Picard: Captain's log, stardate 41798.2. We have been ordered by Starfleet to proceed to the Lorenze Cluster and investigate the disappearance of a light cruiser, USS Drake, which was in that system trying to unravel a mystery of its own which began when recent long range probes indicated that all intelligent life on the planet Minos has disappeared.
Picard: Number One?
Riker: No help from their communications log. The Drake reported arriving at Minos and then wasn't heard from again.
Picard: Mister Data?
Data: The citizens of Minos gained fame during the Ersalrope wars as arms merchants. They manufactured sophisticated and highly advanced weaponry.
Laforge: Yeah? For which side?
Data: Both.
Laforge: We are approaching the planet Minos, sir.
Picard: Standard orbit, Mister La Forge.
Laforge: Aye, sir. Standard orbit.
Riker: Whatever happened to the Drake, happened quickly, otherwise a man like Rice would have reported again.
Picard: You know Captain Rice?
Riker: We were at the Academy together.
Picard: Tell me about him.
Riker: Able. A good officer.
Troi: How would he react under stress?
Riker: Paul Rice is confident to the point of arrogance, he but carries it well because he's usually right. He's a risk taker.
Picard: Really?
Riker: I'll give you an example. One of the final tests in advance navigation at the Academy provides the student with three options. Rice was given this test, rejected their options and offered one of his own.
Picard: That's taking a risk.
Riker: And it paid off. He received the top grade and now that same test has four options.
Troi: In a difficult situation a man like that would act aggressively.
Riker: Agreed.
Worf: Commander, weren't you offered the Drake?
Riker: Yes.
Tasha: You gave up your own command to take this assignment?
Riker: At the time I thought it would be more advantageous for me to do a tour on the Enterprise.
Data: Captain, readings correspond with the findings of the probe. No signs of intelligent life forms. Vegetation and animal life only.
Troi: What happened to all the people?
Worf: War?
Data: Disease?
Laforge: A dissatisfied customer?
Tasha: In any war, natural disaster, even the most virulent plague, there are always survivors.
Data: Captain, we are being hailed.
Riker: How can that be from a planet with no people?
Picard: Your sensors indicated no intelligent life forms?
Data: Correct, sir. Something has scanned our language banks and is hailing us.
Picard: On main viewer.
Salesman: Whoever you are, wherever you're from, greetings. Welcome to Minos, the arsenal of freedom.
Picard: I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS
Salesman: If you need a little something special, be it for one target or multiple targets, we got it. You'll see it here on Minos, where we live by the motto 'peace through superior firepower'.
Picard: To whom am I speaking?
Salesman: To be totally armed is to be totally secure. Remember, the early bird that hesitates gets wormed.
Data: It is a recorded message, sir.
Salesman: Minos, the arsenal of freedom. Perfection in highly advanced weaponry. Versatility.
Picard: We must have triggered something left over from the Erselrope wars when the arms business was booming.
Salesman: So lock on to my signal and beam on down, because we don't just provide weapons
Picard: Shut that off.
Salesman: We provide complete weapons systems.
Laforge: It's a heck of a sales pitch.
Picard: If an automated message system is still functioning, there could be other systems on that planet that are still operational.
Tasha: Weapons systems?
Picard: Possibly.
Riker: We're going to have to go down there to find it.
Picard: Number One, prepare am away team.
Riker: Lieutenant Yar. Data.
Tasha: Commander, I recommend a minimum complement.
Riker: Oh? I would have thought otherwise.
Tasha: We'll keep the first landing party small and mobile, until I'm confident that whatever killed the inhabitants of this planet isn't still down there.
Riker: Okay.
Riker: Spooky. Riker.
Picard: This is the Bridge.
Riker: We'll start a pattern search from this point.
Picard: Keep this channel open.
Riker: Aye, sir.
Data: Commander, our communications are being monitored.
Riker: By whom?
Data: Since there is no intelligent life, the question is by what?
Riker: Captain?
Picard: Yes, we heard that, Number One. We'll try and track it down from here.
Tasha: Tritanium. It's been melted.
Riker: What could do that?
Tasha: I don't know. Whatever it was, it's beyond our technology.
Data: Over here.
Tasha: Wow.
Riker: We've never even seen anything like this.
Tasha: It's undamaged.
Riker: Maybe a demonstration model for some potential buyer.
Tasha: Maybe. Let's spread out a little.
T'Su: Commander Riker, this is Ensign T'Su.
T'Su: I'm monitoring a slight energy buildup near your position. I am not able to pinpoint the source.
Riker: Give me a direction.
T'Su: East of your position, ten meters. I will continue monitoring.
Riker: I can't see anything through here. The underbrush is too thick.
Rice: Hello. Commander Riker.
Riker: Rice! Where did you come from?
Rice: I was over there.
Riker: We were worried about you. I should have known you'd pop up.
Rice: How are you, Commander Riker?
Riker: Me? Forget about me. How are you? No word, no message, nothing.
Rice: How many are with you?
Riker: There are two others. Where's the Drake? Where's your crew?
Picard: Number One, a word. We have some information you should be aware of.
Picard: Ensign T'Su?
T'Su: Sensors indicate low level energy readings, but the only life signs are the away team.
Picard: You copy, Number One?
Riker: Understood. You look strange, Paul.
Rice: I was injured getting here.
Riker: Do you need medical help?
Rice: No. What's your purpose here?
Riker: Commander Data, Lieutenant Yar.
Data: Sir, other than ourselves, I am picking up no life signs here.
Riker: I know.
Rice: Riker, you didn't answer me. Who sent you here to look for me?
Riker: Your mother. She's worried about you.
Rice: Tell me about your ship, Riker. It's the Enterprise, isn't it?
Riker: No. The name of my ship is the Lollipop.
Rice: I have no knowledge of that ship.
Riker: It's just been commissioned. It's a good ship.
Rice: Refresh me, would you, Riker? What's its size, it's complement?
Riker: Who is here with you?
Rice: What's the armament on the Lollipop?
Riker: Paul, I will only answer your questions if you answer mine. Why do you want to know so much about my ship?
Rice: We're friends, aren't we?
Riker: Old friends.
Rice: Our top speed is warp three. What's yours?
Riker: Is? Then the Drake has not been destroyed.
Rice: The Drake?
Riker: Yes, your ship.
Rice: Of course, my ship is the Drake.
Riker: Where is it?
Rice: Classified.
Riker: Classified?
Rice: Please, it's important. Our survival depends on knowing. What's the armament on your ship?
Riker: Ten.
Rice: Ten? I don't understand. Ten what?
Riker: Six.
Rice: Commander Riker, your answers make no sense.
Riker: You haven't used my first name once, Paul. You remember it, don't you? You don't, do you? Because you don't exist. You're a fake. You're an image of the original, aren't you? Answer me!
Picard: Report, Number One.
Riker: The image of Rice has been replaced by something which is hovering several meters away.
Picard: Number One, get your team back up here.
Riker: Prepare to beam up.
Tasha: Commander!
Picard: What's happened, Number One? Report. Report! Report!
Tasha: He can't answer you, Captain.
Data: Commander Riker just has been encased in some kind of energy field.
Picard: Is he alive?
Data: Unknown.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. Some kind of weapon, which for a time took the form of Captain Paul Rice, has enveloped Commander Riker.
Picard: Transporter room three, have you been able to lock on to the away team?
Chief: I am unable to lock on to Commander Riker, sir.
Picard: Ensign T'Su, situation report.
T'Su: Previous energy readings are gone.
Picard: Data, have you been able to assess Commander Riker's condition?
Data: He appears to be in some kind of stasis.
Picard: Theorize, Mister Data. What would be the purpose of such an encasement?
Data: Typically, the purpose of such an enclosure is for storage.
Picard: Which would suggest what?
Tasha: That sooner or later someone or something will be along to collect him.
Picard: Stand by. I'm coming down.
Troi: You, sir?
Picard: Yes. Doctor Crusher, this is the Captain. Meet me in Transporter room three. Mister La Forge, you have command of the Bridge.
Laforge: Aye, sir.
Picard: And whatever happens down there, your prime responsibility is to the ship.
Laforge: Understood, sir.
Troi: Captain, I take great exception to your decision to beam down.
Picard: Noted.
Crusher: Is it just Riker?
Picard: Yes. Apparently he's confined in some sort of force field. Energize.
Picard: Any changes?
Tasha: Data's figured out what it is.
Crusher: Are you getting any life signs?
Data: He is alive. What appeared in the form of Captain Rice is an intelligence gathering device used during the Ersalrope Wars.
Tasha: Probably developed here.
Data: It projects an image of someone the subject will trust, gets as much information as possible.
Tasha: If it's found out, it encases the subject to await a more detailed interrogation later.
Crusher: Clever.
Picard: Can you remove it?
Data: Possibly, but I will need to know the exact frequency and I cannot determine the risk to Commander Riker.
Picard: We have little choice. Whatever has him is interrupting the transporter beam. Remove it.
Data: This will take some time, sir.
Worf: I am picking up energy readings.
Laforge: Captain, Lieutenant La Forge here. Sensors indicate energy readings in your area.
Picard: Doctor, over here!
Picard: Doctor.
Tasha: This one is different. It's anticipating. Data, I need you. Set your phaser on kill. I'll lead left, you get it.
Tasha: Captain? Doctor Crusher?
Data: Captain Picard? I have a malfunction.
Tasha: Enterprise, this is Lieutenant Yar. Mine's out too.
Data: The close pass by the weapons must have disrupted our communicators.
Tasha: Keep on working. I'll look for the Captain and Doctor Crusher.
Crusher: Ow! My arm.
Picard: How bad is it?
Crusher: Oh, it's bad.
Picard: Come on. Alright, don't worry, we'll get you out of here. Enterprise, this is the Captain. Two to beam up. Enterprise? Enterprise, come in. Data? Lieutenant Yar?
Crusher: What's wrong? Why aren't they working?
Picard: I don't know. But don't worry. As soon as they realize our communicators are not working, the sensors will find us and Geordi will beam us up. Now, just you hold on. I'm sorry about this.
Picard: Hold on, it won't be long.
Crusher: I must keep conscious.
Tasha: Data, I can't find them.
