Time Squared ( episode ) The " Enterprise " discovers a duplicate of Picard from six hours in the future . Summary . Teaser . " En route " to the Endicor system , Commander Riker is busily preparing an omelette made from ' Owon egg s he picked up at Starbase 73 . Soon , Data , La Forge , Worf , and Pulaski show up for the meal . La Forge and Pulaski take the first bites of their omelettes but are immediately disgusted while Data observes . However , Worf is rapidly eating the omelette , which he describes as " delicious . " Soon after , Captain Picard calls Riker to the bridge . The has encountered a Starfleet shuttlecraft adrift in space , which is odd because at this time there should not be any Federation vessels . Act One . Once the pod is brought aboard the " Enterprise " , the crew discovers that it is not only the " El - Baz " , one of their own shuttles , but it contains an unconscious double of Picard . After Doctor Pulaski examines the unconscious Picard , it is found that his brainwaves are out of phase , but his heart is strong . Also , Counselor Deanna Troi detects very little emotion from him , but she believes he is truly as much Picard as their captain . Finally , the shuttle he was in appears to be off - line . Back " en route " to the Endicor system , Lieutenant Commander Data and Lieutenant Geordi La Forge attempt to transfer power to the shuttle , but end up shorting out its circuits . In sickbay , Dr . Pulaski examines the other Picard in more detail . She is able to determine that he is alive but all other readings seem to fluctuate erratically . At Captain Picard ' s request , Pulaski attempts to revive him but instead almost kills him . It seems that the stimulant had the opposite effect . Meanwhile , La Forge and Data apply a power inverter to the shuttle to try and extract the log s from it . After an adjustment fails , Data suggests doing the opposite of the previous procedure , and the power comes back online . La Forge sees that the stardate on the shuttle ' s chronometer is six hours in the future and deduces that the other Picard must be from that time . Act Two . Pulaski is now successful in waking the future Picard , but he is disoriented and confused . The present Picard calls a staff meeting and La Forge shows him the logs he was able to retrieve from the shuttle . The visual log shows some sort of distortion , and the shuttle leaving the " Enterprise " , with Riker watching , then the " Enterprise " itself being destroyed . This is followed by an audio log by the Captain himself : Despite this , the crew decides to remain on course as they realize that the " Enterprise " crew may have already committed to a series of unalterable events . Pulaski theorizes that as they move closer to the time in which the other Picard left , his internal body clock is realigning , and that when normal time intersects with the time in which he left , for that instant he would begin to function normally and there will be two Picards . Troi begins to feel emotion from the future Picard and realizes that his one wish is to leave the " Enterprise " . Act Three . Still on course to Endicor but not far from a meeting with fate , the other Picard is now more coherent . The present Picard begins to question him , becoming frustrated at his counterpart ' s abandonment of the " Enterprise " . Troi tries to reason with Picard , saying that the other is afraid . Picard , now disgusted at his other self , denies all familiarity with him and leaves sickbay . Pulaski then tells Troi that she will relieve the present Picard of duty should his judgment become impaired which Troi assures her it won ' t . Picard now debates with Commander Riker as to how and why the other Picard traveled though time , bringing up The Traveler and Paul Manheim ' s experiments with time . Riker suggests that Picard suppress his natural tendencies to try and save the " Enterprise " from decisions he may make and not to second - guess himself . Suddenly , without warning , an energy vortex appears beneath the " Enterprise " . Act Four . In order to avoid being pulled in , La Forge has to hold the warp engines at 30 % just to maintain their position . After being probed by the center of the vortex , Picard decides to stay and investigate , but then begins to worry that staying was the mistake which caused the destruction of the " Enterprise " . He decides to leave immediately , but trying to escape the vortex only results in the " Enterprise " being pulled further inside . The warp engines now have to be held at warp 7 just to maintain their position . A Class - 1 probe