Scene: Captain's Log, Stardate 44769.2. For some weeks we have had a Klingon exobiologist on board as part of a scientific exchange program. Unfortunately, we suspect that he was involved in a security breach and in the possible sabotage of our warp drive.
Riker: What were you doing accessing the propulsion system files on Stardate 44758?
J'Dan: I didn't.
Riker: Yes, you did, from computer twelve B nine, deck thirty six. The computer logged in your identification from your communicator.
J'Dan: It must be a mistake.
Troi: J'Dan, we have confirmed reports that schematic drawings of our dilithium chamber fell into Romulan hands one week later.
J'Dan: I know nothing about it.
Riker: I suppose you know nothing about the explosion that disabled the warp drive at approximately the same time?
J'Dan: No. I was not involved. You accuse me because I am Klingon.
Troi: Our Chief Security Officer is Klingon. That has nothing to do with it.
J'Dan: Send me home, then, if you are so distrusting.
Riker: We've already contacted the Klingon High Council. You'll be returned home as soon as we finished our investigation.
J'Dan: I have nothing more to say.
Riker: Very well. Worf, accompany the Lieutenant to his quarters.
Riker: What do you think?
Troi: It's hard to tell. He is very closed, but he is hiding something.
J'Dan: On the Klingon Home World your name is not mentioned. It is as though you never existed. A terrible burden for a warrior to bear, to become nothing, to be without honor, without the chance for glory.
J'Dan: I have friends, powerful friends, on the homeworld. I could talk to them. They might help to restore your name, if you could just take me to a shuttlecraft.
J'Dan: It could be done without any one knowing about it.
Worf: I don't know how you transferred secret information to the Romulans, but I will find out.
J'Dan: Pahtk!
Worf: When we inform the Klingon High Council, they will put you to a slow death.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. Retired Admiral Norah Satie, whose investigation exposed the alien conspiracy against Starfleet Command three years ago, is arriving to assist in our inquiry.
Satie: Captain Picard.
Picard: Admiral Satie. Welcome aboard the Enterprise.
Satie: Delighted to be here. I managed to acquire my former staff. My aide, Sabin Genestra, from Betazed, and my assistant, Nellen Tore, from Delb Two.
Picard: This is my First Officer, Commander William Riker. May I show you to your quarters?
Satie: Captain, if Starfleet Command is so concerned with your report they brought me out of retirement, I think I should get right to work.
Picard: Very well. Commander Riker, will you see to the Admiral's staff?
Satie: First, I'd like to inspect the damage to your engine room.
Picard: Admiral Satie, this is Commander Data, Commander La Forge.
Laforge: Admiral. We still can't get in there, Captain. The radiation levels are dropping, but they're too high to raise the isolation door.
Picard: How much longer will it be?
Data: At the rate the levels are decreasing, we will gain entry in forty nine hours, Captain.
Laforge: Maybe the Admiral would like to see the visual log of the explosion.
Satie: Yes.
Laforge: This was logged four days ago at oh three hundred hours.
Laforge: At that point the emergency confinement field was activated and the isolation doors came down. No one was killed, but I have two people in Sickbay with radiation burns.
Satie: Have you been able to make any assessments?
Data: Slow motion study of the explosion suggests that the articulation frame collapsed.
Satie: The schematics that were stolen from the Enterprise, I believe some involved the articulation frame of the dilithium chamber.
Picard: That's one reason we tend to suspect sabotage.
Data: Other evidence lends credence to that theory, Captain. A review of the sensor logs indicates that every systems reading was well within normal parameters until fifty two milliseconds before the explosion.
Laforge: We haven't found anything that suggests there was a malfunction anywhere along the line.
Satie: Captain, I think I'm going to need a full briefing before we go any further.
Picard: By all means, Admiral.
Satie: Commander Data, La Forge, I don't envy you your job. Good luck.
Picard: There are disturbing overtones in the idea of a Klingon providing information to the Romulans. Are you aware of any other Klingon-Romulan connection that Starfleet Command might have encountered recently?
Satie: I don't believe what Starfleet Command knows or doesn't know is for me to reveal.
Picard: This ship has encountered several incidents which might suggest a potential alliance between those two powers.
Satie: We're aware of that, Captain. What we must concentrate on is the business at hand.
Picard: Come.
Worf: Excuse me, Captain, I didn't know that
Picard: Please, Mister Worf, come in. I particularly want my guest to meet you. Admiral Satie. This is my Head of Security, Lieutenant Worf.
Worf: Captain, I have been pursuing the investigation of Lieutenant J'Dan. I believe I know how he transferred information off the Enterprise.
Satie: Well done, Lieutenant.
Worf: This is J'Dan's. A hypospray he uses to treat his Ba'ltmasor Syndrome. But this has been fitted with an optical reader specially modified to read data from Starfleet isolinear chips. He can extract digital information from a computer, encode it in the form of amino acid sequences, and transfer those sequences into a fluid in the syringe. Then he injects someone, perhaps even without their knowledge.
Satie: Or perhaps with their knowledge.
Worf: The information would be carried in their bloodstream in the form of inert proteins.
Satie: The body itself becomes a conveyor of top secret files. Lieutenant Worf, when we confront J'Dan, I want you to conduct the interrogation.
Worf: I would be honored. Captain. Admiral.
Satie: Captain, I predict that officer will be extremely valuable in this investigation.
Worf: I have tracked the movements of every person who has left the Enterprise since you have been here. I traced one Tarkanian diplomat as far as the Cruces system where he disappeared and has not been seen since.
J'Dan: That proves nothing.
Worf: A hyposyringe was discovered in your quarters.
J'Dan: I take injections. Everyone knows that.
Worf: But your injections do not include an optical chip reader. This device has but one function, to transform computer information into biological sequences.
J'Dan: The blood of all Klingons has become water. Since the Federation alliance we have turned into a nation of mewling babies. Romulans are strong. They are worthy allies. They do not turn Klingons into weaklings like you.
Satie: Lieutenant, how did you damage the dilithium chamber?
J'Dan: I had nothing to do with that
Satie: You mean it was sheer coincidence that it was sabotaged after you gave the plans for the design to the Romulans?
J'Dan: I do not know. I had nothing to do with it.
Satie: You've admitted your crime. Why lie now?
J'Dan: I am not lying.
Picard: Mister Worf, you may have him confined.
Satie: Sabin?
Sabin: I believe he's telling the truth. He admits stealing the files but not sabotaging the dilithium chamber. I get no sense that he's lying.
Picard: But if you're right, someone else may be involved.
Satie: I think, Captain, you have a bigger problem on your ship than one Klingon exchange officer.
Satie: I've seen this before. The specter of conspiracy on a starship is a frightening one.
Picard: I can scarcely believe it myself, but I am so grateful for your presence, Admiral. If anyone in Starfleet can help us, it's you.
Satie: Captain, I find myself changing my mind about you.
Picard: In what way?
Satie: When Starfleet ordered me here, it was with the express command that we work together on this problem as equals. My father taught me to avoid partnerships. Most of them are woefully lop-sided.
Picard: That sounds like Judge Aaron Satie.
Satie: You knew my father?
Picard: Only from his writings. His judgments were required reading at the Academy.
Satie: He was an extraordinary man. Every night at the dinner table he would pose a question for debate. My big brothers and I would wrangle it around, from one side and the other. Father would referee, and he kept a stopwatch on us so we'd have to learn brevity. But he wouldn't let us leave until he thought we'd completely explored the issue.
Picard: I'm willing to wager that you trounced your brothers during those debates.
Satie: More than once. Father loved it when I nailed one of them with some subtle point of logic. All that I am, I owe to him. He was a giant.
Picard: You must miss him very much.
Satie: Captain, I always preferred working alone. That way, if something goes wrong, I don't have to go far for the cause. I resented you being assigned to me, but I was wrong. We're going to be quite a team.
Worf: J'Dan did not make friends easily. There are not many to question.
Sabin: You've done a thorough job, Lieutenant.
Worf: I am strongly motivated in this matter.
Sabin: Yes, I can see that. I don't mind telling you I'm surprised. Frankly, when I first heard about your father.
Worf: My father?
Sabin: Yes. There are some who believe he betrayed your people to the Romulans.
Worf: What he did or did not do is no one's concern but my own
Sabin: Of course. I only meant before I saw you in action, I naturally considered you a possible security risk. But I want you to know you have the Admiral's and my complete confidence. You have nothing to prove to us.
Worf: If there is a conspiracy on board, I promise you I will find it.
Sabin: Good. You know the ship, you know the personnel, you know exactly what we're up against. We're counting on you, Lieutenant.
Worf: I will arrange for the interviews to begin.
Satie: And how often did Lieutenant J'Dan come in for his injections?
Crusher: About once a week.
Satie: Did you administer them yourself?
Crusher: No.
Satie: Then who did?
Crusher: I had one of my assistants do that.
Sabin: Did you ever hear him say anything? Anything that may have seemed innocent at the time that might now shed some light on this investigation?
Crusher: No, nothing. In fact, he rarely spoke at all.
Picard: Thank you, Doctor Crusher, we appreciate your time. You are excused now. Mister Worf, will you bring in the next person?
Picard: Please sit down, Mister Tarses. For the record, will you tell us your name and position?
Tarses: Simon Tarses, Crewman First Class, medical technician.
Picard: I assure you this is an informal inquiry. We are not accusing you of anything. However, if you would like counsel, it can be provided for you.
Tarses: No, sir. I have nothing to hide.
Picard: Tell me, how long have you held your appointment onboard this vessel?
Tarses: Since Stardate 43587.
