The Hunted ( episode ) While the " Enterprise " - D is reviewing a seemingly idyllic planet ' s application for Federation membership , an escaped prisoner leads her crew to discover an ugly secret : the government ' s shameful treatment of its war veterans . Summary . Teaser . At the conclusion of the tour , Captain Picard and Commander Riker congratulate Nayrok on their culture ' s rapid recovery from the Tarsian War , and Nayrok says their people are equally grateful ; violence of any kind is abhorrent to the Angosian s , who consider art and intellectual achievement to be their greatest virtues . As they are talking , Nayrok ' s aide pulls him aside with an urgent matter . In private , Picard comments that the Angosians will make a fine addition to the Federation ' s members . Riker agrees , though he finds the people of Angosia III somewhat stuffy . Nayrok returns and asks for Picard ' s help : an Angosian prisoner has escaped from a penal colony , Lunar V , in a stolen transport vessel . Angosian security forces are trying to track him down , but , frankly , are not very well - trained or equipped . With Picard ' s agreement , Riker signals the " Enterprise " , where Data is in command . The ship ' s sensors locate the sub - warp vessel with little difficulty , but as soon as they begin pursuit , the transport ship ducks behind a nearby asteroid and jettisons its drive section , which is devoid of life readings . When the " Enterprise " circles around the asteroid , they locate the wreckage of the ship ' s main body , but Wesley Crusher reports in surprise that the drive section has meanwhile disappeared . Slightly bewildered , Data reports to an astonished Picard and Riker that the tiny vessel has successfully eluded the starship . Act One . Picard and Riker return to the ship to command the pursuit . Nayrok calls to inform them that the fugitive ' s name is Roga Danar , and warns them that he is extremely violent . Without a warp drive , La Forge is certain that the vessel could not have fled the system , but sensor s cannot locate it . Riker guesses that he must be suspending his ship over the magnetic poles of the planet to avoid detection . When the " Enterprise " flushes him out and locks a tractor beam on him , he pushes his vessel towards the " Enterprise " in a Kamikaze run . The ship ' s computer automatically raises the shields and disengages the tractor beam , and the shuttle bounces off their shields . Becoming exasperated , Picard prepares to have the whole craft beamed into a shuttle bay , but the prisoner anticipates them and ejects from the drive section in an escape pod . The pod is still devoid of life readings , but Picard orders Miles O ' Brien to beam the contents of the pod aboard . O ' Brien detects a weapon in the transporter beam and deactivates it , before completing the transport with a two - man security team standing by . When Danar refuses to surrender , he is shot twice with phasers set on stun , which have no effect on him , and he overpowers O ' Brien and the security team . The fight takes Danar out into the corridor , but before he can get further , Riker and Worf are able to subdue and capture him . Act Two . While Picard and Nayrok make the arrangements to send Danar back to Lunar V , Riker asks why the sensors did not detect him . Data has confirmed that the sensors are functioning properly – for some reason , Danar has no discernable life sign s . In the brig , Danar is tossing and turning on his bunk , apparently in the grip of a violent nightmare . Deanna Troi is passing by the cell in a corridor when she senses his turmoil , and goes in to talk to him . Her conversation with the man is a surprise : though he is distrustful and suspicious , he is also intelligent , emotionally perceptive , and even has a fine - tuned sense of humor and irony . She describes her role as ship ' s counselor , and is offended when he labels her a " mind - control expert . " She is unable to fathom what has made Danar – for all appearances a civilized man – commit such violent acts , and asks if the other prisoners on Lunar V are mistreated . Danar replies that , on the contrary , Lunar V is a very comfortable and well - provisioned prison , but a prison nonetheless , since no one is allowed to leave . Troi tells Picard that she senses something wrong – Danar has a thoughtful and intelligent personality typical of his Angosian heritage , and she does not sense anything inherently violent about him . Picard reminds her of the mayhem he caused while they were trying to capture him , and says he will be glad to transfer Danar off the " Enterprise " when the Angosian shuttle arrives . Troi asks Data to check the Angosian government ' s records , trying to find out what crime Danar committed