Data: Step back, please. I believe I have found it.
Riker: Data.
Data: All vital signs returning to normal.
Tasha: Good. Now Geordi can get us out of here. Come on. The Captain and Doctor Crusher can't be far away.
T'Su: Sir, I'm reading life forms on the planet. All five members of the away team.
Laforge: Good. They must have freed Commander Riker. Transporter Room, get a lock on the away team and beam them up.
Worf: Shields just came on. Deflectors also up. I'm picking up an object off the port bow. It's firing!
Laforge: Red Alert! Battle stations! We can't the away team beam up with our shields in place.
Worf: Phasers ready. Photon torpedoes standing by. Locking on target. Correction. Target has disappeared.
Laforge: Give me a full scan.
Worf: Scanning. No readings yet. Wait. Something dead astern.
Laforge: Emergency power to shields!
Worf: Object is firing.
Laforge: Return fire!
Worf: No use. It's gone again.
Solis: Aft shields weakened. Whatever they're using, our shields can't stand up to it much longer.
Logan: This is Chief Engineer Logan. Are we breaking orbit? I need to know now. Ship's log, supplemental. Lieutenant La Forge in command. I am unable to beam up the away team due to an unseen assailant attacking the ship. To make matters worse, Chief Engineer Logan is on his way to the Bridge, and he's not paying a courtesy call.
Logan: Why are we still in orbit? We're taking a beating.
Laforge: We've got to hold out as long as we can. Now, if we can disable our attacker, if only for a few seconds, we can drop our shields and beam the away team back aboard.
Logan: If we follow that plan, we'll lose the Enterprise. In view of the present crisis, I believe you should relinquish command to me.
Laforge: No.
Logan: I outrank you.
Laforge: Mister Logan, I'm in command.
Logan: The Captain did not anticipate the Enterprise would come under attack. If he had, would he have left the Bridge to you?
Laforge: If he had, he wouldn't have left the ship.
T'Su: Picking up an object to starboard, sir, heading toward us.
Laforge: Lock phasers on that thing and fire the moment it's in range.
Worf: Locking in. The object has vanished.
Worf: Phaser lock lost.
T'Su: Starboard shields weakened.
Worf: It's cloaked itself.
Logan: You can't fight this thing and win. We've got to break orbit now.
Laforge: Worf, analyze its firing pattern. Maybe we can anticipate its location.
Worf: Aye. Solis, correlate the trajectory of the energy bolts with the attack path. I'll compute the optimum spread of phasers and photon torpedoes to hit it.
Laforge: Right.
Logan: Lieutenant La Forge. Geordi. I know you want to do what's best for the Enterprise. So do I. Now the best thing
Laforge: The best thing, Mister Logan, is for this discussion to end and for you to return to your duties. Now, I'm in charge until relieved by Commander Riker or Captain Picard.
Logan: You're ignoring my greater rank and experience.
Laforge: Not at all. In fact, just to opposite. I'm counting on it. Now I need you to get back down to Engineering and get me every available scrap of emergency power you can. The more power we can channel to the shields, the longer we'll be able to hold out. Now, Mister Logan.
Laforge: Worf, have you got a lock on it yet?
Worf: It's impossible to be sure.
Tasha: Maybe you should wait here while Data and I search for the Captain and Doctor Crusher.
Riker: No, I'm a little groggy, but I'll be all right.
Data: I am getting energy readings. Look out!
Tasha: We'll do it just like before.
Tasha: It's got a deflector shield.
Data: The product continues to upgrade and improve.
Tasha: We'll concentrate our fire and try to collapse its shield. Commander, we'll need you too.
Tasha: Now! You're right, they keep getting better.
Data: The weapons are appearing at intervals of precisely twelve minutes.
Tasha: Well this one took everything we had. I don't know how we'll handle the next one.
Riker: We're not going to wait around. Let's find the rest of our team.
Picard: We seem to be in some kind of underground structure, but I don't see any. Hey, no, you don't. No time to sleep.
Crusher: I'm tired.
Picard: Come on, stay with me. Come on now, stay awake. That's an order.
Crusher: I must have lost a lot of blood.
Picard: I've stopped the bleeding.
Crusher: No, there's another wound. My leg.
Picard: Not to worry, Everything is going to be fine. Now, this is going to hurt a bit.
Crusher: I've heard that before.
Picard: Hey, hey, Doctor. Stay awake. Come on. There's a lot of blood. What do I do next? Doctor.
Crusher: The wound needs a clotting agent.
Picard: I couldn't find your medical kit.
Crusher: Those roots. What are they?
Picard: Roots? What, these?
Crusher: Break off a piece and taste it. Don't swallow it.
Picard: Very bitter.
Crusher: Apply some to your hand. Is there a color change?
Picard: It's turning yellowish.
Crusher: Good. Now, spread as much of it as you can onto the wound.
Picard: Hey, hey, Doctor. Now, stay awake. You've got to help me. I need your help. All right, now listen. Your patient has lost a great deal of blood from multiple lacerations.
Crusher: The patient's going into shock.
Picard: So what do I do?
Crusher: Elevate the legs and try to keep her warm.
Picard: Good. All right. Stay with me, Doctor. Keep talking.
Crusher: You didn't happen to bring a blanket with you, did you?
Picard: No. I'm going to look for a way out. Now, you keep up your end. Stay awake.
Laforge: All right, I know it's risky, but a shot in the dark is better than nothing. Let's see if we can get lucky.
T'Su: I can't seem to pin down the pattern.
Laforge: There.
T'Su: Sorry, sir, I should have seen that.
Laforge: That's all right, you're doing fine.
Worf: Program laid in. Phasers and photon torpedoes ready.
Laforge: Okay. Mister Solis, bring her about to two three mark one eight five.
Solis: Aye, sir.
Laforge: Fire! Now!
Worf: Phasers and photons firing. We missed.
T'Su: Number four shield buckling. Number three shield nearing failure.
Logan: Bridge, this is Engineering. I can't hold this power level much longer. You've got to do something.
T'Su: Backup systems are overloaded. Backup systems failing.
Logan: La Forge, this is Logan. Tell me something.
Laforge: Mister Logan, report to the Bridge.
Logan: On my way.
Worf: Deflectors are breaking down. We have less than one minute of reserve.
Laforge: We are getting out of here. Lieutenant Solis, set course three one five mark zero, zero seven.
Solis: Course set.
Logan: You are leaving them on the planet.
Laforge: Speed warp five.
Solis: Warp five. Aye.
Laforge: Engage. Hold course and speed for twenty eight seconds, then come to a full stop. Mister Logan, had we stayed, we would have been destroyed. Now, there are over a thousand people on this ship. I have a responsibility to them.
Logan: What about your responsibility to Captain Picard and the members of the away team?
Laforge: I have a responsibility to them as well. Mister Logan, you are going to take command of the Saucer Section. Backup crew, report to the main Bridge.
Logan: You're going to separate?
Laforge: Yes, and I want you to take the saucer section and proceed immediately to Starbase one zero three.
Logan: You can't fight what you can't see, and you still won't be able to see that thing.
Laforge: Maybe we won't have to.
Logan: Risky.
Laforge: Yes. That's why we're going to separate. Worf, Solis, T'Su. Report to the Battle Bridge. I'll join you in a moment.
Worf: Ensign, secure connector levels.
Ensign: Aye, sir.
Laforge: Come in.
Troi: Lieutenant, I need to speak to you.
Laforge: Counselor, we're a few minutes away from separating the battle section. I don't have a lot of time.
Troi: I know, but as Counselor I have a duty to evaluate the emotional fitness of the crew.
Laforge: And you sense I'm nervous. Well, you're right. Counselor, deep down I'm shaking. I'm about to take this ship into battle, and there's a good chance she'll be blasted out of the sky. I'm taking a huge risk here, and there are a lot of lives at stake. So, yeah, I'm nervous. Did you expect otherwise?
Troi: Not at all. You're under tremendous pressure, more than you've ever experienced.
Laforge: You think I'm about to crack?
Troi: On the contrary. You should be proud of the way you're handling command. You've kept a cool head, taken charge, and made some very difficult decisions.
Laforge: Then what did you want to see me about?
Solis: Lieutenant La Forge. Battle bridge is manned and ready. However, deflectors have not yet returned to full efficiency.
Laforge: Let's get them there, Mister Solis.
Solis: Aye, sir.
Laforge: I'll join you shortly. La Forge out.
Troi: Did you hear the uneasiness in his voice?
Laforge: Solis is doing a fine job.
Troi: Yes, but he isn't handling the stress as well as you are. Both he and Ensign T'Su are very young.
Laforge: No, wait. They're good officers.
Troi: Yes, but they lack battle experience. They're worried about making mistakes, and they need some encouragement.
Laforge: What do I do?
Troi: Just remember it's you they draw strength from. They look to you for guidance and for leadership. Help them. Show confidence in them.
Laforge: Like Captain Picard showed confidence in me. Right. I understand. Thanks, Counselor.
Laforge: Prepare to initiate separation sequence.
T'Su: All decks report ready.
Laforge: On my mark. Now.
Computer: Main latch bags to zero. Main latch retraction one to one eight, initiate. Static charge compensate.
Worf: Separation complete.
Laforge: Lieutenant Solis, lay in a reciprocal course for Minos, warp five.
Solis: Course set.
Laforge: On my mark. Engage.
Picard: We seem to be pretty well sealed in, Doctor.
Crusher: No exits?
Picard: None that I can see.
Crusher: If you find one, go.
Picard: Tired of my company already? Beverly. Beverly!
Crusher: I'm tired. I need to sleep. Woke up too early.
Picard: Talk to me, stay awake. Tell me something. Tell me about those roots. How did you know their medicinal values?
Crusher: My grandmother.
Picard: Your grandmother was a doctor?
Crusher: No.
Picard: Oh. She was a botanist, then?
Crusher: No. She helped to colonize Arveda Three.
Picard: Arveda Three? That's such a tragedy. Did she survive?
Crusher: Yes. Once the medical supplies had run out, she had to use what was at hand. So she learned all about roots and herbs, and then taught it to me.
Picard: You were part of that colony. I didn't know that. But then there must be a lot of things about you that I don't know.
Crusher: Quite a few.