Satie: Mister Tarses, your records state that you were born on Mars Colony.
Tarses: That's right.
Satie: Then you are human?
Tarses: Largely. My paternal grandfather was Vulcan.
Satie: Yes, I see that. Tell me, what is your relationship with the Klingon, J'Dan?
Tarses: Er, he, I mean, there's no relationship. He just came in for his injections.
Satie: Did you give him those injections?
Tarses: Sometimes. There were several of us. Actually, I might have done it twice.
Sabin: Did he ever make any comments that might, in retrospect, be suspicious?
Tarses: Not really. He hardly ever talked.
Satie: Did you ever see him outside Sickbay?
Tarses: Once or twice in Ten Forward, with a group of people, but I never had a conversation with him.
Satie: Thank you, Mister Tarses. I don't think there's need for more. Captain?
Picard: You're excused, crewman.
Picard: Mister Worf?
Sabin: Wait. He's lying. He's desperately frightened. He's covering something.
Picard: It's clear that he's frightened, but that's hardly an indication
Sabin: It's more than that. He wasn't truthful. He's covering a lie. One so big it's overwhelming him. I think we've found the man.
Picard: Admiral. I have to tell you, you must not expect me to permit any action against Mister Tarses solely on the basis of Betazoid intuition.
Satie: Sabin has uncanny instincts. I've learned to trust them.
Picard: I'm not happy about this use of a Betazoid.
Satie: But you have a Betazoid counselor. Surely you're aware of the advantages.
Picard: There is a difference between a counselor and an investigator.
Satie: Are you saying you never use your counselor during interrogations?
Picard: Yes, I do, but I would not act solely on the basis of her instinct.
Satie: Nor do I.
Picard: But you're asking, you're asking me to restrict Mister Tarses' movements solely on the basis on Sabin's feeling.
Satie: If Counselor Troi suggested to you that someone on the ship were dangerous, would you not act on that? Observe him? Curb his activity?
Picard: Yes, I admit I probably would. And perhaps I should re-evaluate that behavior.
Satie: Oh, nonsense. Let's keep our priorities straight. The important thing is to uncover the conspiracy on this ship and to prevent further damage. Now, if Tarses is a possible saboteur, you cannot allow him access to sensitive areas of the ship, and I strongly suggest continuous surveillance.
Picard: If we had clear evidence.
Satie: We will have clear evidence. Sabin and Lieutenant Worf are continuing to investigate. But if you don't act until then, it may be too late.
Picard: No. I won't treat a man as a criminal unless there is cause to do so.
Satie: And while you're being so generous, you give a saboteur a chance to strike again. Last time it was just a hatch cover/ What if next time it's more serious? What if lives are lost? Can you afford not to act?
Laforge: Engineering to Captain Picard.
Picard: Yes, Mister La Forge.
Laforge: Captain, could you come to Engineering right away? We've got something interesting to show you.
Picard: I'll be right there.
Laforge: Captain, we finally got in here about six hours ago. We've been going over it inch by inch ever since.
Data: We have made micro-tomographic analyzes of the dilithium chamber, the hatch mounting, the blast pattern from the explosion.
Laforge: We did mass spectrometer readings of the residue for chemical content, sifted through the debris for bomb fragments.
Satie: What did you find?
Laforge: This is the frame for the hatch. It ruptured right along here. When we take a reading of that spot. See?
Satie: I'm afraid I'm out of my element, Commander. You'll have to interpret for me.
Picard: There are submicron fractures in the metal casing.
Laforge: That's right. A breakdown of the atomic cohesive structure.
Satie: Yes? And what caused them?
Data: Those fractures suggest nothing more than simple neutron fatigue. I would speculate that when the engine was last inspected at McKinley station, the hatch casing was replaced with one which had an undetectable defect. I believe, sir, that the conclusion to our investigation must be that the explosion was not intentional.
Laforge: That's the way I see it. This wasn't sabotage at all. It was nothing more than an accident.
Sabin: An accident? I find that hard to believe.
Picard: If my crew say there was no sabotage, then you can be sure there was none.
Satie: Let us keep our perspective, gentlemen. Just because there was no sabotage doesn't mean there isn't a conspiracy on this ship. We do have a confessed spy.
Sabin: And he had confederates.
Picard: Do we know that for sure?
Satie: Of course he did. Do you think J'Dan could have come on board the flagship of the Federation and accomplished what he did without help from within?
Picard: I agree it would be difficult, but not impossible.
Worf: We should continue to investigate Tarses. He was hiding something.
Sabin: Captain Picard Lieutenant Worf and I have been working well together. I suggest we continue, if for no other purpose than to determine Tarses' innocence.
Picard: Now, please! Let me remind you he is innocent until he is proved guilty.
Satie: Of course he is. What Sabin is saying is that he and Lieutenant Worf would like to establish his innocence unequivocally, for his own sake.
Picard: Very well. But let us put this to rest as quickly as possible.
Picard: You've opened the hearing to spectators?
Satie: It isn't good to have closed door proceedings for too long. It invites rumor and speculation.
Picard: Nevertheless, Admiral, I think it would be wise
Satie: Because spies and saboteurs don't like the bright light of an open inquiry. They're like roaches, scurrying for the dark corner.
Picard: This hearing is convened on Stardate 44780 as a continuing inquiry into the activities of Crewman Simon Tarses. Mister Tarses, for your own protection, I have assigned a counsel to you in the person of Commander William Riker.
Tarses: Thank you, sir, but I don't need protection. I have not done anything wrong.
Satie: Doctor Crusher, have you observed Crewman Tarses with J'Dan?
Crusher: Well, yes, he gave him his injection.
Satie: I meant outside of Sickbay.
Crusher: I think so, perhaps in Ten Forward.
Satie: And whom else have you observed at these occasions?
Crusher: I don't understand what relevance that has. It was an innocent social gathering.
Satie: If it was so innocent, why do you hesitate to give us the names?
Picard: Thank you, Doctor. If you have a case to make against Tarses, you had better make it, otherwise I'm stopping this here and now.
Sabin: Mister Tarses. Isn't it true that you have access to the biological supplies in Sickbay?
Tarses: It's part of my job, yes.
Sabin: J'Dan used suspensions of deoxyribose to carry the encoded files he stole. Isn't it true one of your duties is to prepare those suspensions?
Tarses: Several technicians share that job.
Sabin: And isn't it true that your security clearance allows you access to all the stores and files in Sickbay? Access which you can exercise at any time?
Tarses: Because I have access does not mean I
Sabin: What would you say if I told you there is evidence that the explosion in the engine room was caused by a corrosive chemical. One that is kept stored in Sickbay.
Tarses: I had nothing to do with that.
Sabin: How can we believe you? How can we believe someone whom we know, we know, to be a liar?
Riker: I object! There is no basis for calling Crewman Tarses a liar.
Picard: Agreed. Mister Sabin.
Sabin: Captain, there is a basis which will become clear in a moment. Mister Tarses, didn't you deliberately and premeditatively lied when you filled out your personnel application and compounded that lie by repeating it to this committee?
Tarses: What?
Sabin: Isn't it true that the paternal grandfather of whom you speak was not a Vulcan but was in fact a Romulan? That it is Romulan blood you carry and a Romulan heritage that you honor?
Sabin: We're waiting, Mister Tarses.
Tarses: On the advice of my counsel I refuse to answer that question, in that the answer may serve to incriminate me.
Worf: You and Crewman Marcus will coordinate to track Tarses' movements over the last five years. Ensign Kellogg, I want a list of all relatives, known associates, and especially old school friends. And make arrangements to do an encephalographic polygraph scan.
Picard: Mister Worf?
Worf: Yes, Captain?
Picard: I need to speak with you.
Worf: You are dismissed. Please get your reports to me as soon as possible.
Picard: Do you see what is happening here, Mister Worf?
Worf: Sir?
Picard: This is not unlike a drumhead trial.
Worf: I do not understand.
Picard: Five hundred years ago, military officers would upend a drum on the battlefield sit at it and dispense summary justice. Decisions were quick, punishments severe, appeals denied. Those who came to a drumhead were doomed.
Worf: But we know there is a traitor here. J'Dan has admitted his guilt.
Picard: That's true, and he will stand for his crimes.
Worf: Tarses has all but done the same.
Picard: How?
Worf: He refused to answer the question about his Romulan grandfather.
Picard: That is not a crime, Worf. Nor can we infer his guilt because he didn't respond.
Worf: Sir, if a man were not afraid of the truth, he would answer.
Picard: Oh, no. We cannot allow ourselves think that. The Seventh Guarantee is one of the most important rights granted by the Federation. We cannot take a fundamental principle of the Constitution and turn it against a citizen.
Worf: Sir, the Federation does have enemies. We must seek them out.
Picard: Oh, yes. That's how it starts. But the road from legitimate suspicion to rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think. Something is wrong here, Mister Worf. I don't like what we have become.
Picard: There you are, Mister Tarses. Would you care for some lemon?
Tarses: No, thank you, sir. This is fine.
Picard: Well, tell me a little about yourself, Crewman. I know you were born on Mars Colony.
Tarses: Yes, sir. All my life I wanted to be in Starfleet. I went to the Academy's training program for enlisted personnel. I took training as a medical technician and I served at several outposts. The day that I was posted to the Enterprise was the happiest day of my life.
Picard: Did you ever consider applying to the Academy, going the whole route, apply to become an officer?
Tarses: My parents wanted me to. And then I thought about it. I used to sit under this big tree near the parade grounds
Picard: An elm tree with a circular bench?
Tarses: Yes, that's the one.