that sent him to Lunar V in the first place . Data finds that Danar has no criminal record whatsoever . As a matter of fact , Lunar V is a military facility , and Danar ' s records show him to be a highly decorated soldier of the Tarsian Wars . Troi goes back to Danar and asks what did he do to end up at Lunar V , and he replies that he did everything the Angosians asked him to . Her next supposition is that his psyche was damaged by his experience in the war , and he says the " damage " began when he first volunteered for service , and was introduced to his first military instructor – who , ironically , also carried the title of " Counselor . " Act Three . Troi and Dr . Beverly Crusher examine Danar and finds that he has been psychologically manipulated and biochemically modified – programmed to become " the perfect soldier . " The conditioning enhanced his strength , reflexes , and intelligence , and programmed him to survive at any cost . Crusher adds that one of the chemicals also shields his cellular electrical impulses , masking his life signs to sensors . Unfortunately , the soldiers became a liability to their people after the Tarsian Wars . Minor arguments could trigger their programming on and result in extreme violence . Instead of trying to reverse their programming , the government simply exiled them to Lunar V , including those like Danar who committed no criminal acts . Data visits Danar in his cell . Danar is initially mistrustful and asks Data to leave , but then asks him back , admitting that he needs company . Data identifies himself as an android and says that they have one thing in common – they have both been programmed . Data asks Danar if his programming cannot be changed , and Danar says bitterly that no one on Angosia has ever explored the possibility – instead , they left him to live with the alterations they made to him . Picard confers with Nayrok , who says that Danar is putting an undeservedly harsh spin on the truth . The soldiers had trouble readjusting to normal life , so the government resettled them to a " colony " on Lunar V . Nayrok assures Picard that the Angosians went to great lengths to give the " colonists " a comfortable way of life , and it was only later , after the agitations of a few men like Danar , that they had to add security measures and convert the soldiers ' " colony " into a prison . Picard asks if the resettlement was of the soldiers ' own choosing , and whether the government ever explored the possibility of reversing the soldiers ' conditioning . Nayrok curtly replies that the Federation is " treading on matters of internal security , " and cuts off the transmission after thanking the " Enterprise " for its help . In conversation with Data , Danar says the man he used to be is still inside him , but the " programming " takes over at the slightest provocation . Danar asks Data whether Data is programmed for combat like he is . Data says no , he is not programmed to kill . Danar reflects that his enhanced combat abilities have enabled him to kill 84 people in his lifetime , and his enhanced memory enables him to remember each of the 84 faces with perfect clarity . Picard enters with Troi and says that he has no choice but to transfer him back to Angosian custody , even though he sympathizes with the plight of Danar and his compatriots . Danar courteously thanks the captain for being upfront with him , and returns the favor by telling Picard that he will do anything in his power to escape . Troi tries to reassure him that if Angosia joins the Federation , its resources will be put to use finding a cure for their condition . Danar says simply that even if that happens , he will not be around to see it , because he would rather die than return to Lunar V – and that resolve is stronger than the imperative to survive programmed into his soul . The " Enterprise " readies Danar for transport , and knowing how intelligent Danar is , Worf has calibrated the transporter beam to activate 0 . 1 seconds after the cell ' s force field is shut down . During the attempted transport from the " Enterprise " s brig to the Angosian police transport vessel , Danar literally breaks out of the transporter beam , causing an explosion of energy within the cell that momentarily blinds Worf and Troi . When they come around , Danar has disappeared and a phaser is missing . Act Four . As with the initial pursuit in space , Danar ' s cunning and resourcefulness are on full display during the chase through the " Enterprise " s interior . Picard blocks off the decks where Danar was held and shuts down the power to the turbolift s . Since the sensors cannot follow Danar ' s movements , he is able to evade the internal sensors . Riker tells Data to reactivate the turbolifts , to trap Danar if