Picard: What? Now just a minute. Here's something odd. It's glowing.
Crusher: What is it?
Picard: I don't know. It's covered up. I'm just clearing away the dirt. It's a viewscreen. It seems to still be operative.
Picard: It's a tracking device of some kind.
Crusher: Tracking what?
Picard: There are three moving indicators. Possibly the away team.
Salesman: Beautiful, isn't it? It's the centerpiece of the whole unit.
Crusher: Who's that?
Picard: A projection. It's the automated salesman who greeted us on the Enterprise. What unit?
Salesman: Why, the Echo Papa Six Oh Seven. Our proudest achievement. The ultimate in weapons system technology.
Picard: Is that what's behind the attack on my people?
Salesman: Impressive demonstration, isn't it?
Picard: Demonstration? It tried to kill us.
Salesman: Versatile, powerful, and easy to use. The Six Oh Seven does it all. Its various modules can gather information, neutralize ground personnel, even destroy enemy space vessels.
Picard: The Enterprise. Is one of those things after my ship? Tell me.
Salesman: Of course I can tell you. I am programmed to answer any and all questions about the unit. I can talk terms, arrange for delivery, whatever you need.
Crusher: It doesn't understand anything other than what it's peddling.
Salesman: The Six Oh Seven represents the state of the art in dynamic, adaptive design. It learns from each encounter, and improves itself.
Picard: So what went wrong? Where are it's creators? Where are the people of Minos?
Salesman: Once unleashed, the unit is invincible. The perfect killing system.
Picard: Too perfect. You poor fools, your own creation destroyed you. What was that noise?
Salesman: The unit has analyzed its last attack and constructed a new, stronger, deadlier weapon. In a moment, it will launch that weapon against the targets on the surface.
Picard: Abort it!
Salesman: Why would I want to do that? It can't demonstrate its abilities unless we let it leave the nest.
Data: They are down there, sir.
Riker: Let's clear some of that away.
Tasha: If Data's calculations are correct, the next one should show itself in two minutes.
Riker: Captain!
Riker: Can you hear me?
Picard: Yes, we're here!
Riker: Are you all right?
Picard: Doctor Crusher is seriously hurt. We can't contact the Enterprise. The communicators are out.
Riker: Yes, our communicators are out too.
Picard: Those devices are part of a system located down here. Another one is about to be released. Watch yourselves.
Tasha: We know, Captain.
Riker: It's too far down there. There's nothing to hold on to. No way to climb down.
Tasha: I'm surprised either of them survived.
Data: I can do it, Commander.
Riker: How?
Data: Jump.
Riker: Data, it's over ten meters.
Data: Eleven point seven five, sir.
Tasha: Data, you may be sturdy, but you're not indestructible.
Data: I believe I can safely traverse the distance.
Riker: Captain, Data's going down to join you down there. Be my guest.
Picard: Data.
Data: At your service, Captain.
Tasha: We'd better find a defensive position. If Data's right
Riker: He usually is.
Tasha: We're going to have company any minute now, and this time I don't know how we're going to stop it. Ship's log, supplemental. Lieutenant La Forge in command of the star drive section. After separating from the saucer, we have returned to Minos to rescue the away team. Unfortunately, I have only one option left, and it's a long shot.
T'Su: Shields and deflectors are up.
Laforge: Ensign T'Su, when I order the shields down, you have one responsibility. Locate the away team and get them up here. You may only have a few seconds.
Solis: Approaching the planet, sir.
Laforge: Ride's going to get a little bumpy. Things are going to happen fast. Just keep alert, stay calm. Let's focus on what we're doing. You know your jobs. You've been trained, you've been tested. You've earned the right to sit in those chairs.
Picard: That sound again.
Data: Another weapon has been launched, sir.
Picard: We've got to find some way to stop this system.
Data: I would need to see the program schematic.
Salesman: You've got it.
Picard: Is it possible to re-adjust the targeting sequence?
Salesman: Absolutely. It wouldn't be much good without it.
Picard: Data, assign it a neutral target.
Data: The target must be specific, sir.
Picard: Itself, then. Itself or it's own power source.
Data: The force of that explosion would destroy this cavern and everyone on the surface.
Salesman: Watch now. This is the fourth and final projectile. The Echo Papa series Six Oh Seven is about to complete this phase of its mission.
Tasha: We could split up.
Riker: What good would that do?
Tasha: Confuse it, delay it. Something.
Riker: It would still get us. It would just take a little longer.
Tasha: It might give one of us long enough to get out of range.
Riker: Out of range?
Tasha: Forget I said it. These devices wiped out an entire planet. I don't think it has a range.
Riker: Then what does that leave us? Right. That's what I thought.
Tasha: On the other hand, we could look for deeper cover.
Riker: You got any ideas?
Tasha: None.
Picard: Give me some options, Data, quickly.
Crusher: Why don't you just shut it off?
Picard: Is that possible?
Crusher: Why not? It's a machine, isn't it?
Picard: Shut it off.
Salesman: Why? You haven't seen half of what this beauty can do.
Picard: We've seen enough.
Salesman: Does that mean you're going to buy it?
Picard: Yes. Yes, we've seen enough. You've made a sale.
Salesman: You won't be sorry.
Picard: Good. Now end the demonstration.
Salesman: Done.
Picard: Number One!
Riker: Right here. That was close.
Picard: La Forge, everything's alright. We've neutralized it.
Laforge: It's great to hear your voice, Captain. We're a little busy right now. I'll get right back to you.
Worf: Phasers at full readiness.
Laforge: Keep those shields at full power. Ahead one quarter, heading two five mark three zero zero.
Solis: Sir, that heading will take us further into the planet's atmosphere.
Laforge: That's correct. We're going to lose some maneuverability, so keep a firm hand on the helm.
Solis: Aye, sir.
Worf: You hope our attacker will follow us into the atmosphere.
Laforge: I'm counting on it. Lian, scan for any air disruption or vortex. Cloak or no cloak, we'll spot it by its turbulence. Worf, how fast can you get a phaser lock?
Worf: Fast.
T'Su: Hull temperature one thousand degrees and rising.
Laforge: Emergency power to deflectors.
Solis: Velocity increasing.
Laforge: Steady as she goes.
T'Su: Hull temperature twenty five hundred degrees.
Worf: Deflectors nearing overload.
Solis: Sir, helm growing unresponsive.
Laforge: Can you compensate?
Solis: Yes, sir, I can.
T'Su: Hull three thousand degrees.
Laforge: Maintain heading.
Worf: We're about to lose number four deflector.
T'Su: Thirty three hundred degrees.
Worf: Deflector four is now inoperative.
T'Su: Turbulence to starboard!
Laforge: There he is!
T'Su: Scanners locked.
Worf: Weapons locked.
Laforge: Fire!
Worf: Got him!
Laforge: Shields down.
T'Su: Locked onto away team. Beaming them home now.
Laforge: Come to four zero mark six five, ahead one third, and assume a standard orbit.
Solis: Standard orbit. Aye, sir.
Laforge: Relinquishing command, Captain.
Picard: As you were, Lieutenant.
Laforge: Sir?
Picard: Mister La Forge, when I left this ship, it was in one piece. I would appreciate your returning it in the same condition. Do you concur, Number One?
Riker: Absolutely, sir.
Laforge: Lieutenant Solis, plot a course to rendezvous with the saucer section.
T'Su: Sickbay reports Doctor Crusher's going to be fine.
Solis: Course plotted and laid in.
Laforge: Engage.


Picard: Captain's log, Stardate 42695.3. We are the first manned vessel to enter the Selcundi Drema sector. Unmanned probes have recorded unusual levels of geological activity in all five planetary systems. I am hoping the Enterprise will find the answer to this enigma.
Data: Commander, I've been reviewing the unmanned probe scans. At some point during the last one hundred and fifty years, the fifth planet of Selcundi Drema has shattered, forming an asteroid belt.
Riker: I'd call that geological instability.
Worf: Is there any indication that this is the work of an unknown intelligence?
Riker: This is geology, not malevolence. These planets live fast and die hard. The question is, why?
Picard: You're sure you won't reconsider?
Troi: No, I'll just watch you and be impressed.
Picard: An optimistic vote of confidence from a non-rider.
Troi: You know, I never particularly thought of you as an animal person.
Picard: Small animals, no, but horses. Computer, program the holodeck for a woodland setting, with a bridle path and an appropriate mount.
Computer: Type of mount? Andorian Zabathu, Klingon Sark
Picard: Horse. Earth horse.
Computer: Breed?
Picard: Arabian. The Arabs believed that Allah gathered the south wind and made the horse.
Troi: On the holodeck we've made that legend come true.
Picard: I like that. Oh yes, computer, English tack, and I will control the animal myself.
Computer: Enter when ready.
Troi: So you like horses for the romance?
Picard: It goes deeper than that. A fine war mare would sleep in a bedouin's tent, carry him into battle, feed his children with her milk. There's a bond which is created by mutual need. Hello, beautiful.
Troi: Now I understand. You don't want the comfort of a pet, you want a companion.
Picard: Thank you. I don't want to anthropomorphise anything. I seems that some creatures have the capacity to fill spaces you never knew were empty.
Troi: I had a Betazoid kitten once. My mother and the cat reacted badly to one another.
Picard: Sure you don't want to try? It's very relaxing. We can find you something that will be quiet and gentle.
Troi: No, I prefer a mode of transportation that doesn't have a mind of its own.
Picard: Strange. I would expect Betazoids to be outstanding animal trainers.
Troi: We become too involved in the thoughts and shifting passions of the beast. We lose our way and get swept up in emotion.
Picard: I should think the shifting passions of this beast would be far more terrifying.
Riker: Captain.
Picard: Yes, Number One?
Riker: We've entered the first system. I think you might want to come to the Bridge.
Picard: Something interesting?
Riker: Spectacular. And a little terrifying.
Picard: I'm on my way.
Riker: The first long range reading. Magnification ten to the sixth.
Picard: Quite impressive.
Riker: And deadly. The last unmanned probe showed a thriving ecozystem. Now there's nothing.
Picard: This is Commander Riker's meeting.