Picard: I spent many an hour there. It was my favorite spot to study.
Tarses: I used to sit under that tree and watch the drills, picture myself an officer. I know that it would have made my mother very happy, but.
Picard: You didn't do it.
Tarses: No. I was eighteen, and eager. The last thing I wanted to do was spend four years sitting in classrooms. I wanted to be out there, traveling the stars. I didn't want to wait for anything. And now it's done, isn't it? My career in Starfleet is finished.
Picard: Not if you aren't guilty, Simon.
Tarses: It doesn't matter. I lied on my application, and that mistake will be with me for the rest of my life.
Satie: Mister Worf has found a brother who still lives on Mars Colony. Contact someone there and have him interviewed.
Picard: Admiral Satie?
Satie: And start a background check into all his friends at the Academy training program.
Picard: Admiral Satie?
Satie: Yes, Captain?
Picard: I would like to have a word with you.
Satie: Of course.
Picard: In private and off the record.
Satie: Of course. After all, you are my partner in this.
Satie: I cannot possibly believe you mean this.
Picard: But I do. This must stop. It has gone too far. You lied to him about the Engine Room. There were no volatile chemicals found there.
Satie: It was a tactic. A way of applying pressure.
Picard: We are hounding an innocent man.
Satie: And how, may I ask, have you managed to determine that?
Picard: I've talked with him.
Satie: I see. And he told you he was a victim of circumstance, blameless and pure.
Picard: No, he admits his mistake in falsifying his application. That does not make him a traitor.
Satie: How can you be so incredibly naive? Captain, may I tell you how I've spent the last four years? From planet to Starbase to planet. I have no home. I live on starships and shuttlecraft. I haven't seen a family member in years. I have no friends. But I have a purpose. My father taught me from the time I was a little girl still clutching a blanket, that the United Federation of Planets is the most remarkable institution ever conceived. And it is my cause to make sure that this extraordinary union be preserved. I cannot imagine why you are trying to block this investigation. There have been others in the past who doubted me. They came to regret it.
Picard: The hearings on Simon Tarses will stop. If necessary, I will go to Starfleet Command.
Satie: I have news for you, Captain. I've been in constant contact with Starfleet Command. The hearings are not going to stop. They're going to be expanded.
Picard: What are you saying?
Satie: I'm going to get to the heart of this conspiracy if it means investigating every last person on this ship. And every hearing from now on will be held in the presence of Admiral Thomas Henry of Starfleet Security. I've requested he be brought here at once.
Picard: You never told me about this.
Satie: I report to Starfleet Command directly. I do not need your permission or your approval for my decisions.
Picard: Admiral, what you're doing here is unethical. It's immoral. I'll fight it.
Satie: Do what you must, Captain. And so will I.
Data: Captain, warp engines are back online. We are ready to commence restart sequences. Sir?
Picard: Yes? Yes, yes, of course. Proceed, Mister Data.
Piker: Are you all right, Captain?
Picard: Yes, of course, Number One. Just a little preoccupied.
Nellen: Admiral Satie has ordered you to report to the interrogation room at oh nine hundred hours tomorrow morning. You are to be questioned before the committee.
Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. Admiral Thomas Henry, who has worked closely with Norah Satie in the past, has arrived to observe the hearings.
Sabin: Your full name?
Picard: Jean-Luc Picard.
Sabin: Rank and position?
Picard: Captain, Federation Starship Enterprise.
Sabin: How long have you held this post?
Picard: For three years, since stardate 41124.
Sabin: Very well. Admiral?
Picard: If you don't mind, there's something I'd like to say.
Satie: If you have a statement, you'll have an opportunity to make it later.
Picard: I believe that Chapter Four, Article Twelve of the Uniform Code of Justice grants me the right to make a statement before questioning begins.
Satie: Very well.
Picard: I am deeply concerned by what is happening here. It began when we apprehended a spy, a man who admitted his guilt and who will answer for his crime. But the hunt didn't end there. Another man, Mister Simon Tarses, was brought to trial and it was a trial, no matter what others choose to call it. A trial based on insinuation and innuendo. Nothing substantive offered against Mister Tarses, much less proven. Mister Tarses' grandfather is Romulan, and for that reason his career now stands in ruins. Have we become so fearful? Have we become so cowardly that we must extinguish a man because he carries the blood of a current enemy? Admiral, let us not condemn Simon Tarses, or anyone else, because of their bloodlines, or investigate others for their innocent associations. I implore you, do not continue with this proceeding. End it now.
Satie: Captain, do you believe in the Prime Directive?
Picard: Of course.
Satie: In fact, it's Starfleet General Order Number One, is it not?
Picard: Your point, Admiral?
Satie: Would it surprise you to learn that you have violated the Prime Directive a total of nine times since you took command of the Enterprise? I must say, Captain, it surprised the hell out of me.
Picard: My reports to Starfleet document the circumstances in each of those instances
Satie: Yes, we're looking into those reports, Captain, very closely into those reports, after which I'm sure we'll have more questions for you about your so-called commitment to Starfleet's Prime Directive.
Sabin: Captain, could you tell us just what happened on Stardate 44390?
Picard: I beg your pardon?
Sabin: Let me refresh your memory. You were transporting a Vulcan ambassador, T'Pel.
Picard: I was following orders to take this ambassador to a location near the Neutral Zone.
Satie: I don't think we need the preamble.
Sabin: In fact, she was not a Vulcan at all, was she? She was a Romulan spy.
Picard: That's correct.
Sabin: A spy whom you were delivering back into the hands of the enemy.
Satie: Tell me, Captain, when the deception was revealed and she stood proudly on the bridge of a Romulan ship, did you make any effort to retrieve her?
Picard: No.
Satie: No. Even though you knew she carried Federation secrets that she'd been accumulating for years?
Worf: The Enterprise could have been captured by the Romulans! Captain Picard did the only thing he could.
Satie: Really, Lieutenant? And where were you when this traitor was on board the Enterprise? Where was ship's Security?
Sabin: Don't you think it's questionable judgment, Captain, to have a security officer whose father was a Romulan collaborator?
Picard: Lieutenant.
Satie: Tell me, Captain, have you completely recovered from your experience with the Borg?
Picard: Yes, I have completely recovered.
Satie: It must have been awful for you, actually becoming one of them, being forced to use your vast knowledge of Starfleet operations to aid the Borg. Just how many of our ships were lost? Thirty nine? And a loss of life, I believe, measured at nearly eleven thousand. One wonders how you can sleep at night, having caused so much destruction. I question your actions, Captain. I question your choices. I question your loyalty.
Picard: You know, there some words I've known since I was a school boy. With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably. Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie as wisdom and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. I fear that today
Satie: How dare you! You who consort with Romulans invoke my father's name to support your traitorous arguments. It is an offense to everything I hold dear. And to hear those words used to subvert the United Federation of Planets. My father was a great man. His name stands for integrity and principle. You dirty his name when you speak it. He loved the Federation, but you, Captain, corrupt it. You undermine our very way of life. I will expose you for what you are. I've brought down bigger men than you, Picard!
Satie: I have nothing more to say.
Sabin: Perhaps we should call a recess until tomorrow.
Worf: Am I bothering you, Captain?
Picard: No. Please, Mister Worf. Come in.
Worf: It is over. Admiral Henry has called an end to any more hearings on this matter.
Picard: That's good.
Worf: Admiral Satie has left the Enterprise.
Picard: We think we've come so far. The torture of heretics, the burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then, before you can blink an eye, it suddenly threatens to start all over again.
Worf: I believed her. I helped her. I did not see what she was.
Picard: Mister Worf, villains who wear twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well camouflaged.
Worf: I think after yesterday, people will not be as ready to trust her.
Picard: Maybe. But she, or someone like her, will always be with us, waiting for the right climate in which to flourish, spreading fear in the name of righteousness. Vigilance, Mister Worf, that is the price we have to continually pay.


Scene: Counselor Deanna Troi, personal log, stardate 44805.3. My mother is on board.
Lwaxana: Jean-Luc! You delicious man. You were just thinking of me, weren't you?
Picard: As a matter of fact
Lwaxana: Well think no further, dear heart. She's here!
Picard: Yes, indeed.
Lwaxana: Oh, serious. You're always so serious.
Picard: Lwaxana, as a matter of fact, I am rather busy at the moment.
Lwaxana: And you're always busy with something or other. Never the right thing, though. My daughter tells me that we're picking up someone interesting here.
Picard: Yes, the leading scientist of Kaelon Two and
Lwaxana: Oh, Kaelon Two? I've never heard of that.
Picard: Well, Lwaxana, it is something of a rather delicate situation> It's the first real contact with a rather reclusive race, and this is in the nature of an official greeting, so
Lwaxana: Diplomacy. I adore diplomacy. Everyone dresses so well.
Picard: Mister O'Brien, energize. (Charles Emerson Winchester III beams in, having escaped from the 4077 MASH)
Picard: Doctor Timicin. I'm Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of The Enterprise. This is Lieutenant Commander La Forge.
Timicin: I beg your pardon, Captain. This is my first time aboard a Federation starship. Oh yes, they told me. Shaking hands, a form of greeting.
Picard: I beg your pardon. Doctor Timicin, allow me to present Lwaxana Troi of Betazed. She's also a guest on board, and
Lwaxana: And Daughter of The Fifth House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx, Heir of the Holy Rings of Betazed, and what are you doing for dinner?
Timicin: Well, I don't know, really.
Picard: Lwaxana, we have quite a bit of work planned.
Lwaxana: The man's never been on board a starship before, Jean-Luc. Certainly somebody ought to make him comfortable before you get started.