he tries to use them . When a turbolift is engaged , the bridge diverts it to where Worf and a security team is waiting . But when the doors open , instead of Danar , they find a phaser set on overload . Worf disables it barely in time . Meanwhile , Danar knocks out a security guard and uses his combadge to order a force field shut down . Danar moves quickly through the hallways and heads to engineering to override the system lockout . Geordi and the rest of the engineering crew are overpowered by Danar . Data reroutes everything from the bridge , but Danar still manages to restore power to the shuttle bays by rerouting power through engineering ' s isolinear chip s , something which Data finds Danar to be incredibly adept at . To avoid the sealed hallways , he crawls through the core reactor and enters a Jefferies tube . He places another of his captured phasers into a power conduit and sets it to overload . Riker orders security teams to the shuttle bays , but Data volunteers that Danar ' s past strategy has been based on misdirection and diversion ; it is extremely unlikely that he is planning to use the shuttle bay , but Data cannot anticipate what his true destination is . Danar makes his way to a cargo bay and plugs his phaser into the deactivated transporter console . Data reads the activity , and Picard has the cargo bay flooded with anesthizine . Seeing the gas , Danar grabs a pressure suit from a cargo container . When Worf ' s security team is outside the cargo bay , Picard has the gas removed . When Worf and his team move in , the cargo bay is apparently deserted , but Worf notes the absence of the pressure suit and surmises that Danar may try to access the shuttle bay from an external hatch , such as from the " Enterprise " s photon torpedo launcher . Worf signals the bridge that he and his security teams will guard the external exits . In a corner of the cargo bay , Danar smiles , and emerges from hiding , leaving the pressure suit ( which he only needed to protect himself from the gas ) behind . But Worf , having out - thought the Angosian for once , emerges from hiding , aiming his phaser . He congratulates Danar for his extreme cunning , remarking that he must have Klingon blood , but orders him to surrender . At that moment , the phaser in the Jefferies tube explodes , shutting down the lights in the cargo bay . That brief distraction is all Danar needs to tackle Worf , and knock him unconscious after a brief struggle . Using his phaser to power the transporter , Danar successfully beams himself onto the Angosian police shuttle and takes its pilots hostage . With the " Enterprise " external sensors disabled by the explosion , it has no way to track him , and Danar has made a clean getaway . Act Five . When the " Enterprise " restores its systems , Nayrok informs them that Danar has organized a mass breakout from Lunar V , and that several soldiers have made their way to Angosia and entered the capital city . Nayrok urgently asks Picard for help . Picard , Worf , Troi and Data beam down to the surface while Nayrok ' s staff are arming themselves . Nayrok is surprised to see only four members of the away team – he was expecting Picard to bring an army to protect them . Picard says the Federation is not going to help them evade responsibility for their actions : they recruited an army of idealistic young men like Danar , turned them into killing machines , and then locked them away and did their best to forget about them . Troi and Data urge them to consider whether the soldiers ' programming can be reversed . Nayrok and his adjutant , Zayner , admit that the chemicals can be removed , but the psychological conditioning is considered irreversible . Even before the soldiers were trained , the government knew that was a risk they were taking – and Worf , whose warrior sensibilities are naturally outraged , asked whether the government revealed that risk to the men who volunteered to fight for their world . Underneath their sophistry , it is clear that the government never seriously tried to cure the soldiers ; instead , " the people " chose to " resettle " them , " for the greater good , " turning their backs on the soldiers who helped defend their way of life . Besides , Zayner adds tactlessly , they do not wish to undo the programming , because they may need the soldiers again if Angosia ever fights another war . Just as Picard and Troi are about to detonate with anger , Danar and his fellow inmates storm into the building . Picard warns everyone not to raise their weapons . Since Danar and his fellow inmates are not being provoked , they can not willfully attack the Prime Minister or his staff . Danar demands that the Angosians fight back , rather than continue to ignore them . Nayrok says that the