Riker: I'll need your advice and recommendations. As you know, I've been given the responsibility of overseeing Wesley's education. To further that goal, I would like to put him in charge of the planetary mineral surveys.
Pulaski: It's a big job with a lot of responsibility.
Riker: The game isn't big enough unless it scares you a little.
Laforge: To do the job, Wesley's going to need a team. It takes command presence to lead. Do you think he's ready for that?
Troi: Leadership grows from self-confidence, which is also part of a Starfleet officer's education.
Picard: All of this is true, but there is an old horse trainer's adage about putting too much weight on a young back. We don't want him to break under pressure.
Pulaski: We seem to be shifting the focus here. Are we talking about a young officer on the fast track to the Academy, or are we talking about a young man that we are guiding through adolescence and into adulthood?
Troi: You can't guide someone into adulthood. The experiences are unique to each person. Whether Wes succeeds or fails, he will learn from the experience.
Pulaski: I agree. I'm just questioning the speed at which we're moving.
Laforge: You think we're pushing him too hard?
Pulaski: I think that's a valid concern.
Picard: Tempering is taken to extremes.
Pulaski: He is a boy, not a sword.
Picard: Who will one day be a man and, to extend the metaphor, will need a fine edge that won't dull at the first touch of resistance.
Riker: Sooner or later he'll have to feel the burden of command. Ensign Crusher.
Riker: Report to the Observation Lounge.
Riker: Wesley, I've assigned you the command of the planetary mineral surveys.
Wesley: Sir? Thank you, sir.
Riker: You may not thank me once you see how much work it entails. Assemble a team, and take a look at the records on the Drema quadrant. There's a mystery here. We've got to solve it.
Wesley: Yes, sir. A team, sir?
Picard: Ensign, this is a serious responsibility.
Wesley: I know, sir.
Picard: These officers are here to assist you. Not judge, help you. You should make use of them. They are a valuable resource. And by the way, I respect an officer who is prepared to admit ignorance and ask a question, rather than one who out of pride will blunder blindly forward.
Wesley: I understand, sir.
Riker: Ensign. You're dismissed.
Wesley: I'll try not to disappoint you.
Worf: Is this part of your regular duties?
Data: No, it is a personal project. I have reset the sensors to scan for frequencies outside their usual range.
Worf: Such as?
Data: The dips and peaks of the galaxy's magnetic field, organic molecules in nebular clouds, energetic cosmic rays.
Worf: Interesting. Would these scans also detect artificial transmissions as well as naturally occurring signals?
Data: Of course.
Worf: Good.
Data: Those signals are very faint and difficult to distinguish from background noise. That is why I am boosting the power.
Data: I will be removing that equipment to my quarters.
Worf: Good.
Wesley: Hi. Can I walk with you?
Troi: Yes.
Wesley: I need a little advice.
Riker: Well, it's free.
Wesley: Walking or advice?
Riker: Both.
Wesley: It's about my team. I'm considering so many factors I'm confusing myself.
Troi: What have you done so far?
Wesley: Well, I've broken down the task and picked the best people in those diskiplines.
Riker: So who have you got so far?
Wesley: I've got Prixus in mineralogy and metallurgy, Alans and Hildebrandt for volcanology and geomechanics. I want Davies for geochemistry, but
Troi: But they're all much older than you are.
Wesley: Right, and it makes me feel strange. What do I do about personality conflicts?
Riker: Completely irrelevant. These people are professionals. If there's a personality conflict, you're in charge, you settle it.
Wesley: So you not only have to understand the job, you also have to be a ship's Counselor.
Troi: Sometimes.
Wesley: Well, thank you.
Picard: Captain's log, Stardate 42696.3. We are entering the second Selcundi star system, where acting Ensign Crusher will begin his planetary mineral survey. The results of which may help unlock the geological puzzle.
Wesley: Ensign Davies?
Davies: You got him.
Wesley: Wesley Crusher. I've been put in charge of the planetary geological surveys, and I'd like to have you on the team.
Davies: Sounds great. Who else is on it?
Wesley: I have Prixus and Alans and Hildebrandt.
Davies: It's a shame you didn't talk to me first. It's just personal opinion, but I like to break up married teams.
Wesley: I hadn't thought of that.
Davies: Don't worry, they'll probably work out fine. And if you need any help, just give me a signal and I'll take over for you. We don't want you to get too beat up on your first command.
Wesley: Thanks, but I'm pretty sure I'll be all right.
Data: Computer, identify please.
Computer: Sensors indicate low-level rf waves.
Data: Is there a pattern?
Computer: Affirmative.
Data: Naturally occurring?
Computer: Negative.
Data: Key universal translator, please.
Computer: Unable to comply. Weak signal.
Data: Lock on comm. link and boost.
Computer: Lock on complete.
Data: Read, please.
Computer: Insufficient signal strength.
Data: Enhance, please.
Sarjenka: Is anybody out there?
Data: Yes.
Pulaski: Wes?
Wesley: Hi, Doctor Pulaski.
Pulaski: You have trouble behind that door?
Wesley: My team's in there. I've got to assign planets, set a schedule.
Pulaski: It sounds like you've got everything under control.
Wesley: I haven't had to deal with them yet. Not together, not professionally.
Pulaski: Wes, the minute you walk through that door they're your team. You have nothing to prove. You've got the authority.
Wesley: That's just 'cos Commander Riker says I do.
Pulaski: It's up to you to hang on to it. Now, you'd better get in there, and Wes, for whatever it's worth, I think you're going to do just fine.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 42737.3. It has been six weeks since our entrance into the Selcundi Drema sector. Each system has revealed the same disturbing geological upheavals on every planet.
Hildebrandt: It seems to be at this point we can expect the greatest tectonic stresses.
Wesley: I agree. Nice job.
Davies: Here are the results of my scan on the third Selcundi system. It's just the same old song.
Wesley: Didn't you tell me that UV absorptions like these are indicative of traker deposits?
Davies: And where there's traker there's generally dilithium? Yes, I did.
Wesley: So don't you think we ought to run an ico-spectrogram?
Davies: Well, Wes, these traker readings are really faint. It's probably just a fool's echo.
Wesley: I think I'd still run an ico-gram.
Hildebrandt: Wesley, it's a major undertaking to set up the scanner.
Davies: We're looking at five hours minimum.
Wesley: I know, I know. I don't want to do a half way job.
Davies: Wes, there's being thorough and then there's wasting time. It's also the mark of a good officer to recognize the difference.
Wesley: Maybe you're right.
Data: Computer, please access all volcanic and tectonic plate activity in Drema Four.
Computer: Accessing.
Data: Computer, locate Captain Picard.
Computer: Captain Picard is on holodeck three.
Picard: Data?
Data: An excellent steed, sir. Sorry to disturb you, Captain.
Picard: It's quite all right. It must be important, or you wouldn't be here.
Data: Yes, sir, it is important. Very. Eight weeks ago I received a transmission, a simple four word message, 'Is anybody out there?' I answered it.
Picard: There is a loneliness inherent in that whisper from the darkness.
Data: Yes, sir. I am glad that you understand, sir.
Picard: But it didn't end there.
Data: No, sir. We speak often. It is a young female, humanoid.
Picard: Her society is aware that there is interstellar life?
Data: No, sir.
Picard: Oops. Just where does she think you're calling from?
Data: I have kept that somewhat vague, sir, but Sarjenka, that is her name, has been quite specific, telling me details of her family and friends. And interspersed among these confidences have been some alarming references.
Picard: Go on.
Data: Drema Four has been enduring the same geological stresses we have found in the other systems.
Picard: Then your friend is in trouble.
Data: Yes, sir.
Picard: What are you proposing?
Data: If we can determine the cause of these geological disturbances, we might be able to reverse the process.
Picard: Violate the Prime Directive?
Data: I was hoping that you might have another option, sir.
Picard: We don't even know if this catastrophe is preventable. Call a conference in my quarters. All senior staff.
Data: Yes, sir.
Picard: And Data, all communication with this life form must cease.
Data: Yes, sir. I understand, sir.
Riker: Seeing the look on his face. I'll get you another drink. Two more.
Riker: Thank you.
Riker: Family emergency. You don't look like a person who came here to relax.
Wesley: I didn't. I need your advice. Yesterday, when Ensign Davies turned in his geological survey, I asked him to run an ico-spectrogram. He didn't agree.
Riker: Do you think you were right?
Wesley: Yes. I guess. I could have just been picking nits.
Riker: Or you could have been intimidated. It's tough to tell other people what to do.
Wesley: I suppose I could have made it an order, but how do you give orders to somebody older and more experienced then you?
Riker: The difference in ages between you and Davies is not the issue here.
Wesley: I guess not.
Riker: Do you think it might have something to do with ego?
Wesley: No, it's just the opposite of ego. Every time I try to give an order, something inside me says, what makes my judgment so superior to these people's?
Riker: Wes, responsibility and authority go hand in hand. I know you're responsible, now we've got to teach you a little bit of authority. One of the reasons you've been given command is so you can make a few right decisions, that will establish a pattern of success and help build self-confidence. If you don't trust your own judgment, you don't belong in the command chair.
Wesley: But what if I'm wrong?
Riker: Then you're wrong. It's arrogant to think you'll never make a mistake.
Wesley: But what if it's something really important. I mean, not just a mineral survey. What if someone dies because I made a mistake?
Riker: In your position, it's important to ask yourself one question. What would Picard do?
Wesley: He'd listen to everyone's opinion, then make his own decision. But he's Captain Picard.
Riker: Well it doesn't matter. Once Picard makes his decision, does anyone question it?
Wesley: No way.
Riker: And why not?
Wesley: I'm not sure.
Data: Commander Riker, report to the Captain's quarters.
Riker: When you figure it out, you'll understand command. I'm on my way. I hope I've been able to help. You let me know what you decide?
Wesley: I've made my decision. I'm going to have Davies run that ico-gram. Thank you, sir.
Riker: You're welcome. I'll see you later)
Woman: Okay.
Wesley: Ensign Davies? I want that ico-spectrogram run on the Selcundi Drema system.
Davies: You got it.
Picard: It is no longer a matter of how wrong Data was, or why he did it. The dilemma exists. We have to discuss the options. And please talk freely.
Worf: There are no options. The Prime Directive is not a matter of degrees. It is an absolute.