Picard: It seems that Mrs Troi is our acting ambassador of goodwill for today.
Lwaxana: You just think of me as your Entertainment Director.
Laforge: That man is in a lot of trouble. Captain's Log. Stardate 44805.7. For generations, the people of Kaelon Two have been working to revitalize their dying sun. The Federation has offered to assist in testing what may be a solution to this problem.
Timicin: Of course, the basic theories of helium fusion enhancement have been discussed for over a century, but there's been no practical method of application until now.
Data: The modifications that you have made to the torpedo's guidance systems are remarkable, Doctor.
Timicin: Well, we'll see. They still have to be proved. But now at least it's possible. I'd never dared hope for such a perfect match with our own sun.
Picard: My only regret is that it took us three years to find a suitable sun after you had first contacted us.
Timicin: We're not used to dealing with other worlds. We're not used to asking for anything from others. Your offer of help has given us a possible means of survival. It has taken forty years of my life to develop the programming that will control your photon torpedoes. It has been my life. Thank you for this opportunity. My only wish has been to find a way to revive our sun before I die.
Worf: Mrs Troi, I must protest your unauthorized presence on the Bridge.
Lwaxana: What does that little one do, Mister Woof?
Worf: Please, Madame! That is a torpedo launch initiator, and, it is Worf, Madame, not Woof.
Lwaxana: Oh. Ah, there you are, dear. Where've you been? I've been waiting for you.
Lwaxana: So nice to see you again so soon.
Timicin: Mrs Troi.
Troi: Mother, what did you want?
Lwaxana: What?
Troi: You were waiting for me.
Lwaxana: Oh yes, dear, of course I was. You really must let me do something to relieve the tedium of all this work, work, work.
Timicin: I'm afraid I'm expected in Engineering. I'm really terribly sorry.
Riker: Mrs Troi, I have to ask you to clear the Bridge, please.
Lwaxana: I don't see why. There are lots of other people here.
Troi: Mother. Please.
Lwaxana: Well, don't you worry. We'll just have our little chat later.
Timicin: I'd never have thought her old enough to be your mother. She is so vibrant.
Timicin: If you look at the next simulation you'll see that we need the temperature to stabilize at two hundred twenty million before there's a secondary or tertiary reaction.
Lwaxana: Enough is enough. Rescue is at hand. Doctor Timicin, would you clear all this mess from the table, please?
Laforge: This mess, Mrs Troi
Lwaxana: Now, now, now, you boys have been shut up in here for hours. Now, if you don't eat something, you're going to get sick, and who's that going to help? I've made some perfectly marvelous Mantickian pate. Mister Homn will lay it out for us. Mister Homn is my valet. He doesn't say much.
Laforge: How can he?
Data: It is true that the intellectual efficiency of high order beings does diminish proportionately with the deprivation of nutritious fuel or
Laforge: All right, all right. Don't you start.
Timicin: Mrs Troi, you're a wise woman. I'm sure we could use a respite.
Lwaxana: These two call me Mrs Troi. You call me Lwaxana. Mister Homn? Spread it.
Lwaxana: So, knowing that my daughter's starship would be passing fairly close to Betazed again, I maneuverd a ride and here I am. Deck eight.
Timicin: I also have a grown daughter. She has a small son of her own.
Lwaxana: Then you're married.
Timicin: My wife died quite some years ago.
Lwaxana: You know, one thing I don't understand. If your people have known for generations that their sun is dying, why not simply evacuate the planet?
Timicin: It is our home. It defines who we are as a people. If Kaelon Two ceases to exist, so do we.
Lwaxana: Then you definitely should fix it.
Timicin: With the Federation's help, I hope we will.
Lwaxana: And the Federation will be pleased to offer whatever help it can.
Lwaxana: Would you come in for a nightcap?
Timicin: That's extremely kind of you, but
Lwaxana: My valet sleeps elsewhere.
Timicin: You are delightful. You make me laugh. I mean, I don't mean your invitation makes me laugh. I mean I took it quite seriously. I mean
Lwaxana: Just say yes. I'll make you laugh some more.
Timicin: I wish I could. But I must say no. Goodnight, Lwaxana.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 44807.5. The Enterprise has arrived at the Praxillus system, where we will conduct Doctor Timicin's helium ignition test.
Troi: Mother, how much
Lwaxana: Little one, why do you refuse to use telepathy even when we are alone?
Troi: We're not alone, Mother. Now how much longer is this going to take? You've been selecting for twenty minutes.
Lwaxana: I am a woman dressing for a man. Something you might try now and then, dear. I wonder if Timicin likes green.
Troi: That's not very telepathic of you.
Lwaxana: Oh, I tried telepathy on him. He's the wrong species. Right species for everything else, though. You might try that once in a while, too.
Troi: You know, you're not just incorrigible, you're insatiable.
Worf: I have completed long range scans. There are no other life forms are present in this system.
Riker: Spacecraft?
Worf: None within sensor range.
Picard: Picard to Engineering.
Picard: Mister La Forge, the system is clear.
Laforge: Final pre-launch diagnostic, level five.
Timicin: All systems verified.
Laforge: We're ready here when you are, Captain.
Picard: Very well. Mister Worf?
Worf: Photon torpedoes armed and targeted.
Picard: Fire in sequence.
Worf: First volley released.
Data: Tracking torpedoes. Entry program confirmed.
Worf: Second volley released.
Laforge: Torpedoes now entering the stellar core.
Timicin: Their shields are holding. Guidance systems normal.
Laforge: Ignition sequence, six seconds
Laforge: Five seconds. Four.
Laforge: Three seconds. Now. Shock wave patterns within predicted range. Seventeen hundred percent rise in gamma radiation levels. Helium fusion rate increasing.
Timicin: What about heat and pressure levels?
Laforge: Steady so far. Density at eleven hundred grams per cubic centimeter. Temperature approaching sixty million degrees Kelvin.
Timicin: We want it to stabilize at two hundred and twenty million.
Data: Pressure wave harmonics dispersing. Temperature in target zone increasing to eighty one million degrees, sir.
Laforge: Still rising.
Laforge: Temperature at ninety million degrees Kelvin. And now one hundred ten million. Looking good. One hundred thirty seven.
Data: Radiation and pressure levels still stable.
Laforge: Temperature is one hundred and seventy million degrees Kelvin.
Laforge: One ninety. And now two hundred million.
Timicin: It's happening.
Laforge: Two oh seven and rising. Two nineteen. And twenty. Two twenty. And holding. Looks like congratulations may be in order.
Picard: Mister Data?
Data: Turbulence patterns are within predicted parameters.
Laforge: Two twenty two.
Data: Temperature is rising in the core again, Captain. Two hundred and thirty million degrees Kelvin.
Laforge: Still rising, Captain.
Laforge: Two fifty one.
Data: Rate exceeding critical level. Core density is becoming unstable.
Riker: Let's get the hell out of here.
Picard: Ensign, warp two now!
Laforge: Sorry.
Timicin: Captain Picard?
Picard: Doctor?
Timicin: Permit me to express my appreciation to you and your crew. I am most grateful. Most grateful.
Picard: Ensign, lay in a course for Kaelon Two. Warp factor five.
Ensign: Aye, sir.
Lwaxana: I'm so sorry, Timicin. I had one of those named after me once. Brilliant young astronomer from Rigel Four. Of course, I sparkled a bit myself in those days. You see, that's called fishing for a compliment. You're supposed to tell me I still sparkle. I'm sorry, I'm not helping, am I?
Timicin: You're very kind. I'm just not adequate company right now.
Lwaxana: Oh, that's all right, I can make enough conversation for both of us. I'll leave you alone.
Timicin: No. Please stay. I wanted to tell you how much I wish we had met years ago.
Lwaxana: What difference do a few years make?
Timicin: Unfortunately, a great deal. You see, Lwaxana, I'm on my way home now to die.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 44812.6. We have returned to Kaelon Two, and established contact with Science Minister B'tardat.
Picard: The experiment achieved a stable core temperature for a short time, Minister. That's a significant step forward.
Riker: We've been studying the sensor logs and the torpedo telemetry to determine if there was any malfunction. If there was, and we are able to isolate the problem, another test might be successful. In the meantime, all of our facilities would be made available to Doctor Timicin.
B'Tardat: A most thoughtful and generous offer, but Timicin has obligations at home. And it would take us some time to select a replacement.
Picard: We would be more than willing to extend our visit, sir.
B'Tardat: That will not be necessary. We'll contact you as soon as we're ready. We expect Timicin to return home as soon as possible. And again, gentlemen, many thanks.
Picard: Come.
Lwaxana: Are you aware these people you are so graciously helping are murderers?
Picard: I beg your pardon?
Lwaxana: Well the next thing to it. When a person on this benighted little planet reaches the age of sixty, which Timicin is about to do, they're expected to simply kill themselves. Did you know that?
Picard: Mister Data?
Data: The people of Kaelon Two are isolationists, almost to the point of being xenophobes. Regrettably, we know very little about their customs.
Lwaxana: Well, I know. Timicin himself just told me. He is supposed to go down there, to his loving friends, be wined, dined, honored for his achievements and then kill himself. It's a barbaric ritual. The Resolution, it's called. Obviously, you can't let him go, Jean-Luc.
Picard: I'm afraid I have no choice.
Lwaxana: I don't think you've been listening to me. The man is supposed to kill himself. You don't just let that happen. You don't just turn your back. What's the matter with you!
Picard: Lwaxana, I'm sorry, but whatever my personal feelings, I have no jurisdiction here. I simply cannot interfere.
