, doesn't it?
Troi: But it's not real.
Marla: Isn't it? Jeremy, isn't that really Patches?
Jeremy: He knows me. It's him. It's real. It's all real.
Troi: No, it's not. Could your real mother just make all this appear? You must not stay here. Come with me.
Jeremy: I can't.
Picard: Is the boy in any danger?
Troi: I don't think so. She seems to want to help him.
Picard: Help him?
Troi: By easing his pain. She's very confused by our resistance, Captain.
Picard: Troi, would it be wise to remove Jeremy from his cabin?
Troi: He doesn't want to leave. I would not recommend taking him
Troi: By force.
Riker: She offers him everything. All we offer is the cold reality of his mother's death.
Crusher: What would you choose? If somebody came along and offered to give you back your mother, father or husband, would any of us say no so easily?
Picard: Counselor, stay with them in Jeremy's quarters.
Picard: We'll try and put an end to this from here.
Troi: Understood.
Picard: Data, can you determine for certain that the energy source from the planet is powering this creation?
Data: The beam from the planet is clearly tapping into the ship's anti-matter, Captain.
Laforge: I'd say they're running the manifestation off our own energy.
Picard: So there are limits to her power.
Riker: She needs the transporter to get the boy back.
Picard: So how do we cut the puppet's strings?
Laforge: Increasing the shield harmonics to match our own antimatter containment fields will probably sever the beam.
Picard: Proceed.
Riker: Deanna, stand by.
Troi: Standing by.
Troi: Jeremy, it's time for this to end. It's not real and it's over now.
Marla: Jeremy, I'm not going to leave you ever again.
Troi: I won't trick you or lie to you.
Marla: We'll be happy together, Jeremy, as soon as
Jeremy: No.
Laforge: Anti-matter containment pods reading nominal.
Data: The shield has severed the beam, sir. Captain, the energy field.
Picard: Mister Crusher, take us out of here.
O'Brien: Alien intruder, transporter room three. Security alert. Alien
Worf: Security to transporter room three.
Picard: Commander La Forge, Mister Worf, come with me. Number One, you have the Bridge.
Marla: Come, Jeremy. We will not let them separate us again. We're going home.
Troi: Captain, she's back. She's trying to take Jeremy off the ship again.
Picard: Acknowledged.
Laforge: Engineering, this is La Forge. Shut down power to all transporters. I'm on my way.
Crewman: Aye, aye, sir.
Picard: Lieutenant Worf, to transporter room three.
Picard: Bridge, seal off deck eight, corridors A and B.
Data: Engaging force fields, Captain. Transporters down.
Worf: Energy force has left transporter room three. Security alert, all decks.
Riker: La Forge, the intruder may try to reinstate
Riker: Transporter power.
Laforge: Understood, Commander.
Picard: Bridge, release security forcefield eight B. Hello, Jeremy. How are you? Are you frightened?
Jeremy: No. Well, a little, sir.
Picard: Of course. These are frightening things that are happening. But we won't let anyone harm you. Counselor, why don't you take the boy to my quarters.
Marla: No!
Laforge: It's looking over everything, Commander, going to school. Let's just hope it doesn't blow us to kingdom come while it's figuring out how to blow us to kingdom come.
Worf: Power's back in transporter room three.
Laforge: Bypassing the manual override. Shutting it down.
Worf: Transporter is down again.
Riker: Keep it down, Geordi, for as long as you can.
Laforge: Understood, Commander.
Marla: It is only a matter of time, Captain, before we can power the transporters ourselves
Picard: We? For whom else do you speak?
Marla: The accident on the surface was caused by a remnant of an ancient and tragic era. Two species once shared this world. One of energy and one of matter. The physical beings you call the Koinonians destroyed themselves in unending, bitter wars. The surviving life forms on this world will not tolerate any further suffering as a result of that dishonorable past. So, they have made this possible. They have made me possible.
Picard: I appreciate your motives, but his mother is dead. He must learn to live with that.
Marla: I will be every bit his mother.
Picard: But not his mother. Picard to Lieutenant Worf.
Worf: Go ahead, Captain.
Picard: Will you escort Ensign Crusher to the Aster quarters?
Worf: Yes, sir.
Picard: Picard out.
Marla: Your philosophy is curious, Captain. What is so noble about sorrow? I can provide him an existence where he will feel no pain, no anguish.
Picard: It is at the heart of our nature to feel pain and joy. It is an essential part of what makes us what we are.
Marla: He is alone now in your world. A child, alone. How can you know he won't be happier with me?
Picard: For a brief moment in time, he surely would be. Any of us in his place would be.
Troi: What would Jeremy do for friends in your world?
Marla: He will have any friends he needs.
Troi: And will you provide for his education, his health, his growth, a career, a wife?
Picard: Yes, it's quite an undertaking you're proposing, isn't it?
Marla: It is our duty to make him happy again.
Picard: Do you honestly believe he would be happy in this total fiction which you wish to create? What reason would he have to live? What you're offering him is a memory, something to cherish, not to live in. It is part of our life cycle that we accept the death of those we love. Jeremy must come to terms with his grief. He must not cover it or hide away from it. You see, we are mortal. Our time in this universe is finite. That is one of the truths that all human must learn.
Wesley: Acting Ensign Crusher reporting as ordered, sir.
Picard: Yes. Come in, Wesley. Please stay, Lieutenant. Jeremy, Wesley's father died on a Starfleet mission when he was younger than you are.
Troi: Wes, your mother told me you were finding it difficult to talk to Jeremy. Why is that?
Wesley: I don't know. I just didn't want to think about it any more. All this has reminded me so much of that day.
Picard: The day I told you your father had been killed. As I recall, Wesley, you took it very well.
Wesley: My parents taught me about the dangers of Starfleet missions. I knew what could happen.
Picard: So you were prepared?
Wesley: No, I wasn't prepared at all. How could anyone be prepared to hear that a parent is never coming home again? I tried to be what everybody expected of me. Brave and mature.
Picard: Wesley, are you saying that you didn't want anybody to see what you were really feeling? What were you really feeling?
Wesley: Like somebody had kicked me in the head.
Picard: Somebody?
Troi: Go on. You've wanted to tell him for a long time.
Wesley: I was angry at you.
Picard: Why angry? Why were you angry at me, Wesley? Were you angry at me because I was the one who told you your father was dead?
Wesley: No.
Picard: Then why?
Wesley: Because you led the mission. You came home and my father didn't.
Troi: How long were you angry with the Captain, Wes?
Wesley: For a long time. But not any more, sir. Not even a little.
Troi: So, Jeremy, you must be very angry at Lieutenant Worf. He was in charge of your mother's mission, just as Captain Picard was in command when Wesley's father was killed. Isn't that right? Worf came back. Your mother didn't.
Jeremy: Why? Why weren't you the one who died? Why did it have to be her?
Troi: He can't answer that. None of us can.
Picard: Lieutenant Worf also lost his parents.
Worf: They were killed in battle when I was six. When I was alone, humans helped me. Let me help you. The Marla Aster I knew and honored is not in this room. Nor does she await you on the planet. Now she lives only here And here. Join me in the R'uustai, the Bonding. You will become part of my family now and for all time. We will be brothers.
Worf: SoS jIH batlh SoH.
Jeremy: What does that mean?
Worf: It honors the memory of our mothers. We have bonded and our families are stronger.
Jeremy: SoS jIH batlh SoH.