Pulaski: I have a problem with that kind of rigidity. It seems callous and even a little cowardly.
Picard: Doctor, I'm sure that is not what the Lieutenant meant, but in a situation like this, we have to be cautious. What we do today may profoundly affect upon the future. If we could see every possible outcome
Riker: We'd be gods, which we're not. If there is a cosmic plan, is it not the height of hubris to think that we can, or should, interfere?
Laforge: So what are you saying? That the Dremans are fated to die?
Riker: I think that's an option we should be considering.
Laforge: Consider it considered, and rejected.
Troi: If there is a cosmic plan, are we not a part of it? Our presence at this place at this moment in time could be a part of that fate.
Laforge: Right, and it could be part of that plan that we interfere.
Riker: Well that eliminates the possibility of fate.
Data: But Commander, the Dremans are not a subject for philosophical debate. They are a people.
Picard: So we make an exception in the deaths of millions.
Pulaski: Yes.
Picard: And is it the same situation if it's an epidemic, and not a geological calamity?
Pulaski: Absolutely.
Picard: How about a war? If generations of conflict is killing millions, do we interfere? Ah, well, now we're all a little less secure in our moral certitude. And what if it's not just killings. If an oppressive government is enslaving millions? You see, the Prime Directive has many different functions, not the least of which is to protect us. To prevent us from allowing our emotions to overwhelm our judgment.
Pulaski: My emotions are involved. Data's friend is going to die. That means something.
Worf: To Data.
Pulaski: Does that invalidate the emotion?
Laforge: What if the Dremans asked for our help?
Data: Yes. Sarjenka's transmission could be viewed as a call for help.
Picard: Sophistry.
Pulaski: I'll buy that excuse. We're all jigging madly on the head of a pin anyway.
Worf: She cannot ask for help from someone she does not know.
Data: She knows me.
Riker: What a perfectly vicious little circle.
Data: We are going to allow her to die, are we not?
Picard: Data, I want you to sever the contact with Drema Four.
Computer: Isolating frequency.
Sarjenka: Data. Data, where are you? Why won't you answer? Are you angry me? Please, please, I'm so afraid. Data, Data, where are you?
Picard: Wait. Oh, Data. Your whisper from the dark has now become a plea. We cannot turn our backs.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 42741.3. We are entering into orbit of Drema Four, the planet from which Data received the distress signal. Sensors indicate that the volcanic activity is increasing.
Riker: We found the reason for the geological instability.
Picard: Excellent.
Davies: We would have missed it if Ensign Crusher hadn't requested an ico-gram, but he did, and
Wesley: Drema Four has the largest deposit of dilithium ore ever recorded. It's also laid down in a very unusual pattern. The crystals are growing to form perfectly aligned lattices.
Hildebrandt: The ore is forming generator strata.
Alans: Which creates a piezoelectric effect.
Picard: In plain English, you're saying the dilithium is causing the geological catastrophe.
Alans: Right, the crystals take the natural radiant heat of the planet
Hildebrandt: Focus it, and turn it into mechanical energy.
Alans: Which increases tectonic stresses
Hildebrandt: That tear the planet apart.
Davies: And then the crystals break down, which is why we found all these traces of illium 629.
Picard: So that takes care of the why. Now, what can you do?
Wesley: That is going to take a little more work.
Picard: Can you reverse the process?
Wesley: We think so.
Picard: No. No theories, no half answers. Yes or no?
Hildebrandt: We'll get to work on it.
Riker: Sir, Data's out there right now, monitoring the conditions on Drema Four. The situation's become pretty desperate for his friend. He's calculated the safest location on the planet's surface. You can guess why.
Picard: We're just keep getting deeper and deeper in, aren't we?
Riker: She's going to die. They're all going to die.
Picard: Unless.
Riker: Yes. Unless.
Picard: All right, you can tell Commander Data he has my permission to contact his friend and conduct her to a safer location. Number One, you know where we are now?
Riker: Sir?
Data: Sarjenka, this is Data. Respond please.
Computer: Unable to complete transmission.
Data: Reason for failure?
Computer: Atmospheric activity interfering with RF signal.
Worf: We're modifying class one probes so they become resonators. We will then use torpedo casings to protect them once they begin burrowing beneath the surface.
Picard: How will these resonators destroy the crystals?
Hildebrandt: By emitting harmonic vibrations which will shatter the lattices.
Worf: The Enterprise will monitor and adjust the frequency of the resonators.
Riker: Sounds like a plan. Lets get started.
Data: Captain.
Picard: Tea, Earl Gray, hot.
Data: Captain, permission to beam down to Drema Four.
Picard: What?
Data: I have been unable to contact Sarjenka.
Picard: Data, I appreciate your concern. Transporting to the surface is only going to make a bad situation worse.
Data: Sir, I feel it is important to determine the reason for
Riker: Come on, Data.
Data: Captain, your orders were to deliver the message, correct?
Picard: Yes.
Data: Then what is the difference between sending the message and delivering it personally?
Riker: A whopping big one, and you know it.
Data: Sir, we have come this far.
Picard: In for a penny, in for a pound, is that what you're saying, Mister Data?
Data: Yes, sir.
Picard: Oh, hell. Go.
Data: Sir?
Picard: Number One, handle the transporter. Go.
Riker: Where would you say we are now, sir?
Riker: O'Brien, take a nap. You didn't see any of this. You're not involved.
O'Brien: Right, sir. I'll just standing over here, dozing off.
Riker: Data, you've got ten minutes. That's it. If you meet anybody but Sarjenka
Data: I will signal for immediate beam out.
Picard: Commander Riker to the Bridge.
Riker: Damn.
O'Brien: I just woke up, sir.
Riker: You know what to do?
O'Brien: No problem, sir. I'll have him out of there as smooth as ice.
Data: Sarjenka? Wait! I'm Data.
Sarjenka: Data. Data, you came. Data, where have you been?
Data: It would take too long to explain. You and your family must leave.
Sarjenka: We already have. We ran when the tremors began.
Data: Then why are you here?
Sarjenka: My father wouldn't let us take anything, but I had to have my transmitter. I knew you would come back, and I didn't want you to find only silence, the way I did.
Data: I am sorry for that, but it is very complicated. Does your family know where you are?
Sarjenka: No.
Data: You cannot survive in this.
Sarjenka: What are we going to do?
Data: Enterprise, two to beam up. You must come with me.
Sarjenka: Where are we going? To the stars?
O'Brien: There's going to be hell to pay.
Data: Where is Commander Riker?
O'Brien: On the Bridge. Where are you going?
Data: To the Bridge.
O'Brien: And you're going to take that?
Sarjenka: Don't leave me here. Please don't leave me.
Data: Quite impossible.
Worf: Sir, three minutes to resonator launch.
Picard: Where is he?
Riker: He'll be here.
Picard: He has brought a child onto my ship and on my Bridge.
Riker: I'm sure Mister Data has a very good explanation.
Data: I do, sir. She was frightened and did not wish to be left alone
Picard: Mister Data, kindly assume your station. Counselor, will you escort her to Sickbay.
Sarjenka: No, Data, no. I'm scared. Don't make me go.
Troi: It's all right, no one's going to hurt you.
Sarjenka: No!
Troi: We'll just go and get a treat, and then
Sarjenka: No.
Data: Captain, I will see to it that she is not in the way.
Worf: One minute to launch.
Troi: Come on, it'll be all right.
Sarjenka: No. Just leave me alone. I want Data.
Data: Counselor, allow me. Please. Sarjenka, no one will harm you. These are my friends.
Picard: Mister Data, take your station and keep her with you. This does concern her.
Worf: Ten seconds.
Data: I will require my hand. Thank you.
Worf: Firing torpedoes.
Data: Sensors locked on probes.
Worf: Torpedoes have reached their targets.
Data: Resonators activated. Harmonic sequences have begun.
Sarjenka: What are you doing?
Data: We are attempting to quiet your planet. If we succeed, there will be no more quakes, no more volcanoes.
Picard: Ensign, when should the results be known?
Wesley: They should happen very quickly, sir.
Sarjenka: And my parents and brothers?
Data: Captain, sensors indicate a planetwide reduction in tectonic stress levels.
Wesley: It worked. We did it.
Data: Your parents will be safe now.
Sarjenka: You did this for me?
Data: Look, Sarjenka, there is your home.
Picard: Data, escort her to Sickbay.
Data: Aye, sir.
Picard: Number One, you have the Bridge.
Picard: Doctor.
Pulaski: Yes, Captain?
Picard: Data and the alien are on their way down. What would be involved in removing all memory of her communication with Data
Picard: And her visit to this ship?
Pulaski: Assuming her brain structure is similar to ours, the memories would be stored chemically on the neurons of the cerebral cortex. They're also time dependent. I would have to scan for age of the chemical links, and try to find
Pulaski: The relevant neurons.
Picard: Well, do your best.
Sarjenka: You have many different kinds of people here.
Data: Yes.
Sarjenka: When I am bigger, can I be on your ship?
Data: I am certain that you could.
Sarjenka: I wish I could come with you now.
Data: I am afraid that is not possible.
Sarjenka: I know, but I can still wish for it.
Data: Doctor Pulaski, this is Sarjenka.
Pulaski: Hello, Sarjenka.
Sarjenka: Hello.
Sarjenka: What is this?
Pulaski: An Elanin singer stone. It sings a different song for each person.
Sarjenka: What does it sing for you?
Data: It does not sing for me.
Sarjenka: Why not?
Data: Because I am a machine.
Pulaski: Sarjenka, we're going to run a few scans just to be sure you're all right. Data's will be right here. Don't worry.
Pulaski: You did a good thing, Data.
Data: But are we doing a good thing now, Doctor?
Pulaski: This is to protect her as much as us.
Data: By robbing her of her memories?
Pulaski: To remember you and this ship would complicate her future. She has to be the person she was born to be. And you'll remember.
Data: Enterprise, one to beam up.
Riker: Wes. Sit down.
Wesley: No, thank you, sir. It's going to be a long time before I'm qualified enough to sit here.
Riker: You did a good job. I'm proud of you.
Wesley: Thank you, sir. Does it get any easier?
Riker: No.
Picard: Come.
