Lily Sloane Lily Sloane was a 21st century Human female who worked with Zefram Cochrane in his effort to build Earth ' s first warp - capable spacecraft , the " Phoenix " . A survivor of the third World War , Sloane resided in Bozeman , Montana as early as the 2060s . History . On April 4 , 2063 , the missile silo where Sloane and Cochrane were constructing their warp ship came under fire by a Borg vessel from the 24th century . Despite the unwillingness of her partner , Sloane sought to protect the " Phoenix " from what she believed to be an attack from the Eastern Coalition . In the aftermath , Sloane remained in the missile silo where she encountered Starfleet Captain Jean - Luc Picard and Lieutenant Commander Data , there to repair the timeline . Armed with a Calico M960 submachine gun , Sloane opened fire on the two officer s , believing them to be members of the Eastern Coalition . Sloane was , however , felled by theta radiation leaking from the damaged " Phoenix " and transported aboard the orbit ing by Doctor Beverly Crusher . Once aboard , Sloane was treated for severe radiation poisoning , but was revived by the medical staff when the Borg overran the " Enterprise " sickbay . Retreating to a Jefferies tube , Sloane slipped away from Doctor Crusher and her team , eventually coming across Picard . She held the Captain hostage until he was able to convince her that she was not in Montana anymore . Relinquishing the phaser to Picard , Sloane accompanied the captain in his effort to retake the ship . Escaping from a group of Borg drone s , Picard and Sloane entered the ship ' s holodeck . Dressed in satin , Sloane danced with Picard as Dixon Hill , attempting to blend into the holographic scenery . Finally returning to the bridge of the " Enterprise " , Sloane was present for a heated exchange between Picard and one of his officers , Lieutenant Commander Worf . Following the captain into the adjacent observation lounge , Sloane chastised Picard for his actions , comparing him to Captain Ahab of Herman Melville ' s " Moby Dick " , despite the fact that she had never read it . Sparring verbally with the captain , Sloane was able to convince Picard to relent and follow Worf ' s recommendation to engage the ship ' s auto - destruct system . Sloane departed the " Enterprise " along with the remainder of its crew in an escape pod bound for Gravett Island . Captain Picard refused to join the officers who were leaving the ship . When she questioned him , the captain admitted that he was going back to find Data . The Captain had told her that Data had helped save him from the Borg years before . The Captain , in turn , felt that he needed to save Data . Lily was moved by this and told the captain to " go on and find your friend " She later reunited with Picard and his command crew , as well as Zefram Cochrane , back in Montana on the night of April 5 , 2063 . There she witnessed Cochrane making his historic First Contact with a group of Vulcan s . ( ) Personality . Lily was outspoken and a little high - strung , yet was a capable judge of character , being the first to recognize Captain Picard ' s emotional demons . Appendices . Background information . Lily Sloane was played by Alfre Woodard . Her surname comes from the script . In the first draft of the script , she was named Ruby Sloane , a photographer and X - ray technician who was instrumental in helping Jean - Luc Picard repair the damaged " Phoenix " . The name Ruby was instead used for one of the Dixon Hill characters seen in the film .