Lwaxana: But you have to. In a situation like this, you absolutely have to interfere. You've got to go down there and talk to those people, Jean Luc. Open their eyes, educate them.
Picard: The Prime Directive forbids us to interfere with the social order of any planet.
Lwaxana: Well, that's your Prime Directive, not mine!
Picard: Computer, locate Counselor Troi.
Lwaxana: What do you mean, I can't go down there? Are you telling me that I'm a prisoner on this ship?
Troi: Mother? What's going on? What are you doing?
O'Brien: I'm sorry, Counselor, I'm not sure what to do here.
Lwaxana: Well, I am sure! I am a Betazoid ambassador. I'm a Daughter of the Fifth House, and those people are going to answer to me! So you just energize this damned thing and get me down there!
Troi: He can't, Mother. He has his orders.
Lwaxana: His orders don't apply to me.
Troi: No, they apply to him.
Lwaxana: Don't you try your professional patronizing on me, young lady. They expect Timicin to die, don't you realize that? Just because he's sixty! What's sixty? It's nothing.
O'Brien: I'll go check the pattern buffers.
Troi: Come on, Mother, let's sit down.
Lwaxana: I'm sorry, little one. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm sorry.
Troi: There's no need to be.
Lwaxana: But I'm crying. I don't cry.
Troi: You cried when father died.
Lwaxana: You remember that?
Troi: Of course I remember. We both cried.
Lwaxana: But this isn't the same. Is it?
Troi: What do you think?
Lwaxana: I don't know. I just can't accept that fate will allow me to meet him like this and then take him away. I mean, he's not ill. He hasn't had a tragic accident. He's just going to die, and for no good reason. Because his society has decided that he's too old, so they just dispose of him as though his life no longer had value or meaning. You can't possibly understand at your age, but at mine, sometimes you feel tired and afraid.
Troi: You're feeling very vulnerable. Very mortal, if I may say so. I know you, Mother, and believe me, you will never be one of those who dies before they die.
Timicin: Come in.
Timicin: I've been studying the preliminary reports of the test. I don't understand where I went wrong. I thought I'd taken into account all of the variables. Deep convection patterns, proton reactions, neutrino count.
Timicin: I will say it again. You are a kind woman.
Lwaxana: No, no, I'm a hateful woman. I hate what you're going to do, and I hate you for doing it.
Timicin: It is the way of my world. I wish you could accept that.
Lwaxana: I never will. Never.
Timicin: How long have you been sitting there?
Lwaxana: I don't know. A minute. An hour.
Timicin: Lwaxana
Lwaxana: Do you want anything? Some tea?
Timicin: I want to explain. I want very much for you to understand. Fifteen or twenty centuries ago, we had no Resolution. We had no such concern for our elders. As people aged, their health failed, they became invalids. Those whose families could no longer care for them were put away in deathwatch facilities, where they waited in loneliness for the end to come, sometimes for years. They had meant something, and they were forced to live beyond that, into a time of meaning nothing, of knowing they could now only be the beneficiaries of younger people's patience. We are no longer that cruel, Lwaxana.
Lwaxana: No, no, you're not cruel to them. You just kill them.
Timicin: The Resolution is a celebration of life. It allows us to end our lives with dignity.
Lwaxana: A celebration of life. It sounds very noble, very caring. What you're really saying is you got rid of the problem by getting rid of the people.
Timicin: It may sound that way, but it is a time of transition. One generation passing on the responsibilities of life to the next.
Lwaxana: What about the responsibility of caring of the elderly?
Timicin: That would place a dreadful burden on the children.
Lwaxana: We raise them, we care for them, we suffer for them. We keep them from harm their whole lives. Eventually, it's their turn to take care of us.
Timicin: No parent should expect to be paid back for the love they've given their children.
Lwaxana: Well why the hell not? Oskoids.
Timicin: What's that?
Lwaxana: Oskoids. A Betazed delicacy.
Timicin: Looks very interesting.
Lwaxana: You should have tried it while you were still alive. No reason to bother now. Why sixty? Why not sixty two, or fifty eight?
Timicin: A reasonable age had to be set.
Lwaxana: But it's not reasonable. Certainly not in your case. You're as vital and healthy a man as I've ever known.
Timicin: That is why I wish to say goodbye to my family and colleagues while I am this way, in complete command of my faculties, knowing they will always remember me as a strong and vigorous man.
Lwaxana: But it makes no sense. Some of your people could still be active at seventy or eighty, and others might be seriously ill at fifty. How cruel of you to make them wait so long to commit suicide.
Timicin: Setting a standard age for the Resolution makes it uniform for everybody. To ask individual families to decide when their elders are to die, that would be heartless.
Lwaxana: I agree. Why not let everybody die when they die.
Timicin: Lwaxana.
Lwaxana: You have a grandson, you said.
Timicin: Yes, almost seven.
Lwaxana: Well, wouldn't it be better for him to know his grandfather? Not some vague memory of someone who once loved him, but a real living person who does love him. Don't you really think that would be better?
Timicin: I attended the Resolution of my parents when it was their time. It was beautiful. Lwaxana, this is a custom I've known and accepted all my life.
Lwaxana: The women of Betazed used to wear these enormous wigs with large holes in the cenre for tiny caged animals.
Timicin: Yes.
Lwaxana: First, it was a fashion. Then it went on long enough to become a custom, a tradition. But it was uncomfortable for the woman and cruel to the animal. So then one day, one very formidable woman finally said so, refused ever to wear another of those wigs. fairly soon the custom stopped. She had the courage to stand up and fight for change.
Timicin: She must have been a lot like you.
Lwaxana: Timicin, there is no one more qualified, more experienced, or more likely to save their planet than you. And they would have you kill yourself.
Timicin: Younger scientists will take my place. My work, the work will continue.
Lwaxana: Your planet has what, thirty, forty years left? What if your scientists can't find the answer without you? What then? What chance do you think your grandson has of reaching the age of sixty?
Timicin: Enough, please. It is my time, Lwaxana, and that is the way it is.
Lwaxana: If that's the way it is, I don't know why anyone's bothering to try to save your world at all. If its time has come, let it die. Where's the difference, Timicin? Where?
Timicin: Convection boundary uncoupling. The reaction caused gas turbulence of a totally unexpected magnitude. Why?
Data: There was a evidence of a delayed surface shock.
Timicin: No, I'd anticipated that. I thought I'd anticipated all possible variables, but stars, they're like living entities in a way. Quite unpredictable. You know, I wouldn't be at all surprised if this were the result of. Look here. Forty two seconds into the test, there is a sudden rise in the level of hydrogen alpha emissions. And here, here's another. I'm right, aren't I? There had to be neutron migration within the star's inner core as the reaction grew.
Data: Perhaps, Doctor, but there is no known method for controlling a neutron migration.
Timicin: Yes, yes, but theoretically it is possible. Using these test results, we could construct a new computer model of the energy dynamics of a star that can test a new detonation program. I'm certain it can be accomplished. Certain. It's just a matter of time. A matter of time.
Picard: Come. Timicin. Time for you to leave us, then?
Timicin: Captain, I have come to officially request asylum aboard The Enterprise.
B'Tardat: Timicin, I cannot believe this. Why asylum? Asylum from what?
Timicin: I turn sixty in four days, Minister.
B'Tardat: Yes, and your family and colleagues are already gathering for your Resolution.
Timicin: I believe that it is time for us to re-examine, as a people, the wisdom of The Resolution.
B'Tardat: Are they forcing you into this? Are you being coerced?
Timicin: Influenced, perhaps. Coerced, no.
Picard: Our only influence, Minister, is by example. Timicin's decision is his own free will, I assure you.
B'Tardat: I cannot believe that a man of Timicin's stature would freely choose to reject his own culture.
Timicin: No one on Kaelon Two understands this project as I do. There are new theories that would take others a decade to test and confirm. With my guidance, it can be done in half that time. I must finish my work.
B'Tardat: Others started your work, others will finish it. It's always been this way. It always will.
Riker: Captain, scanners indicate two Kaelon warships rising on an intercept course.
Picard: Acknowledged, Commander. Minister, we're here in friendship, hoping to provide assistance.
B'Tardat: You have helped quite enough, Captain. I suggest you return Timicin and depart. If you attempt to leave orbit with Timicin on board, our ships have been ordered to open fire.
Timicin: B'tardat, there's no purpose at all in letting this become
Timicin: It shouldn't have happened. I've handled this poorly.
Picard: You acted in good conscience, Doctor. I don't see what else you could have done.
Timicin: I could have let well enough alone. I could have returned home. What do you think, Captain? Have I done the right thing?
Picard: I'm afraid you're the only one who can answer that.
Timicin: Lwaxana would have me lead a revolt. I'm only a scientist. I wish I had her strength. She is a woman of extraordinary conviction, isn't she?
Picard: Isn't she.
Picard: Any communication, Number One?
Riker: No, sir. We have an open channel.
Worf: The warships are taking a standard attack posture. Staggered approach vectors, within weapons range.
Picard: Shields up. Red alert.
Timicin: Captain.
Picard: Doctor, I suggest that you return to your quarters.
Timicin: I don't want there to be any bloodshed because of my decision.
Crusher: They will be doing everything they can to avoid it. I think we should get out of their way now.
Timicin: Yes. Yes, of course. I understand.
Picard: Mister Worf, ascertain their offensive potential.
Worf: Aye, sir.
Timicin: We must transmit the new analysis of the neutron migration immediately. If I can make them see the direction I've taken
Laforge: We've already tried.
Data: They refuse to accept further reports from you, Doctor.