Data: I came to apologize, sir.
Picard: No apologies are necessary. You reminded us that there are obligations that go beyond duty.
Data: I appreciate your seeking other options, sir. Your decision could have been unilateral.
Picard: One of my officers, one of my friends, was troubled. I had to help. Is Sarjenka safely home?
Data: Yes, sir. She will not remember me, sir, but I will remember her.
Picard: Remembrance and regrets, they too are a part of friendship.
Data: Yes, sir.
Picard: And understanding that has brought you a step closer to understanding humanity.


Picard: Captain's log, Stardate 43539.1. We have moved into orbit around Bre'el Four. With the assistance of the planet's emergency control center, we're investigating a potentially catastrophic threat to the population from a descending asteroidal moon.
Data: The satellite's trajectory is continuing to deteriorate, Captain. This orbit will put it within five hundred kilometers of the planet surface.
Garin: We're predicting the atmospheric drag will bring it down on the next orbit.
Scientist: Have you been able to find any explanation for this?
Data: No, Doctor. It is a most unusual phenomenon.
Picard: Won't the moon disintegrate prior to impact?
Scientist: No, it has a ferrous crystalline structure and it will be able to withstand tidal forces, Captain
Riker: Could we blow it into pieces?
Data: The total mass of the moon would remain the same, Commander, and the impact of thousands of fragments would spread destruction over an even wider area.
Picard: How long before impact?
Data: Twenty nine hours, sir. Projecting it somewhere on the western continent. That would destroy an area eight hundred kilometers in radius.
Scientist: That damage would be insignificant, Captain, compared to the seismic repercussions massive landquakes, and tsunami.
Garin: The force would raise a cloud of dust around the planet, leading to a significant temperature reduction. We could be looking at our own ice age.
Picard: Mister La Forge, is there any way that the Enterprise could coax that satellite
Picard: Back where it belongs?
Laforge: We'd need to apply a delta vee of about four kilometers per second. Even with warp power to the tractor beam, it would mean exceeding recommended impulse engine output by at least forty-seven percent. It'd be like
Laforge: An ant pushing a tricycle. A slim chance at best.
Riker: Given a choice between slim and none, I'll take slim any day.
Picard: Make it so.
Riker: Lieutenant Worf, contact all ships in this sector to rendezvous and join us in relief efforts.
Picard: We'll keep you informed of our progress. Picard out.
Riker: Can you give us any more, Geordi?
Laforge: Not without burning out the tractor beam emitter. The circuits are already beyond the thermal limit.
Data: Delta vee is ninety two meters per second. The mass is too great. We are having an effect but it is negligible.
Riker: What is that?
Data: Unable to identify source.
Laforge: Impulse engines passing safety limits. We're seconds
Laforge: From automatic shutdown.
Picard: Reduce engine power. Tractor beam off.
Riker: Lieutenant Worf, what the hell do the sensors say?
Worf: The sound is not registering, Commander.
Picard: Q!
Q: Red alert.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. We are no closer to finding a solution to the deteriorating orbit of the Bre'el Four moon, but with the arrival of Q, we now have a good idea of the cause.
Picard: Our options?
Laforge: We've done everything by the book and a little extra. We need more time or more power, and we're short on both. I'll take a look and see if there are any rules I haven't broken.
Picard: Keep me advised.
Riker: We know you're behind this, Q.
Q: These aren't my colors. And what are you blathering about, Riker?
Picard: What kind of twisted pleasure does it give you to bring terror into their lives?
Q: Whose lives?
Picard: The millions of people down there who are watching as their moon falls out of the sky.
Q: I haven't the vaguest idea what you're talking about and I have a much more serious problem. I'm no longer a member of the Continuum. My superiors have decided to punish me.
Picard: And punish us as well, it would seem.
Q: They said I've spread chaos through the universe, and they've stripped me of all my powers. You don't believe me, do you? Do you think I would humiliate myself like this?
Riker: If it served your purpose, yes.
Q: It's the truth. I stand before you defrocked. Condemned to be a member of this lowest of species. A normal, imperfect, lumpen human being.
Troi: They made you human as part of your punishment?
Q: No, it was my request. I could have chosen to exist as a Markoffian sea lizard or a Belzoidian flea. Anything I wished as long as it was mortal. And since I only had a fraction of a second to mull and I chose this and asked them to bring me here.
Troi: Why?
Q: Because in all the universe you're the closest thing I have to a friend, Jean-Luc.
Data: Sir, he is reading as fully human.
Q: What, is there an echo in here?
Troi: I am sensing an emotional presence, Captain. I would normally describe it as being terrified.
Q: How rude.
Picard: what is it you want, Q?
Q: Your compassion. All right, Sanctuary on this ship, dreary as it may sound to both of us.
Picard: Return that moon to its orbit.
Q: I have no powers. Q the ordinary.
Picard: Q the liar. Q the misanthrope.
Q: Q the miserable. Q the desperate. What must I do to convince you people?
Worf: Die.
Q: Oh, very clever, Worf. Eat any good books lately?
Picard: Fine. You want to be treated as a human?
Q: Absolutely.
Picard: All right. Mister Worf, throw him in the brig.
Worf: Delighted, Captain.
Q: You can't do this to me, Jean-Luc.
Worf: You will walk or I will carry you.
Q: Given the option, I'll walk. You've disappointed me, Jean-Luc. I'm very disappointed. Hey, I'm claustrophobic, I don't like it in here.
Q: It was a mistake. I never should have picked human. I knew it the minute I said it. To think of the future in this shell. Forced to cover myself with fabric because of some outdated human morality. To say nothing of being too hot or too cold, growing feeble with age, losing my hair, catching a disease, being ticklish, sneezing, having an itch, a pimple, bad breath. Having to bathe.
Worf: Too bad.
Q: Klingon. I should have said Klingon. In my heart of hearts, I am a Klingon, Worf.
Q: Sorry. So you understand I could never survive in confinement. I mean, this is cruel and unusual punishment. The universe has been my back yard. As a fellow Klingon, if you would speak to the Captain on my behalf, I would be eternally grateful. which doesn't mean as much as it used to, I admit.
Worf: Be quiet! Or disappear back where you came from.
Q: I can't disappear any more than you could win a beauty contest.
Q: If I ask a very simple question, do you think you might be able to answer it without it troubling your intellect too much?
Q: Ready? Here goes. Would I permit you to lock me away if I still had all my powers?
Worf: You have fooled us too often, Q.
Q: Perspicacity incarnate. Please don't feel compelled now to tell me the story of the boy who cried Worf.
Worf: Computer, activate force field.
Q: I demand to be let out of here, immediately. Do you hear me? You will deactivate this cell immediately! Romulan!
Q: I should have said Romulan, that Klingon goat!
Picard: The question is, what sort of jaded game is he up to this time?
Riker: Maybe he just wants a big laugh. He'll take Bre'el Four to the edge of disaster, and then pull the moon back.
Picard: Or he may have nothing to do with it at all.
Riker: You honestly think Q is telling the truth?
Picard: Oh, I agree this is highly unlikely, but we have to proceed with our current dilemma as though Q is powerless to prevent it, don't we?
Riker: And there he sits, and he watches us struggle.
Picard: I don't see that we have any choice. Mister Worf, will you hail the Bre'el Four science station,
Worf: They're standing by, Captain.
Garin: Yes, Captain Picard.
Picard: I'm sorry, but I have to report that our first attempt to restore the moon to its proper orbit has failed.
Garin: We have less than twenty five hours before impact, Captain.
Riker: Our Chief Engineer is working on ways to reinforce our tractor beam.
Picard: So there is a hope, but if you have an evacuation plan
Garin: We have already started moving people from the coastal areas of the western continent.
Picard: We are going to make another attempt shortly. Picard out.
Riker: I've got to tell you Geordi is not at all optimistic.
Picard: What the devil?
Riker: Data?
Data: Sensors are showing broadband emissions, including Berthold rays
Riker: Lethal?
Data: No, Commander. Overall exposure is less than seventy five rems. Very low intensity, more like a soft medical scan. I would speculate we are being probed.
Picard: By whom?
Data: The sensors cannot identify the point of origin. It seems to be coming from all around us.
Q: Ah, you've come to apologize. How nice. All's forgiven. No offense taken.
Picard: Enough. Q, what exactly is going on.
Q: Well, how can I know what's going on? I've been in this dungeon of yours, alone, helpless, bored to tears.
Picard: We have a moon inexplicably falling out of orbit, and just now this ship was probed with Berthold radiation.
Q: I wasn't aware of this. Truthfully, Jean-Luc. I have been entirely preoccupied by a most frightening experience of my own. A couple of hours ago, I realizing that my body was no longer functioning properly. I felt weak. I could no longer stand. The life was oozing out of me. I lost consciousness.
Picard: You fell asleep.
Q: Terrifying. How can you stand it day after day?
Picard: You get used to it.
Q: What other dangers await me? I'm not prepared for this. I need guidance.
Picard: Q, I'm not going to play along with this. If you want to continue this charade, you can do it alone.
Q: Jean-Luc, wait! This is getting on my nerves, now that I have them. You have a moon in a deteriorating orbit. I've known moons through the universe. Big ones, small ones. I'm an expert. I could help you with this one, if you let me out of here.
Picard: Q, there are millions of lives at risk. If you have the power to
Q: I don't have any powers. But I have the knowledge, locked up in this puny brain. You cannot afford to not take that advantage, can you?
Picard: Mister Data, report to detention cell three.
Data: On my way, sir.
Picard: Computer, remove the forcefield. If you are human, which I seriously doubt, you will have to work hard to earn our trust.
Q: I'm not worried about that, Jean-Luc. You only dislike me. There are others in the cosmos who truly despise me.
Picard: Mister Data, you are hereby assigned to Q for the remainder of his stay. You will escort him to Mister La Forge in Engineering.
Data: Aye, sir.
Q: Can I have a Starfleet uniform? What are you looking at?
Data: I was considering the possibility that you are telling the truth, that you really are human.
Q: It's the ghastly truth, Mister Data. I can now stub my toe with the best of them.
Data: An irony. It means that you have achieved in disgrace what I have always aspired to be.