is launched , but is destroyed by the vortex . Almost immediately after , both Picards are struck by some sort of energy beam . When the beam strikes again and La Forge is forced to hold the ship at maximum warp , Riker suggests destroying the vortex . Troi deduces that the energy wants Picard and he must leave the ship to distract its attention , now realizing what the plan of his counterpart was . Act Five . Returning to his counterpart in sickbay , who is now much more aware of himself and his surroundings , he orders him released and follows him to shuttlebay two . The other Picard says that the entity recognizes Picard as the " brain " of the " Enterprise " and wants him , not the ship . Both Picards now argue as to what to do , with the present Picard trying to get as much information from the future Picard as he can before he gets to the shuttle . With the future Picard unwilling to divulge any more information and the present Picard now seeing that his counterpart is unable to alter his actions , locked into a single event and purpose , he realizes that it is not him that will enter the shuttle but his counterpart . Future Picard admits that there is another option , but he believes it will never work . Trying to get his future self to tell him , present Picard goes over every option he can think of . Noting future Picard ' s reaction to the suggestion of going forward into the vortex , present Picard realizes that this is the other option . As future Picard starts to get into the shuttle , present Picard kills his counterpart with a phaser to stop him from leaving , and then returns to the bridge , calling Pulaski to the shuttlebay , accompanied by Chief Miles O ' Brien . Picard orders that a course be set for the center of the vortex with all the power the ship can muster , and that their position be held no matter what . With the " Enterprise " coursing through the vortex , Chief O ' Brien witnesses the other Picard and his shuttle vanish from existence and seconds later the " Enterprise " bursts back out into normal space . Later , Picard is in the conference lounge after the ordeal with the energy vortex , contemplating while looking out at the lounge ' s windows into space . Riker walks in and Picard reflects on meeting himself , telling him " " They say if you travel far enough , you will eventually meet yourself . Having experienced that , Number One , it ' s not something I would care to repeat . " " Memorable quotes . " " What went wrong ? You know , don ' t you ? What did you do ? What happened ? Why did you leave the ship ? Don ' t turn away . Look at me . Picard ! Look at me ! " " Picard : " " What ' s our other option ? " " Picard ( future ) : " " This is our only chance " " Picard : " " I let you . . . But first tell me : What is - what was - your other choice ? " " What was it ? " " You don ' t know what I ' m talking about . You ' re locked into a single intent . Unable to change . Unable to alter . . . " " Picard ( future ) : " " . . . There is no other way . " " Picard : " " What was the other choice ? " " " " Captain , I think this is one instance where you should suppress your natural tendencies . " " " " Oh , really ? " " " " One of your strengths is your ability to evaluate the dynamics of a situation , and then take a definitive preemptive step , take charge . Now , you ' re frustrated because you not only can ' t see the solution , you can ' t even define the problem . " " " " Release him . " " " " Do you know what you ' re doing ? " " " " No . Release him . " " " " Captain Picard ! I cannot allow you to leave . Before we can go forward , the cycle must end . " " " " Well , they say if you travel far enough you will eventually meet yourself . Having experienced that , Number One , it ' s not something I would care to repeat . " " " " Well , at least the waiting ' s over . " " " " Delicious . " " " " A lot of questions , Number One . Damn few answers . " " Links and references . References . ale ; antimatter ; " As You Like It " ; brain ; bread ; class 1 probe ; clock ; dog ; egg ; " El - Baz " ; Endicor system ; energy vortex ; Ennan VI ; Ennan VI ale ; Federation ; female ; heartbeat ; hell ; internal clock ; ; medical tricorder ; Moebius ; mother ship ; number one ; omelette ; ' Owon ; Persian ; " Persian flaw " ; polarity ; primary power ; pulse ; red alert ; reserve power ; ; ; sedative ; slingshot effect ; Starbase 73 ; stardate ; tractor beam ; ; Type 15 shuttlepod ; variable phase inverter ; vital signs ; warp 10 ; weapons locker ; whisk Unused production references . Alaska stew ; Kobe beef ; moose ; musk ox