Timicin: They have to accept them. If I can re-establish computer interface with the science ministry.
Laforge: They've disengaged the link-up, Doctor.
Timicin: Why don't they answer? Even if I find the solution, you will not accept it! Because I do not terminate my life, they terminate my work. Alive, I am a greater threat to my world than a dying sun.
Lwaxana: But Jean-Luc will find a way to settle this. He always does.
Timicin: No, my decision will only lead to more distrust of other worlds. Nothing will change.
Lwaxana: Now don't be foolish.
Timicin: I am not being foolish! Lwaxana, I want to live because I see in you how much I have to live for. You make me realize that my life still has value. I can be an example to my people. I can finish my work. But discovering these new desires and not being able to do anything about them, not being able to finish my work, not being able to reach my people.
Lwaxana: You have made a statement about the sanctity of life, and it will be heard, Timicin.
Timicin: Who will hear it from light years away? Where will I go now, Lwaxana? I'm a man without a world. I can't go home.
Lwaxana: Timicin.
Riker: Bridge to Doctor Timicin. You have a visitor coming aboard.
Timicin: B'Tardat?
Riker: No, sir. It's your daughter.
Timicin: Dara.
Dara: Father.
Timicin: This is Lwaxana Troi. She has been a host and a friend.
Lwaxana: I've been looking forward to meeting you, Dara.
Timicin: Whatever you have to say to me, can be said in front of her.
Dara: I see. Father, come home. This is wrong.
Timicin: Dara, if I could show you the work I have begun. There's still so much for me to do.
Dara: There's nothing for me to look at. It is irrelevant.
Lwaxana: Your father's work may save your world, my dear. I would hardly consider that irrelevant.
Dara: All I'm concerned with now is you, not your work. Your work is over. It is your time to rest.
Lwaxana: Perhaps you will feel differently as you get a little older, say approaching sixty.
Dara: My father taught me to cherish The Resolution. I don't know how you have poisoned him to reject it.
Lwaxana: It's an obscene ritual.
Dara: How dare you. How dare you criticize my way of life, my beliefs.
Timicin: Please. Please, Dara. Please.
Dara: Where will you go?
Timicin: I don't know.
Dara: And where will you die? I cannot bear the thought of you being laid to rest on some other world. That you will not lie beside my mother. That I will not be able to lie beside you when my Resolution comes. I'm sorry. I don't know how you can go on with your life knowing that each day you live is an insult to everything we believe in. Father, I love you. But I am ashamed.
Timicin: I would like to be alone now, please.
Lwaxana: I am suddenly suddenly not sure of myself. It's a feeling I'm not at all used to. I don't think I like it very much, little one.
Troi: Not sure of yourself?
Lwaxana: My life has been full. Now and then, perhaps it's overflowed a little, but I enjoy living. And now I am asking myself is it possible I was wrong to encourage Timicin to choose life?
Troi: You were honest with him, Mother. You had to be.
Lwaxana: Maybe I want him to live just to keep me company.
Troi: Of course you do. But you didn't do this for yourself, you did it for him.
Lwaxana: Did I? Then look what I've done to him. He's like a man who's lost his faith. I never considered how deeply ingrained this Resolution liturgy is.
Troi: Ritual provides a structure in society, good rituals and bad rituals alike.
Lwaxana: Well, this is a bad one.
Troi: Your point of view.
Lwaxana: It should be the point of view of any reasonably intelligent middle-aged person. Unfortunately, it is not.
Troi: I'll see you later, Mother. Excuse me.
Timicin: Thank you.
Lwaxana: You're going back.
Timicin: Do you believe I love you? I do, you know. But finally, if that is my only reason to stay alive.
Lwaxana: It's not enough.
Timicin: Almost. Almost but not quite. I can't be that selfish, Lwaxana. I am not the person to lead the revolt.
Timicin: I do apologize for all the turmoil I've created.
Picard: Doctor, I would deeply regret it if you were returning only to ease diplomatic tensions.
Timicin: It is more. Much more.
Picard: Then I wish you and your people well.
Timicin: When it is time for another test, I will encourage my people to seek your assistance again.
Picard: If for any reason you would like to wait a few minutes.
Timicin: No. We have already said our goodbyes.
Timicin: Lwaxana?
Lwaxana: It is the custom for your loved ones to join you at this Resolution, is it not?
Timicin: You do not have to do this.
Lwaxana: Yes, I do. Permission to disembark, Captain. I promise I won't cause any problems down there.
Picard: Permission granted.
Lwaxana: We're ready, Mister O'Brien.


Scene: Doctor Beverly Crusher, personal log, stardate 44821.3. Began an analysis today of the respiratory problems being experienced on the beta moon of Peliar Zel. Finally got an actual letter from Wesley. Topped the class in exo-biology, but he's still struggling in Ancient Philosophies. And there's someone new in my life.
Data: Ambassador Odan, Doctor Crusher. I was just on my way to speak to you.
Crusher: Hello, Data.
Data: I have completed my study on the atmospheric variations which have occurred on the moon since the new technology was implemented.
Odan: Thank you, Commander. That will be most helpful in my efforts to mediate the quarrel.
Data: I could go over it with you now. It would not require more than two hours.
Crusher: We do appreciate that, Data, but the Ambassador and I have set aside this time to analyze the incidence of the lung disease on the moon's inhabitants.
Data: Then it is perfect timing, Doctor. What better occasion to integrate my results into your study?
Odan: Now that I think about it, you're absolutely right, Commander. Unfortunately, I'm not feeling very well. Perhaps Doctor Crusher could get you started inputting your information. I myself must return to my quarters.
Crusher: Ambassador, are you still having those awful headaches? I'd better bring you a hypospray to take care of it.
Odan: I would be most grateful.
Crusher: Okay.
Crusher: Put a cold cloth on your forehead, Ambassador. I'll do my best to be with you shortly.
Crusher: I'll set you up at the medical monitor, Data. It'll take you a while to input the figures, won't it?
Data: At least an hour, but I do not believe much time can be saved by exhibiting such haste now.
Crusher: Data, there are times when every second does count.
Odan: Somehow, I had an unnatural fear that Data was going to barge in and ask to discuss the peripheral effects of magnetospheric energy taps.
Crusher: Well if I don't get back soon and take a look at his projections, he just might come looking for me.
Odan: Do you know, when I first met the formidable Doctor Beverly, what, ten days ago? I thought to myself, this woman is ice through to her bones. Who would have ever guessed that instead of ice, there is fire.
Crusher: Odan.
Odan: Stay here, don't go.
Crusher: Odan, are we? Is this interfering with your work on the Peliar Zel problems?
Odan: Fortunately, I've done about as much as I can until we get there. Because I just can't seem to keep my mind on my work right now.
Crusher: Odan, I have to go.
Odan: Promise me we'll be together tonight.
Crusher: I promise.
Odan: Then you may go, Doctor Beverly.
Crusher: It's just Beverly.
Odan: Not just Beverly. It's Beverly's smile, it's her kindness, her beauty within and without. So much more than just Beverly.
Picard: Picard to Ambassador Odan.
Odan: Yes, Captain? This is Odan.
Picard: The Federation representative from Peliar Zel has come on board. Would you care to meet us in the Observation Lounge?
Odan: I'll be right there, Captain.
Picard: If the news were encouraging, I assume you would not be here.
Leka: I'm afraid you're correct, Captain. The situation's growing progressively worse.
Troi: Where've you been?
Crusher: With a patient. Minor emergency.
Picard: Ambassador Odan, this is Governor Leka Trion of Peliar Zel.
Leka: Ambassador. thank you for coming. I knew your father. His efforts helped keep our people at peace for several generations.
Odan: I would hope to serve you as well as he.
Picard: Governor. Ambassador.
Data: I hope Doctor Crusher was able to help you with your headache.
Odan: Thank you. Actually, she was.
Picard: Governor Leka has intercepted us before we reach her planet in order to update us on the situation.
Leka: The people on our moons have been in discord ever since they migrated from our planet five centuries ago. To us on the planet They're like two squabbling children. We try to help settle their arguments by not taking sides, but this time we are at a loss.
Odan: I've been studying the information you sent. If I understand correctly, the people of Alpha moon have found a way to tap directly into the magnetic field of your planet, and now rely exclusively on that energy source.
Leka: Yes, but the Beta moon is now suffering some environmental damage as a result.
Data: My design models suggest that Beta will eventually experience rising temperatures, erratic tide surges and in general the beginnings of global warming.
Crusher: The impact on the health of the Betan people is clear. There will be profound medical repercussions.
Leka: Alpha is unwilling to give up its new-found energy source. Beta accuses them of intentionally courting genocide. Our efforts to reach a compromise have failed. And now, we have received intelligence that both sides are arming for war. If that happens the people of my planet will begin to take sides, and the outcome can only be disastrous.
Picard: We will be in orbit around Peliar Zel within six hours. If you could arrange for the representatives of Alpha and Beta to be there, then Ambassador Odan could beam directly down to the planet.
Odan: Excuse me, Captain. I prefer to shuttle to the surface.
Leka: I would not recommend it. There are many radical factions involved in this dispute. It would be difficult to guarantee your safety.
Odan: I'm sure I'm not the first who has expressed discomfort at the idea of molecular transport. Thank you, but I prefer to remain intact. I'll shuttle down.
Picard: As you wish.
Picard: Counselor, what is it?
Troi: It's Ambassador Odan. I continually feel fluctuations of emotion from him.
Picard: Perhaps it's perfectly normal among the Trill.
Troi: It could be. We know so very little about them.
Picard: Yes. Quite.