Q: Humans are such commonplace little creatures. They roam the galaxy looking for something, they know not what.
Data: The human race has an enduring desire for knowledge, and for new opportunities to improve itself.
Q: There's certainly room for improvement, but the truth is, Data, they are a minor species in the grand scheme. Not worth your envy.
Data: Oh, I do not feel envy.
Q: Well, that's good.
Data: I feel nothing at all. That is part of my dilemma. I have the curiosity of humans, but there are questions I will never have the answer to. What is it like to laugh, or cry, or to experience any human emotions.
Q: Well, if you ask me, these human emotions are not what they're cracked up to be.
Laforge: The moon will hit its perigee in ten hours. Now, we match its trajectory, increase emitter coolant rate so we can apply continuous warp-equivalent power nine to the tractor beam. We can push it for nearly seven hours and I think that just might do it. But, there's a problem.
Data: The Enterprise will be dangerously close to the atmosphere.
Laforge: That's the problem.
Q: This is incredible.
Laforge: You see something here, Q?
Q: I think I just hurt my back. I'm feeling pain. I don't like it. What's the right thing to say? Ow? LAFORGE +
Data: Ow.
Q: Ow! I can't straighten up.
Data: Medical assistance to Engineering.
Laforge: Q, I've got a few people down on Bre'el Four who are going to be hurt
Q: Yes, yes, your marvelous plan will not only tear the moon to pieces but your precious ship as well.
Laforge: You got a better idea?
Q: I would certainly begin by examining the cause and not the symptom.
Laforge: We've done that, Q, and there's no way to
Q: This is obviously the result of a large celestial object passing through at near right angles to the plane of the star system. Probably a black hole.
Data: Can you recommend a way to counter the effect?
Q: Simple. Change the gravitational constant of the universe.
Laforge: What?
Q: Change the gravitational constant of the universe, thereby altering the mass of the asteroid.
Laforge: Redefine gravity? How am I supposed to do that?
Q: You just do it. Where's that Doctor, anyway?
Data: Geordi is trying to say that changing the gravitational constant of the universe is beyond our capabilities.
Q: Oh. In that case, never mind.
Q: Ah, Doctor Crusher. I see Starfleet has shipped you back into exile.
Data: Q says he has hurt his back.
Crusher: Ah ha. Well, if I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it. According to this, he has classic back trauma. Muscle spasms.
Q: I've been under a lot of pressure lately. Family problems.
Crusher: Well. don't expect too much sympathy from me. You've been a pain in our backside often enough.
Q: Your bedside manner is admirable, Doctor. I'm sure your patients recover quickly just to get away from you.
Laforge: You know, this might work. We can't change the gravitational constant of the universe, but if we wrap a low level warp field around that moon, we could reduce its gravitational constant. Make it lighter so we can push it.
Q: Glad I could help. Ow. I think.
Crusher: Now what?
Q: There's something wrong with my stomach.
Crusher: It hurts?
Q: It's making noises.
Crusher: Maybe you're hungry.
Q: I've never eaten before. What do I ask for?
Data: The choice of meal is determined by individual taste.
Q: What do you like?
Data: Although I do not require sustenance, I occasionally ingest semi-organic nutrient suspension in a silicon-based liquid medium.
Q: Is it good?
Data: It would be more accurate to say it is good for me, as it lubricates my bio-functions.
Q: It doesn't sound very appealing. What else is there?
Data: A wide variety of items. The replicator can make anything you desire.
Q: How do I know what I desire?
Data: I have observed that the selection of food is often influenced by the mood of the person ordering.
Q: I'm in a dreadful mood. Get me something appropriate.
Data: When Counselor Troi is unhappy, she usually eats something chocolate.
Q: Chocolate?
Data: A chocolate sundae, for example. Although I do not speak from personal experience, I have seen it have a profound psychological impact.
Q: I'll have ten chocolate sundaes.
Waitress: Ten?
Data: I've never seen anyone eat ten chocolate sundaes.
Q: I'm in a really bad mood, and since I've never eaten before, I should be very hungry.
Q: This is not a moment I've been looking forward to.
Guinan: I hear they drummed you out of the Continuum.
Q: I like to think of it as a significant career change.
Guinan: Just one of the boys, ay?
Q: One of the boys with an IQ of two thousand and five.
Data: The Captain and many of the crew are not yet convinced he is truly human.
Guinan: Really?
Q: Argh!
Guinan: Seems human enough to me.
Q: This is a dangerous creature. You have no idea. Why Picard would make her a member of the crew and not me
Guinan: It must be terribly frightening for you, to be totally defenseless after all of those centuries being omnipotent.
Q: I'm warning you. I still have friends in high places.
Guinan: Frightening one race after the other, teasing them like frightened animals, and you enjoying every moment of your victims fears.
Q: From now on I'll do missionary work, okay?
Data: That would be a most noble cause, Q.
Guinan: You could learn a lot from this one.
Q: Sure, the robot who teaches the course in humanities.
Data: I am an android, not a robot.
Q: I beg your pardon.
Guinan: I'd enjoy that, and you'd better get used to it.
Q: What?
Guinan: Begging. You're a pitiful excuse for a human. The only way you're going to survive is by the charity of others.
Q: I'm not hungry.
Worf: Captain, sensors are picking up a cloud of energetic plasma. Bearing, three-four one mark two zero. Range, twelve kilometers and closing.
Picard: On screen.
Worf: Energy patterns are reading as highly organized.
Riker: A lifeform?
Picard: Attempt to make contact, Mister Worf.
Worf: Receiving a signal, sir. On speaker.
Riker: Computer, analyze signal
Computer: Signal patterns indicate intelligence. Unable to derive necessary referents to establish translation matrix.
Voices: What's that? I don't know.
Guinan: Calamarain.
Worf: Captain, we're being hit by a field of energetic tachyons penetrating the hull. Location, deck ten, forward.
Picard: Red alert.
Riker: Geordi, increase power to shields.
Laforge: Increasing power by twenty percent
Worf: No effect
Laforge: Increasing to forty percent.
Worf: Still no effect
Laforge: Adjusting shield harmonics, diverting power to the forward grids.
Worf: The added harmonics are blocking the tachyon field.
Q: Help me! Somebody, help me!
Guinan: How the mighty have fallen.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. We have sustained light damage from an attack by an alien species known as the Calamarain. They apparently have a grievance with Q. No doubt one of many lifeforms that do.
Q: The Calamarain are not very hospitable creatures. They exist as swirls of ionized gas.
Picard: What did you do to them, Q?
Q: Nothing bizarre, nothing grotesque.
Riker: You tormented them.
Q: A subjective term, Riker. One creature's torment, is another creature's delight. They simply have no sense of humor, a character flaw with which you can personally identify.
Riker: I say we turn him over to them.
Q: Oh, I take it back. You do have a sense of humor. A dreadful one at that.
Riker: I'm serious.
Picard: Of course. You knew this would happen, didn't you?
Q: One can never anticipate the Calamarain. They're very intelligent, but very flighty.
Picard: Yes, but you must have so many enemies. Certainly you knew that once you became mortal some of them might look you up.
Q: It had occurred to me.
Picard: And for all your protestations of friendship, your real reason for being here is protection.
Q: You're very smart, Jean-Luc, but I know human beings. They're all sopping over with compassion and forgiveness. They can't wait to absolve almost any offense. It's an inherent weakness in the breed.
Picard: On the contrary, it is a strength.
Q: You call it what you will, but I think you'll protect me even though I've tortured you now and again.
Riker: Fighting off all the species you've insulted would be a full time mission. That's not the one I signed up for.
Picard: Indeed. Human or not, I want no part of you. We will deposit you at the first starbase. Let them deal with you.
Q: But I could be a valuable member of the team. I'm human, I can learn.
Data: He has provided important theoretical guidance for Geordi's analysis of the Bre'el satellite, Captain.
Troi: It seems you have an advocate, Q.
Data: I am merely stating a fact, Counselor.
Picard: Mister La Forge, your status?
Laforge: I've been putting together a program to extend the forward lobe of the warp field. The field coils
Laforge: Aren't designed to envelop such a large volume. But I'm attempting to modify their alignment parameters.
Data: Maintaining field integrity will be difficult, Geordi.
Laforge: I'm pretty sure we can do it manually. The moon will come to its perigee in fourteen minutes.
Picard: Mister Data, you will escort Q to Engineering. You will assist Mister La Forge. Mister Worf, hail the Bre'el Four science station.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Q: Picard thinks I can't cut it on his starship. I can do anything his little trained minions can do.
Data: I do not perceive your skills to be in doubt, Q. The Captain is more concerned with your ability to interact successfully with his little trained minions.
Data: Human interpersonal relationships are more complex. Your experiences may not have adequately prepared you.
Q: I'm not interested in human interpersonal relationships. I just want to prove to Picard that I'm indispensable.
Data: Engineering. To function aboard a starship, or in any human activity, you must learn to form relationships.
Q: It's so hard.
Data: And of more immediate importance is your ability to work within groups.
Q: I'm not good in groups. It's difficult working in a group when you're omnipotent.
Garin: The tides reached ten meters on the last orbit. They are already beginning to swell again. We have a lot of frightened people down here, Captain.
Picard: Your moon has begun moving toward its perigee. We're prepared to make our attempt.
Scientist: Our population has already taken shelter, but I'm afraid no shelter will be adequate if you fail. Especially for the people on the western continent.
Garin: Whatever the results, we know you've done your best, Picard. It's appreciated.
Picard: We'll keep you advised, Doctor. Picard out.
Worf: Captain, sensors are picking up an increased energy output from the Calamarain.
Laforge: La Forge to Bridge.
Laforge: The moon has reached its minimum orbital distance. It's time, Captain.
Riker: We'll have to lower shields.
Picard: Proceed. Mister Worf, keep a close eye on Q's friends out there.
Worf: Understood.
Q: All right, everyone, this is what we're going to be doing.
Laforge: Q, everybody already knows what they're going to do, except for you, Now here's what I need.
Q: La Forge, obviously my knowledge and experience far exceed yours by about a billion times. So, if you'll just step aside gracefully.
Laforge: Q, your experience will be most valuable to me if you can manually control the field integrity.
Q: Don't be foolish. That would be a waste of my talents.
