Liaisons ( episode ) As alien dignitaries visit the ship , Picard ' s shuttle crashes on a desolate planet where he meets a woman who has been stranded there for seven years . Summary . Teaser . The crew of the welcomes aboard two Iyaaran ambassador s , Loquel and Byleth , who are visiting the ship as part of a cultural exchange that will also send Captain Jean - Luc Picard to their homeworld , Iyar . Before Picard departs , he assigns Counselor Deanna Troi to act as Loquel ' s liaison and asks Commander William T . Riker to do the same for Byleth . However , upon their arrival , Byleth demands that Lieutenant Worf serve as his shipboard guide . Worf reluctantly accepts , and Picard departs for Iyar with Voval , the Iyaaran shuttle pilot . Act One . In Ten Forward , a reception with buffet is held . Loquel and Troi get along while she introduces him to desserts , while Byleth continues to be rude to Worf , and demands he bring him more food despite Crusher ' s explanation of the protocol . Worf continues to play along and goes to get him food , running into Data who suggests he focus on their commonalities . Soon afterward , Picard finds Voval gruff and uncommunicative . Their awkward silence is disrupted by a sudden malfunction aboard their shuttle . Crashing on an unidentified class M planet , Voval receives a concussion . Picard , seemingly unhurt , decides to seek help outside the shuttle when he detects a structure and some energy readings outside . While Picard walks around the surface , he falls to the ground trying to traverse the planet ' s stormy electrical discharges . As he lies unconscious , someone silently drags him away . Act Two . On the " Enterprise " , Troi and Worf continue to deal with their guests ' curiosities . Worf shows Byleth to engineering , and , in the middle of explanations , Byleth rudely asks a question only an engineer would know . He sees La Forge and asks if he is smarter than Worf . Then , he demands to see the Bussard collector s . Worf keeps his composure and leads him away . Meanwhile , Loquel has become fascinated by the existence of dessert s , as his people only eat for sustenance . He is equally intrigued by children , as Iyaarans are born fully grown , particularly after seeing a young boy on the " Enterprise " named Eric . He and Troi partake in many desserts , much to Troi ' s eventual dismay . Picard awakens in the small , dimly - lit cabin of a crashed cargo freighter . He is approached by a solemn , attractive Human woman who informs him that Voval did not survive the crash , and leaves . Act Three . Picard learns that the woman ' s name is Anna and that she is the sole survivor of a Terellian cargo freighter crash that occurred seven years before . After Anna tells Picard that he has three broken rib s , he sends her to retrieve the shuttlecraft ' s comm panel in order to send a distress signal . Meanwhile , Worf is struggling to maintain his composure due to the abrasive , demanding personality of Byleth . Riker says Worf can ' t transfer responsibility to someone else . Loquel has been pleasant , but Troi admits he is testing her as well , obsessed with desserts . Riker decides that the tension might be eased by a " friendly " game of poker . Picard gets up and walks around finally . He curiously finds that the door is locked from outside . Anna then returns with a non - functional panel , which she accidentally destroyed when removing it with a phaser . She seems distraught that she did that , and explains that she had to give up hope in order to not be crazy , but Picard insists they will be rescued . Act Four . Picard finds a power cell while Anna is out collecting food . She brings back coltayin root s she intends to cook , and again tells Picard to rest when she finds him up . He tells her he plans to use the remaining charge to power the shuttle ' s systems . She again tells him she loves him , but he frankly tells her it ' s because she hasn ' t seen anyone in seven years . She is disappointed , but Picard encourages her that they will be rescued . On the " Enterprise " , the poker game is anything but " friendly " when Worf realizes that Byleth is stealing his chips . Upon the accusation , Byleth verbally and physically provokes Worf , who eventually loses control and , despite Riker ' s insistence that he calm down , attacks his guest . But instead of getting angry , Byleth is pleased . He expresses admiration for Worf ' s display of anger and politely excuses himself to document the experience , leaving everyone confused ( except Loquel , who is still gleefully enjoying his dessert and offering some to Troi ) . Back on the planet , Picard becomes enraged at Anna when he realizes that his ribs are not really broken , and the woman , who continues to beg for his love , is actually holding him captive . He angrily alerts Anna to his discovery , at which point she becomes distraught over failing to gain his affection . Picard is then shocked when Anna pins him down , forcibly kisses him , tells him she love s him , and demands that the Captain love her back . Picard frees himself from her advance and rejects her a final time , and Anna rushes out the door , breaking off her necklace and