Woman: Hi, Deanna.
Troi: Hi. Is that the colgonite astringent you have on your eyes?
Crusher: Yes. I guess so.
Troi: I've never tried it.
Crusher: Someone just put it on me.
Troi: I didn't know you even came in here.
Crusher: I don't. At least, not very often.
Troi: But it feels good to indulge yourself sometimes.
Crusher: I guess so.
Troi: Especially when you haven't done so in a while.
Crusher: What is that supposed to mean?
Troi: Beverly, you're in love.
Crusher: Sometimes I wish you weren't so empathic
Troi: I don't really think it's really a secret.
Crusher: It isn't?
Troi: You've been glowing.
Crusher: Oh. Must be the astringent. What?
Troi: Nothing.
Crusher: Oh, yes, there is. What is it?
Troi: It's just something I sense in Odan.
Crusher: What? What do you sense?
Troi: It's just, how well do you really know him?
Crusher: I feel I know him better than I've known anyone in my life. Am I being foolish? I don't think so. And yet, I've only known him for a couple of weeks. Of course, that could be infatuation, but I am a grown up and I know the difference between love and infatuation. All I know is, I haven't felt this way for a long time.
Troi: And you like it.
Crusher: I like it.
Picard: Come.
Odan: You wanted to see me, Captain?
Picard: Yes, Ambassador. Please, sit down. We have entered orbit. We shall be transporting you to the planet in a few minutes.
Odan: I am ready, Captain.
Picard: How will you proceed when you're there?
Odan: Oh, I cannot answer that. I never know until I am into the situation, meet the people involved. I work very much by instinct, not by pre-arranged plan.
Picard: It seems to work well for you.
Odan: Well, I do like to go into a situation as well-informed as possible, and I must say that your staff has been quite helpful in briefing me on the problems down here. Particularly Doctor Crusher.
Picard: My staff is quite capable. I'm glad they've been useful.
Odan: Your Doctor Beverly is an extraordinary person, both as a scientist and as a woman.
Picard: Yes, I'm sure that's true. Well, shall we make our way to the shuttlebay?
Odan: Captain, you know her better than I. Do you have any idea how committed she is to remaining with Starfleet?
Picard: I wouldn't presume to speak for her.
Odan: Oh no, of course not. I just thought, well, you've known her so much long than I.
Taggart: Ensign Taggart to Captain Picard.
Picard: Yes, Ensign.
Taggart: The shuttle is ready to transport the Ambassador.
Picard: Very well.
Odan: I'll find my own way, Captain. I hope to return with good news.
Laforge: Commander Riker has asked to pilot you himself, Ambassador.
Odan: I am honored.
Odan: I don't know when I'll be back.
Crusher: I know. Have a safe trip.
Odan: I will stay safe, Doctor Beverly. I have good reason to return. I've researched Earth customs. This flower is given to express love.
Crusher: Yes, it is.
Data: Initiate shuttle preflight sequence.
Riker: Preflight underway. Counting to clearance.
Data: Shuttle has cleared the bay door.
Worf: Commander Riker, you will be out of shield range in five seconds.
Riker: Acknowledged
Riker: Lieutenant. We'll be entering the upper ionosphere in two minutes and twenty seconds.
Worf: Sir, an unidentified ship is emerging from the limb of the moon.
Picard: Hail the vessel.
Riker: I have visual contact. I don't recognize it.
Worf: It claims to be an escort vessel from the Beta moon.
Picard: There was no mention of an escort. Request a security clearance code.
Worf: They do not answer, sir.
Picard: Commander Riker, prepare to return to the shuttlebay.
Riker: Acknowledged.
Worf: Captain, they are loading its phaser banks.
Riker: Increasing power to the shields.
Riker: Coming about.
Picard: Engage tractor beam. Report, Number One.
Riker: We've lost port thrusters
Riker: And both backup stabilizers. I'm losing control.
Picard: We're bringing you in.
Riker: Captain, the shuttle hull has been weakened. We're breaking up. You can't tow us. You'd better beam us directly on board.
Odan: No, don't do it.
Riker: I can't stabilize the shuttle.
Odan: If you transport me, it will kill me. Please.
Picard: Number One we're ready to beam you aboard.
Riker: Belay that order, Captain. I'll bring her in manually.
Riker: Advise Doctor Crusher we have a medical emergency.
Crusher: He's in shock, he's lost a lot of blood, but that still doesn't explain these readings. Eosinophilia in the cerebrospinal fluid at forty six percent.
Ogawa: Sedimentation rate is twenty nine, but his lymphocytes are still intact.
Crusher: It's as though there's a parasite at work. Odan, Odan. I need to do exploratory surgery. You may have a parasitic infection.
Odan: You must not.
Crusher: But you won't survive.
Crusher: What is that?
Odan: Beverly, that is me.
Crusher: What?
Odan: This body is just a host. I am that parasite. That is what must survive. It has always been this way. The Trill are a joined species. A host and a symbiont, and in this fashion we have survived for millennia.
Crusher: You're dying. What can I do?
Odan: The host body is dying. You must contact the Trill quickly. Tell them I need another host. They will send a replacement. I know this is difficult to accept, but I beg you, Doctor Beverly, help me. This mission must be completed.
Crusher: Odan's host body died of the injuries just over an hour ago. But the symbiont being, Odan, is still alive. Odan is the one who negotiated the last treaty, but the man everyone thought was his father was just another host body.
Riker: And the reason Odan refused the transporter?
Crusher: It would have damaged the symbiont.
Picard: We've contacted the Trill. Another host will be here in forty hours.
Crusher: I've placed Odan in stasis. He can survive another hour, maybe two, but not beyond that.
Data: Would it be possible for me to serve as a temporary carrier?
Crusher: No, Data. The relationship requires a biological being.
Picard: We are at a desperate impasse in the Peliar system. The attack on the shuttlecraft has inflamed the dispute.
Troi: Who was responsible?
Picard: No one will admit anything. Each side accuses the other and the threats are mounting. We need Odan.
Riker: Doctor, could a human host carry him?
Crusher: I believe so. From Odan's description of the process it should be possible. But I don't have
Riker: Then I volunteer.
Crusher: There's been no precedent for a human host. I couldn't guarantee what might happen.
Picard: The risk is too great, Commander.
Riker: Weigh it against the prospect of war.
Picard: It's your choice, Will.
Riker: Let's get to it.
Crusher: I've given you a local anesthetic. You must be conscious during the implantation. Drugs might damage the symbiont.
Riker: I understand.
Crusher: Laser scalpel.
Crusher: How do you feel? Is there pain?
Riker: No, just some strange sensations.
Crusher: Vital signs?
Ogawa: Heart rate one hundred ten. Blood pressure ninety over forty.
Crusher: I can't close yet, The assimilation's not complete.
Ogawa: Pulse one thirty and climbing. EEG is erratic.
Crusher: He's going to start fibrillating. Two hundred milligrams of metrazene.
Nurse: Yes, Doctor.
Crusher: Hang on, Will.
Nurse: We've got incorporation, Doctor.
Crusher: I'm closing.
Nurse: Brain waves are still irregular.
Crusher: The metrazene should have stabilized him. I'll give it ten seconds more before we go in again.
Nurse: Here we go. EEG approaching regular.
Ogawa: Blood pressure leveling off.
Crusher: That's better. Signs are returning to normal. Will, it's Beverly. Can you hear me?
Riker: Hello.
Crusher: You're going to be all right. How do you feel?
Riker: I'm fine. You look a little tired, Doctor Beverly.
Riker: I know this must be disturbing, Governor, but you must convince the inhabitants of the moons that I am Odan. I have his skills, his thoughts, his memories.
Leka: They will perceive you as a Starfleet officer, perhaps with your own agenda.
Riker: The man they knew as my father, the man who stands before them, both are merely hosts. It is your task to help them understand.
Leka: I will try. I cannot promise they will listen. They are more factionalised than ever. Listening is a skill which seems to have evaporated with the heat of argument.
Riker: Speak softly, Governor. Those who cannot hear an angry shout may strain to hear a whisper.
Leka: I will do what I can.
Picard: Well done. Mister Worf, will you escort the Ambassador to his quarters.
Riker: I'm just a little dizzy. I'll be fine. I just need to lie down.
Picard: Picard to Doctor Crusher.
Crusher: Yes, Captain?
Picard: Doctor, the Ambassador is not well. Will you please attend to him in his quarters.
Crusher: Right away, sir.
Crusher: White cell count is elevated, six tenths of a degree of temperature. But no sign of rejection.
Riker: That's good.
Crusher: You look awfully pale.
Riker: Just a little weak and light-headed.
Crusher: Cerebral blood flow looks normal. I'll leave you a metabolic booster. Use it if the symptoms get worse.
Riker: Beverly.
Crusher: Beyond that, I don't know what to do. This is all new to me.
Riker: It is new to me as well. Please, don't go. We've got to talk about this.
Crusher: I don't know what to say.
Riker: Nor do I, but I know that this silence will injure us.
Crusher: Well maybe you should have thought about that sooner. Maybe you should have told me what you were. It didn't seem to bother you to remain silent yesterday.
Riker: It never occurred to me. This is what I am. Did you ever tell me that you are only a single being? Of course not. That was normal to you.
Crusher: I don't know who you are.
Riker: You must understand, whoever I seem to be, I am Odan, who loved you. That has not changed. I still love you. I can't help that. If this causes you pain, I will suppress it, I will keep my distance. Doctor Beverly, I would never hurt you.
Troi: May I join you?