Laforge: Q, get to the controls or get the hell out of here. Data, you're my liaison to the Bridge. I'll need you with me.
Q: Who does he think he is, giving me orders.
Data: Geordi thinks he is in command here, and he is correct.
Riker: Engineering, holding at station keeping, range six hundred and forty meters.
Data: Containment fields to flight tolerance.
Data: Warp core to ninety percent.
Laforge: Engage field coils. Tractor beam to stand by. Field output? Field output?
Q: Two seventeen.
Laforge: Impulse engines to full. Ready to engage tractor beam.
Riker: Lowering shields. Engage tractor beam.
Laforge: Extending warp field forward.
Picard: Engineering, is that the forward limit?
Data: Yes, Captain. We are unable to encompass the entire moon.
Picard: Do you recommend that we proceed?
Q: The two parts of the moon will have different inertial densities.
Laforge: Stand by, Captain. I can adjust the field symmetry to compensate.
Q: I doubt it.
Laforge: You don't know what this ship can do, Mister. Yes, Captain, I still believe it'll work. Increasing power and warp field and tractor beam.
Q: And if you're wrong, the moon will crumble due to subspace compression. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Laforge: Shut up, Q.
Q: I will not be spoken to in this manner!
Laforge: Data.
Data: Q, I strongly suggest that you cooperate.
Data: Inertial mass of the moon is decreasing to approximately two point five million metric tons.
Laforge: It's working. We can move it. Firing impulse engines.
Data: Captain, the moon's trajectory has moved point three percent. Point-four percent.
Worf: Emergency! Shields up.
Riker: Disengage tractor beam.
Worf: Calamarain attacking. Shields holding. Tachyon field repelled.
Laforge: Captain, the impact of the blast is pushing us into the upper atmosphere.
Data: Hull temperature rising. Two thousand degrees.
Data: Two thousand five hundred degrees.
Laforge: Moving to full impulse power.
Worf: Calamarain resuming attack.
Worf: They've overpowered the shields. Hull penetration, deck thirty six, Engineering.
Riker: Geordi, can you direct any more power to the shields?
Laforge: We need all the power we have to get out of the atmosphere, Commander.
Laforge: Try activating the structural integrity field.
Laforge: It's not working. Structural field harmonics on manual.
Riker: La Forge. Hull temperature falling. We're in the clear.
Laforge: Diverting power to forward sections now.
Laforge: That charge nearly knocked out his positronic net.
Riker: What can you do for him?
Laforge: We can try to discharge and reset the motor pathways, recouple the autonomic nodes.
Crusher: There's overpressure in his fluidic systems. Thermal shock. If he was mortal, he'd be dead.
Q: Let us not overstate the matter here, Doctor. I'm mortal and I survived. The cheers are overwhelming.
Picard: Q, you exceed your own standards of self-preoccupation. You have no concern for an officer who may have saved your life.
Q: He's strong, he'll survive.
Laforge: Osmotic pressure still rising. Maybe we can by-pass the flow regulator.
Crusher: It would be helpful if everybody just got out of here now.
Picard: Stay with Q.
Laforge: We'll let you know as soon as there's anything to tell you.
Riker: Geordi? The moon's trajectory?
Laforge: All we did was buy ourselves another orbit, at most. We can try again when the moon comes back to its perigee.
Riker: And when we drop our shields, the Calamarains go after Q again.
Laforge: Commander, he's not worth it.
Picard: Come.
Q: You're right, of course. I am extraordinarily selfish. But it has served me so well in the past.
Picard: It will not serve you here.
Q: Don't be so hard on me, Jean-Luc. You've been a mortal all your life. You know all about dying. I've never given it a second thought. Or a first one, for that matter. I could have been killed. If it hadn't been for Data and that one brief delay he created, I would have been gone. No more me. And no one would have missed me, would they? Data may have sacrificed himself for me. Why?
Picard: That is his special nature. He learned the lessons of humanity well.
Q: When I ask myself if I would have done the same for him, And I am forced to answer no, I feel, I feel ashamed.
Picard: Q, I'm not your father confessor. You will receive no absolution from me. You have brought nothing but pain and suffering to this crew. And I'm still not entirely convinced that all this isn't your latest attempt at a puerile joke.
Q: It is a joke. A joke on me. The joke of the universe. The king who would be man. As I learn more and more what it is to be human, I am more and more convinced that I would never make a good one. I don't have what it takes. Without my powers, I'm frightened of everything. I'm a coward, and I'm miserable, and I can't go on this way.
Crusher: He's going to be all right.
Laforge: We're recalibrating his language circuits, so he can't talk yet.
Q: There are creatures in the universe who would consider you the ultimate achievement, android. No feelings, no emotions, no pain. And yet you covet those qualities of humanity. Believe me, you're missing nothing. But if it means anything to you, you're a better human than I.
Q: Where's the main shuttlebay?
Computer: Main shuttlebay is located on deck four.
Q: Take me there.
Worf: Captain, an unscheduled shuttle has just been launched.
Picard: On main viewer. Hailing frequency.
Worf: Frequencies open.
Picard: Shuttle occupant, identify yourself.
Q: Don't try to talk me out of it, Jean-Luc.
Picard: Q, return to the ship immediately.
Q: I just can't get used to following orders.
Worf: Captain, the plasma cloud is moving toward the shuttle.
Q: It's easier this way. They won't bother you after I'm gone.
Riker: Engineering, prepare to extend shields.
Q: Please, don't fall back on your tired cliché of charging to the rescue just in the nick of time. I don't want to be rescued. My life as a human being has been a dismal failure. Perhaps my death will have a little dignity.
Picard: Q, there is no dignity in this suicide.
Q: Yes, I suppose you're right. Death of a coward, then. So be it. But as a human, I would have died of boredom.
Picard: This goes against my better judgment. Transporter room three, lock on to shuttle one. Beam it back into it's bay.
Crewman: Aye, Captain.
Picard: It's a perfectly good shuttlecraft.
Crewman: Captain, unable to transport. For some reason, I can't lock on to the shuttlecraft.
Riker: Worf, are you sensing any sort of interference from the Calamarain?
Worf: No, sir, but they are still moving toward the shuttle.
Riker: Geordi, extend shields around shuttle one.
Laforge: Extending shields.
Laforge: Commander, the shields are frozen.
Riker: Cause?
Laforge: Unknown.
Riker: Lock on tractor beam.
Laforge: Tractor beam is not functioning either.
Riker: What the hell is going on?
Q2: Not bad, Q. Not great. But not bad.
Q: Q!
Q2: Sacrificing yourself for these humans? Do I detect a little selfless act?
Q: You flatter me. I was only trying to put a quick end to a miserable existence.
Q2: What a dreadful color.
Q: Yeah. What are you doing here?
Q2: I've been keeping track of you.
Q: I always felt you were in my corner.
Q2: Actually, I was the one who got you kicked out. You know, you're incorrigible, Q. A lost cause. I can't go to a single solar system without having to apologize for you, and I'm tired of it.
Q: I wasn't the one who misplaced the entire Deltived asteroid belt.
Q2: Hey, this isn't about me. I've got better places to be. But somebody had to keep an eye on you to make sure you still didn't find a way to cause trouble. Even as a member of this limited species.
Q: Well, I hope I've been entertaining you.
Q2: Barely. But I find these humans rather interesting. I'm beginning to understand what you see in them. After all the things that you've done, they're still intent on keeping you safe.
Q: A genetic weakness of the race.
Q2: And they're still at it. They just tried to beam you up, back, whatever it is they call it.
Q: Really?
Q2: I stopped them.
Q: Well, if the Calamarains hurry up and finish me off, we can get you back on your way.
Q2: Afraid I had to put them on hold too. You see, there's still this matter of the selfless act. You and I both know that the Calamarain would have eventually destroyed the Enterprise to get to you. And that's really why you left, right?
Q: It was a teeny bit selfless, wasn't it?
Q2: And there's my problem. See, I can't back to the Continuum and tell them you committed a selfless act just before the end. If I do there's going to be questions and explanations for centuries.
Q: I've learned my lesson, Q.
Q2: Remember who you're talking to. All knowing, all seeing. Fine, you got your powers back. Try and stay out of trouble.
Q: So they wanted to destroy me, did they?
Q: If you think I tormented you in the past, my little friends, wait until you see what I do with you now.
Q2: Q?
Q: I was just seeing if you were still watching.
Data: Captain, the aliens have disappeared, and so has the shuttle.
Riker: Scan the sector.
Data: I have, sir.
Picard: Well, I suppose that is the end of Q.
Q: Au contraire, mon capitaine! He's back!
Q: I'm forgiven. My brothers and sisters of the Continuum have taken me back. I'm immortal again. Omnipotent again.
Riker: Swell.
Q: Don't fret, Riker. My good fortune is your good fortune.
Riker: I don't need your fantasy women.
Q: Oh, you're so stolid, Commander. You weren't like that before the beard. Very well.
Picard: Q!
Q: But I feel like celebrating.
Picard: I don't.
Q: All right.
Picard: All of it.
Picard: Now, at the risk of being rude.
Q: Yes, once again I've overstayed my welcome. As a human, I was ill-equipped to thank you, but as myself you have my everlasting gratitude. Until next time. Ah, but before I go, there's a debt I wish to repay to my professor of the humanities. Data, I've decided to give you something very, very special.
Data: If your intention is to make me human, Q.
Q: No, no, no, no, no, no. I would never curse you by making you human. Think of it as a going away present.
Laforge: Data? Data, why are you laughing?
Data: I do not know. But it was a wonderful feeling.
Worf: Captain, Bre'el Four is hailing us.
Picard: On screen, Lieutenant.
Garin: Captain Picard you've done it
Picard: I'm sorry?
Scientist: The moon. It's back to its normal orbit. How ever you did it, thank you.
Riker: Let's see it, Worf.
Picard: Mister Data, your analysis?
Data: The moon's altitude is fifty five thousand kilometers. Projected orbit is circular. There is no further danger to the planet.
Picard: Ensign, set course for Station Nigala Four.
Ensign: Aye, sir.
Picard: Perhaps there's a residue of humanity in Q after all. Ensign, en
Q: Don't bet on it, Picard.