locking him inside the freighter . Picard finds a crowbar to try to force open the door when he hears someone on the other side , who turns out to be the very much alive Voval . Act Five . Voval explains that he only appeared to be dead because , when Iyaarans are injured , their metabolic rate s slow down in order to promote healing . He and Picard set off in search of Anna , eventually separating . Picard finds Anna standing at the edge of a cliff , threatening to commit suicide if he does not tell her he loves her . When he notices that Anna is again wearing her necklace and that Voval has again disappeared , Picard senses that something strange is going on and tells Anna to go ahead and jump . Picard begins to note the many coincidences that has happened since the Iyaaran shuttle crashed on the planet , such as her wearing the necklace at the moment , Anna disappearing and Voval appearing right after her or Voval ' s insistence that they find her before she jumps . Sure enough , Picard has found her just before she did so . At that moment , she transforms into Voval , who explains that he is not really a pilot , but an Iyaaran ambassador . He tells Picard that years before the Iyaarans discovered the freighter along with logs indicating how a Human woman was marooned on the planet , and seven years later fell in love with a man who had also crashed . Voval brought Picard to the same planet in order to study the emotion of love by using Picard as a subject . Similarly , Loquel and Byleth were sent to experience pleasure and antagonism , as described in the woman ' s logs , concepts unknown to the Iyaarans . Picard comments that Humans would not have taken such a direct approach in their research , and he informs the ambassador that he has technically committed a crime . Voval is confused , but Picard is more interested in escape than prosecution and , after Voval confirms his assumption that the shuttle is actually operational , they return to the " Enterprise " . Upon their arrival , Byleth along with a sore Worf , recount to Riker their experience of eleven consecutive hours of Worf ' s antagonistic holodeck program , while Loquel offers Troi a sample of Iyaaran food , apologizing that it lacks the flavor as chocolate , but which Troi reassures him will come as a welcome relief after the constant barrage of desserts they have been eating over the past few days . Voval and Picard part on friendly terms with Picard acknowledging the desire to obtain knowledge , and commenting that it ' s refreshing to encounter a people who are prepared to take an experience to its furthest extreme . Memorable quotes . " " Besides , you look good in a dress . " " " " Good luck . " " " " Klingons do not procrastinate . " " " " I want this one . " " " " Are you smarter than this one ? " " " " I am going to kill him with my bare hands ! I will take him by the throat and rip out his esophagus ! " " " " He has an obsession with food , especially chocolate . " " " " Then you must be in heaven . " " " " To be honest , he ' s testing even " my " limits . " " " " You see ? You see ? They are insane ! " " " " You are an insulting , pompous fool ! And if you were not an ambassador , I would disembowel you right here ! " " " " Very good . Thank you , Lieutenant Worf . I think I understand now . That was a " very " effective demonstration . " " " What ? ! " " " Tell me about your love . . . or I ' ll jump ! " " " " Go ahead . Why don ' t you do it ? It ' s a . . . long way down . Must be two hundred meters , you ' d die instantly if that ' s what you want but I don ' t think that it really is . " " " " Voval , what is going on ? ! " " " " I have heard that in moments of diplomatic tension , it is often helpful to find elements of commonality . " " " " Ambassador Byleth is demanding , temperamental , and rude ! " " " " You share all of those qualities in abundance . Perhaps you should try to build on your similarities . " " Links and references . References . Ambassador ; ; Anna ' s lover ; antimatter replenishment rate ; antimatter storage facility ; astrophysics ; atmosphere ; BCD BCD - 31775 ; Betazed ; bio - enzymatic supplement ; biological research ; broth ; buffet ; Bussard collector ; cell casing ; cheating ; class M ; coltayin root ; concussion ; containment pod ; corrosion ; crime ; crystal ; dessert ; diplomat ; disembowel ; Earth ; energy disruption field ; energy relay ; enzyme ; esophagus ; Federation ; fracture ; head of security ; holodeck ; inertial dampener ; insanity ; instrument array ; itinerary ; Iyar ; Iyaaran ; Iyaaran shuttle ; Klingon ; Klingon Empire ; Ktarian chocolate puff ; liaison officer ; life support ; metabolic rate ; microfusion flare ; natal pod ; necklace ; obsession ; operational center ; papalla juice ; peach cobbler ; phaser ; plasma storm ; poker ; post - cellular compounding ; premier ; procrastination ; protein ; protocol ; reception ; recreation ; residential deck ; restrictor device ; restriction field ; rib ; sexism ; Starfleet ; stellar cartography ; suicide ; Tarvokian powder cake ; Terellian ; Terellian freighter ; Terellian freighter - crash planet ; Terellian spice ; title ; throat ; transmitter module ; tricorder ; whipped cream