The Drumhead ( episode ) An overzealous Starfleet admiral begins a witch - hunt aboard the " Enterprise " , determined to find a conspiracy , and eventually accuses Captain Picard of treason . Summary . Teaser . On stardate 44769 . 2 , a dilithium chamber hatch explodes aboard the and sabotage is suspected . The explosion coincides with news that the Romulan s have gained access to information about the " Enterprise " s dilithium articulation frame , indicating that there is a spy on board . A quick investigation turns up one suspect – a Klingon exchange officer named J ' Dan , but upon being interrogated by Riker and Troi , he denies any involvement . As Worf escorts him to his quarters , J ' Dan asks for aid as a fellow Klingon . Worf angrily rebuffs him and tells him that once the Klingon High Council learns of the incident , J ' Dan will be put to a slow death as a traitor . Act One . With little progress in the investigation , Starfleet Command sends retired Admiral Norah Satie and her assistants – including Sabin Genestra , who is a Betazoid – to expedite the proceedings . She gets right to work , and Picard escorts her to engineering , where Geordi La Forge and Data relate their findings on the explosion and play back the sensor log . It initially appears to be sabotage , as all logs indicated normal operations before the incident and the articulation frame was indeed the culprit . She sees there is something to investigate , and wants a full briefing . Later , as Satie and Picard talk in his ready room , Worf arrives with his finding of J ' Dan ' s hypospray in his room , modified to scan and resequence classified information into biological tags for transport on an injected body ; J ' Dan covers this by the fact that he has Ba ' ltmasor Syndrome , which requires weekly injections and , thus , would easily hide the transfer of information . With this evidence against him , J ' Dan admits to being a Romulan spy , but adamantly maintains his innocence in the explosion . However , Satie is still unsatisfied , and Sabin says he believes J ' Dan is now telling the truth ; they are convinced that J ' Dan could not have been working alone . Act Two . In the admiral ' s quarters , Satie and Picard discuss the current situation with J ' Dan and his possible sabotage . Satie admits that when Starfleet ordered her to the " Enterprise " to participate in the investigation , it was expressly stated that she and the captain were to be equals . She was initially reluctant , as her father , Judge Aaron Satie , had always advised her to avoid partnerships . Picard expresses his admiration for Judge Satie ' s decisions , as those judgments were required reading when he attended the Academy . Satie states she and Picard will be quite a team . In the observation lounge , Genestra and Worf look over the people J ' Dan had contact with on the " Enterprise " but the Klingon apparently did not make many friends on board , narrowing their search of possible collaborators . Genestra compliments Worf on his thorough investigation . However , Genestra tells him that he and Satie initially suspected he could have possibly been a security risk due to his father Mogh having been declared a traitor for betraying his people to the Romulan s . Worf strongly declares that what his father did or did not do is no one ' s business but his own . Genestra assures Worf that he has the admiral and his complete confidence . Worf assuredly states , " " If there is a conspiracy on board , I promise you I " will " find it . " " With that , he begins arranging interviews . Admiral Satie then begins an inquiry into all personnel and passengers on the " Enterprise " with whom J ' Dan has come into contact during his stay . When she questions young medical technician Simon Tarses , she apparently has her man ; her Betazoid assistant , Sabin Genestra senses great fear and guilt from Tarses , as if some sort of lie is consuming him , about which he refuses to come clean . Act Three . Picard refuses to restrict Tarses ' s movements based on Betazoid intuition . Before a consensus can be reached he and Satie are called to engineering by La Forge and Data ; the radiation levels preventing them from entering the chamber – caused by the explosion – have dropped low enough for them to enter safely , and their examination shows no foul play had been involved . The explosion was caused by neutron fatigue along an undetectable defect in a hatch cover installed during the ship ' s last refit at Earth Station McKinley , making it an accident that just happened to coincide with the theft of the chamber ' s plans rather than sabotage . But this new development seems not to placate Satie or her assistants , who still believe Tarses was a co - conspirator with J ' Dan . Another inquiry against Tarses is launched on stardate 44780 , this time open to the public , and he is barraged with numerous accusations to try and establish his guilt , including a lie that the explosion was caused by corrosive chemicals to which he had had access , and the exposure of the lie Tarses himself tried to kept hidden – that he put false information about his parentage in his admission form , stating that his grandfather was Vulcan when , in fact , he was Romulan . Overwhelmed , Tarses invokes the Seventh Guarantee of the Constitution of the United Federation of Planets to decline to answer further questions to avoid self - incrimination , on the counsel of Commander Riker . Act Four . The ruthlessness of the accusations convince Picard that Satie is engaging in a drumhead trial , going on a xenophobic witch - hunt for Romulans and other enemy conspirators . After talking with Tarses and establishing that his lying on his application was his only misdeed , Picard confronts Satie and demands that the hearings be put to rest , threatening to go over her head and complain to Starfleet Command if necessary . Satie rebuffs him and reveals she has been in full contact with Starfleet Command since the beginning , and they fully approve of her methods . In fact , Admiral Thomas Henry of Starfleet Security will arrive in time to witness the next and all subsequent hearings until the conspiracy is solved . In other words , the interrogations will not be stopped ; they will expand . Unfortunately , because of his outspokenness against them , Picard receives a summons from Nellen Tore , Satie ' s assistant , to appear the following morning at 0900 before the committee for questioning . Act Five . At his interrogation , Picard attempts to appeal to Satie ' s sense of reason and convince her to end the hearings , but he is met with a thorough nitpicking of his competency and loyalty to Starfleet and the Federation . Worf , who up until this point had sided with Satie in her actions , realizes where the hearing is going and attempts to defend his captain but is also rebuffed with accusations of his father ' s supposed betrayal to the Romulans . Finally , Picard responds to the accusations laid against him by quoting her famous father ' s words about the dangers of denying basic rights to one man in the name of protection . Enraged , Satie interrupts him , accusing him of treason , conspiring with the Romulans , and violating the Prime Directive . She calls men like him a threat to the entire Federation whom it is her job to seek out and destroy , and warns him that she has " brought down bigger men than you - - ! " In the middle of her tirade , Admiral Henry gets up and wordlessly leaves the room , bringing an informal end to the interrogation . Embarrassed , Sabin declares a recess until the following day , and the room empties quickly , leaving Satie alone , shaken . By turning her father ' s words back on her , Picard has goaded her into revealing the depth of her fanaticism and paranoia in front of an audience , severely damaging her credibility , possibly permanently . Later on , in the ship ' s conference lounge , Picard is informed by Worf that Admiral Henry has officially called off the hearings , and that Satie has departed the " Enterprise . " Though it is unlikely that she will ever be trusted with such authority again , Worf cannot help feeling guilty for having been deluded into aiding her cause without realizing what she was . Picard , however , sees it as a learning experience ; such enemies who cloak their misdeeds with the pretense of serving a greater good are very seductive and very hard to spot , and continual vigilance against them is " the price that [ they ] must pay " to maintain their freedom . Memorable quotes . " " The blood of all Klingons has become water ! Ever since the Federation Alliance , we have turned into a nation of mewling babies ! The Romulans are strong ; they are worthy allies ! They do not turn Klingons into weaklings like you ! " " ( hints at Worf ) " " Captain , I predict that officer will be extremely valuable in this investigation . " " " " On the advice of my counsel , I refuse to answer that question in . . . in that the answer might serve to incriminate me . " " - Simon Tarses " " Sir , if a man were not afraid of the truth , he would answer . " " " " Oh no , we cannot allow ourselves to think that . " " - Worf and Picard on Tarses ' s " guilt " " " Sir , the Federation " does " have enemies ! We " must " seek them out ! " " " " 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 , Mr . Worf ; I don ' t like what we have become ! " " " " 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 " . " " " " Admiral , what you ' re doing here is unethical . It ' s immoral . I ' ll fight it . " " " " Do what you must , captain . . . and so will I . " " " " I ' m deeply concerned about what is happening here . It began when we apprehended a spy , a man who has admitted his guilt and who will answer for his crime but the hunt didn ' t end there . Another man , Mr . Simon Tarses , was brought to trial , and it " was " a trial no matter what others may choose to call it . A trial based on suspicion and innuendo . Nothing substantive offered against Mr . Tarses , much less proven . Mr . 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 . " " " " You know , there are some words I ' ve known since I was a schoolboy : ' 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 – " " " " 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 ! ! " " " " Am I bothering you , captain ? " " " " No , please Mr . Worf , come in . " " " " It is over . Admiral Henry has called an end to any more hearings on this matter . " " " " That ' s good . " " " " Admiral Satie has left the " Enterprise " . " " " " We think we ' ve come so far . Torture of heretics , burning of witches , it ' s all ancient history . And then , before you can blink an eye , suddenly it threatens to start all over again . " " " " I " believed " her . I - I " HELPED " her ! I did not see what she was . " " " " Mr . Worf , villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot . Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well camouflaged . " " " " I think , after yesterday , people will not be so ready to trust her . " " " " 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 , Mr . Worf . That is the price we have to continually pay . " " Links and references . References . amino acid ; background check ; Ba ' ltmasor Syndrome ; Battle of Wolf 359 ; beard ; bench ; Betazed ; Betazoid ; blood ; Borg ; ; communicator ; Constitution of the United Federation of Planets ; crewman ; Cruces system ; Delb II ; Delb II native ; deoxyribose suspension ; dilithium articulation frame ; dilithium chamber ; dilithium chamber hatch ; drum ; drumhead trial ; Earth Station McKinley ; elm ; emergency confinement field ; encephalographic polygraph scan ; ; exobiologist ; Federation ; Federation Uniform Code of Justice ; head of security ; Henry ' s transport ; hyposyringe ; interrogation room ; isolation door ; isolinear optical chip ; J ' Dan ' s powerful friends ; judge ; Klingon ; Klingon - Federation Alliance ; Klingon High Council ; lemon ; Marcus ; Mars Colony ; mass spectrometer ; matter - antimatter reaction assembly ; medical technician ; microtomographic analysis ; " " ; Mogh ; neutron fatigue ; Number one ; ; Officer Exchange Program ; optical chip reader ; outpost ; parade grounds ; parasitic being ; " petaQ " ; Prime Directive ; protein ; Qo ' noS ; radiation ; referee ; roach ; Romulan ; Romulan Neutral Zone ; ; sabotage ; security clearance ; Seventh Guarantee ; shuttlecraft ; spectrometer ; spy ; starbase ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet Command ; Starfleet Security ; stopwatch ; sub - micron fracture ; Tarkanian ; Tarkanian diplomat ; tea ; ; tricorder ; turbolift ; Vulcan ; witch Unused production references . 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