soldiers have been given the skills they need to survive , and should be able to survive on Lunar V . Danar says that is not enough : he and his comrades want their lives back , and they want to come home . Nayrok then says that he is not going to bow to a threat of violence , but promises to review their case if they surrender and return peaceably to Lunar V . Danar laughs the offer back in his face , knowing full well that Nayrok has no intention of helping them once he has them under lock and key again . Nayrok says the " Enterprise " must do something about the situation , and Picard agrees – he tells the transporter room to beam the away team back aboard the ship . Picard says that , after all , he cannot interfere with the " internal security " of Angosia . He tells the government that they must make a decision regarding the fate of their veterans . In the meantime , Picard has all the information he needs for his report , and , if the Angosians wish to reapply for Federation membership , their application will be given all due consideration . Danar seems pleased that he is being recognized and smiles at the away team as they leave . Aboard the " Enterprise " , Picard notes that if the government survives the night , they will be given assistance by the Federation in helping their veterans with their conditioning . When Riker asks whether the government will survive the night , Picard remarks dryly that he believes it will " choose to . " The " Enterprise " leaves Angosia . Memorable quotes . " " I am afraid the prisoner has eluded us , sir . " " " " [ incredulous ] Eluded the " Enterprise " ? " " " " This guy knows all the tricks , doesn ' t he ? " " " " He bounced off the shields ! " " " " That ' s an interesting twist . " " " " An escape pod ! " " " " This guy ' s incredible ! " " " " More security , Transporter Room Four ! More security ! More security ! " " " " I just killed three men to get out of there , counselor . And I ' m fully capable of killing you as well . That ' s a terrifying thought , isn ' t it ? Even to me . " " " " He ' s intelligent , thoughtful . . . typically Angosian . I know what he ' s done , but when I ' m with him , I cannot believe that he is randomly and deliberately violent . In fact , inherently he has a " non " - violent personality . " " " " Counselor , it took five men to restrain him ! And he took about half the transporter room in the process ! " " " " Lunar V . . . an orbiting gulag . " " " " What do you want ? " " " " Am I disturbing you ? " " " " Yes ! " " " " Then I will leave . " " " " No , wait , wait ! I ' d rather talk to someone . " " " " Prime Minister , even the most comfortable prison is still a prison . " " " " A matter of internal security ' – the age - old cry of the oppressor . " " " " My improved reflexes have allowed me to kill eighty - four times . And my improved memory allows me to remember each of those eighty - four faces . Can you imagine what that feels like ? " " " " I am incapable of any feeling . " " " " Well , then I envy you . " " " " Mr . Danar , I ' m transferring you to Angosian Security . They ' re en route , they will arrive shortly . I wanted to tell you I have no choice . The Prime Minister insisted , and we have no right to refuse . " " " " Well , you would be foolish to consider it otherwise , Captain , for they are very correct . I " am " dangerous . There is no place for me in a civilized society . " " " " I do not believe that . " " " " Nor do I . " " " " Take care of yourself , android . I enjoyed our talk . " " " " I , too . " " " " There is a full contingent of security at all shuttlebays . " " " " You want my advice ? " Double it " ! " " " " Danar ! You " are " cunning . You must have Klingon blood . But the battle is over . " " " " My battle is never over . " " " " In your own words , this is not our affair . We cannot interfere in the natural course of your society ' s development . And I ' d say it ' s going to develop significantly in the next few minutes . " " Links and references . References . Anabar Squadron ; android ; anesthizine ; Angosia III ; Angosian ; Angosian capital city ; Angosian enhancement drugs ; Angosian military ; Angosian police shuttle ; Angosian Senate ; Angosian senatorial database ; asteroid ; cargo bay ; central computer ; criminal behavior ; cryptobiolin ; duality ; escape pod ; eye ; Federation ; general quarters ; gulag ; holding cell ; Jefferies tube ; Lunar V ; Lya III ; macrospentol ; martial arts ; meter ; " Much Ado About Nothing " ; murder ; number one ; penal colony ; polar orbit ; pressure suit ; Prime Minister ; priority one ; prison psychologist ; referendum ; riot ; sabotage ; security team ; stun setting ; subhadar ; Tarsian War ; tour of duty ; tracking station ; triclenidil ; yellow