Crusher: You know, Deanna, the first man I ever loved unconditionally was named Stefan. He was a soccer player, and I would watch him as he would race down the field and I thought my heart would stop because he was so beautiful. We married and had three children. Twin boys, Andrew and Alexander, and then later a little girl, Jennifer. Stefan became an artist, very famous. He created huge, breathtaking, metal sculptures. He came to adore me as much as I worshiped him. In my daydreams at least. Stefan was eleven and I was eight. He never even knew I existed. Oh, Deanna, I loved Odan. I'm sure of it. I had no doubts, no fears, but what it was I loved? His eyes? His hands? His mouth? They're gone. If that was all it was, I should mourn him and go on. But it was more than that. I felt completely free with him. Unguarded. At ease with myself. There were so many things that made him special to me. Where are they? Are they still here, alive in Will Riker? I look at Will and I see someone I've known for years. A kind of brother. But inside, is he really Odan? Help me, please.
Troi: What do your feelings tell you?
Crusher: I feel his pull. It's very powerful. I wish he'd never come on this ship.
Troi: Don't wish that, Beverly. You can't be open to love if you don't risk pain.
Crusher: I don't care. I'd give anything not to feel the way I do now. He's here, isn't he?
Troi: Look at him.
Crusher: I don't want to look at him. Talk to me. Just keep talking to me.
Troi: The first man I ever loved was my father. He was strong and tall. He carried me when the ground was muddy. He chased away the monsters that hid under my bed at night. And he sang to me, and kept me safe. And he went away. What I wouldn't give to hear those songs again. To feel his arms protect me. I never will, but I can still feel his warmth and his love as though he were here with me. If you can feel those things from the man we know as Will Riker, accept them. Accept the love.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 44823.8. Representatives of the two moons of Peliar Zel have agreed to come on board to meet the new Ambassador Odan.
Crusher: White count is elevated. It's getting higher and higher every time I read it. Are you in pain?
Riker: Not much.
Picard: Ambassador, we can stall the representatives.
Riker: They would see that as deception. I must meet with them.
Picard: But surely, to present yourself in this condition is not going to help our cause.
Riker: I promise you, Captain, they will never know that I am ill.
Worf: Captain, the emissaries.
Leka: May I present Kalin Trose of Alpha Moon, and Lathal Bine of Beta Moon.
Kalin: Thank you for receiving us, Captain.
Lathal: Is this Ambassador Odan?
Riker: Lathal Bine. It was your aunt who represented Beta thirty years ago.
Lathal: That is correct.
Riker: She was a formidable woman. I had the utmost respect for her.
Kalin: And who was it who spoke for Alpha so long ago?
Riker: That was you, of course, Kalin Trose. Then you were a young man, bristling with passion and zeal, yet wise enough to understand that your people needed peace to ensure their future.
Kalin: And how did you manage to achieve a compromise between that young man and the iron willed woman of Beta Moon?
Riker: They agreed to trade places for a week, to understand each other's situation with more informed eyes. After that an agreement came swiftly.
Kalin: Nothing that you have said is beyond what a school child could learn in a history book.
Riker: What is not commonly known that during those negotiations, you, Kalin Trose, quelled a plot by a radical from your moon who was attempting to assassinate the Beta delegate.
Kalin: It is true.
Lathal: Perhaps he was wiser in his youth than he is now. Odan, you must convince him to stop.
Riker: Will you accept me? Will you allow me to work with you?
Lathal: Yes.
Riker: And Alpha moon?
Kalin: I will consider it, but I must consult others.
Lathal: This is a typical tactic. He is an obstructionist. You can see that.
Riker: Kalin Trose, you may confer with your people, but we must have your answer within eight hours.
Kalin: You shall have it.
Crusher: His vital functions are overworked. His immune system is under attack. I can only guess that he's suffering from classic rejection syndrome.
Picard: Is there any treatment you can give him?
Crusher: I can administer an immunosuppressant. That could help relieve the symptoms but it Can't correct the underlying cause. There is a foreign organism in his body. Medical school didn't exactly prepare me for situations like this.
Picard: You're doing all you can.
Crusher: Don't worry about me, Captain. I'm fine.
Picard: Ambassador, when you feel up to it, would you join me in my Ready room?
Riker: Of course.
Crusher: I'm giving you something that should help with the pain. At least for a little while.
Riker: The pain's gone. Thank you.
Crusher: Please don't.
Riker: Please let me touch you, just for a moment.
Crusher: No. Please.
Picard: It was a fast decision, which we must take as positive. The Alphan representative has agreed, however reluctantly. to let you mediate the dispute.
Riker: I knew they would. They are reasonable people, they're just trapped in their own anger.
Picard: I have no doubt, however, that they will bolt if something goes wrong in the discussion.
Riker: Then it's my job to see nothing goes wrong. Did I said something wrong, Captain Picard?
Picard: No, it's just that for a moment you sounded more like Will Riker. We have received information that the new host will arrive in eighteen hours. Will you be all right until then?
Riker: The medication Doctor Beverly gave me has helped. I will find a way to keep going.
Crusher: Lemon tea.
Riker: Computer, location of Doctor Beverly Crusher.
Computer: Doctor Crusher is in her quarters.
Riker: Can you make balso tonic?
Computer: There is no formula on record. Please supply a molecular structure.
Riker: Never mind.
Riker: Come in.
Crusher: I thought I should see how you were doing. If you needed another hypospray?
Riker: I don't think so. The symptoms haven't returned.
Crusher: Oh. Well, that's good.
Riker: Yes.
Crusher: Tomorrow's an important day. Do you feel ready for it?
Riker: I'll be fine. I've been preparing.
Crusher: That's good.
Riker: Yes.
Crusher: I'll check your vital signs in the morning before the representatives get here.
Riker: I don't want them knowing I'm taking any medication.
Crusher: Maybe you could schedule a series of breaks.
Riker: That's good.
Crusher: Yes.
Riker: Beverly, I want you. If you're going to leave, you'd better go right now.
Crusher: I'm not leaving.
Picard: Captain's log, stardate 44824.4. Governor Leka and the representatives of the two moons are ready to transport on board. We have learned that they each have troops massed and are ready for combat if this final effort at peace is not successful.
Crusher: White count is back up, temperature is elevated. The effects of the medication are wearing off faster every time. I'll administer one now and hope that it will hold for an hour or two.
Riker: No, no more.
Picard: Ambassador, it's clear you're in pain. You can't get through the next hours without help.
Riker: I must.
Crusher: Are the injections damaging to the host's body, Riker's body?
Riker: Yes. We can't put him through any further risk.
Crusher: But how can you function, conduct the meeting?
Riker: I'll manage.
Picard: We'll respect your wishes.
Riker: One more thing. I will conduct the mediations today, but at the end of today, regardless of the outcome, I must be removed from Riker's body. Even if the new host has not arrived.
Crusher: But you wouldn't survive.
Riker: Riker will not survive if I am removed. He has done enough. Your word.
Crusher: Very well.
Worf: Worf to Captain Picard.
Picard: Yes, Mister Worf?
Worf: The Governor and the two representatives have returned. I will escort them to the Observation Lounge.
Picard: Thank you.
Crusher: I'll stand by with the medication, just in case. The pain may become so intense that I'll have to
Picard: Beverly. Whatever else I may be to you, I am your friend. I can only imagine what you're going through, and I want you to know I'm here.
Crusher: Jean-Luc.
Picard: Computer, what is the time?
Computer: Fifteen thirty five hours.
Crusher: They've been in there for almost six hours.
Worf: Captain, I am receiving a message from the ship carrying the Trill host.
Crusher: Are they here, Worf?
Worf: No, they are experiencing difficulty. They do not anticipate their arrival for another nine hours.
Crusher: Nine hours.
Riker: It was worth it.
Picard: Ambassador!
Riker: They will not go to war.
Picard: Mister Worf, see that the representatives are safely transported off the ship. Ensign, set a course to intercept with the Trill ship. Prepare to go to warp nine.
Data: Sir, it could take more than two hours to reach the vessel.
Crusher: I must remove him. I gave my word.
Crusher: Will is going to be all right. His vital signs have stabilized and he's sleeping now.
Picard: How is Odan?
Crusher: I've placed him in stasis. He's fine for the moment.
Picard: You need some rest, Doctor.
Crusher: No. If Odan is to survive, he needs to be implanted in the new host as soon as he arrives. I'll wait here.
Picard: It'll be some time.
Crusher: I know.
Worf: Doctor.
Crusher: Is the Trill host here?
Worf: Yes.
Crusher: Good. Bring him in.
Worf: Doctor?
Kareel: I am Kareel. I am to become host to Odan.
Crusher: The operation to implant Odan into the new host was completed at nineteen hundred hours and appears to have been successful. There were no difficulties in assimilation.
Kareel: Doctor Beverly, could we talk for a moment?
Crusher: You should be sleeping. You need to rest.
Kareel: I've never felt better, except once or twice. My poor Beverly. This has been so hard for you. I want to thank you for your caring, for your standing by me.
Crusher: I congratulate you. You averted a war that would have cost many lives.
Kareel: Yes. It seems as though everything has turned out for the best. And yes, I am still Odan, and I still love you. I cannot imagine that ever changing.
Crusher: I am glad that you're all right.
Kareel: Is there to be nothing more?
Crusher: Perhaps it is a human failing, but we are not accustomed to these kinds of changes. I can't keep up. How long will you have this host? What would the next one be? I can't live with that kind of uncertainty. Perhaps, someday, our ability to love won't be so limited.
Kareel: I understand.
Crusher: Odan, I do love you. Please remember that.
Kareel: I will never forget you.