Final Mission ( episode ) On his way to Starfleet Academy , Wesley Crusher must care for an injured Captain Picard after their shuttle crashes on a desert moon . Summary . Teaser . Ensign Wesley Crusher comes running onto the bridge and apologizes to Captain Picard for being ten minutes late for a summon . Picard chastises the young man , then , smiling , tells the young ensign that a position has opened in this year ' s class at Starfleet Academy and that Wesley has been granted the posting . Admiral Nsomeka has contacted Picard and expects Wesley to be leaving for the Academy in two weeks , though he will have to work hard to catch up with his classmates . In the interim , Picard is to arbitrate a mining dispute on Pentarus V between hostile salenite miners , and he opts to bring Wesley along to observe the effects of outpost judiciary decisions on Federation law . The rendezvouses with Captain Dirgo ' s shuttle , the " Nenebek " , and Picard and Wesley depart with Dirgo . On first meeting Dirgo , Wesley quietly makes a rude comment to Geordi La Forge on Dirgo calling himself a captain – though he holds no formal rank and commands only a mining shuttle . Dirgo makes it clear he heard it and says the ship has over 10 , 000 hours of flight recorded and means a lot to him and his people . Shortly before their departure , the " Enterprise " receives a distress signal from Chairman Songi of Gamelan V – they are receiving high critical levels of radiation from a " space barge " which is entering their atmosphere . The " Enterprise " speeds off under Riker ' s command to assist . Meanwhile , Dirgo tells Wesley that he hopes Picard is tougher than he looks , otherwise the miners will tear him apart . Just then , Dirgo ' s shuttle suffers a mishap , and is likely going to crash land . Act One . The three collaborate in the crisis situation to land on Lambda Paz , a desert moon of Pentarus III . The three fortunately survive the crash landing but there are very few emergency supplies . Dirgo tells Picard that since the mining shuttle had very little space , he depended on the replicator for supplies , which is now damaged beyond repair , leaving them only with a medicine pouch . The " Enterprise " reaches Gamelan V , and identifies the orbiting vessel as an unmanned garbage scow . The radiation levels are from toxic waste , and it appears that its engines have not been activated for a long time . This means the vessel was drifting and simply got caught in the planet ' s gravity , achieving orbit by itself . Riker promises Songi that they will remove the vessel . He plans to take it into the Gamelan sun . La Forge recommends using portable thruster s attached to construction module s to guide the vessel in order to work at a safe distance . Picard decides they must head towards the mountains to find shelter , to which Dirgo first objects but then is forced by Picard to admit that he has no better alternative . After Picard leaves a directional marker on the ground so that a rescue party may find them , he , Wesley , and Dirgo start their long walk to the mountains . During the trio ' s trek , Dirgo becomes weakened from the heat and stumbles . Wesley extends his hand and helps him back up to his feet . " " And you were worried about how tough the captain is ? " " , Wesley snaps at him . As Wesley walks away , Dirgo secretly drinks clear liquid from a bottle and hides it in his jacket . During their hike , Wesley notes some strange energy readings with his tricorder in the direction of their travel . It could be anything , but they have no choice but to continue towards it . Act Two . When the three finally arrive in a cavern in the mountain , the bottle falls from Dirgo ' s jacket , and is revealed to be an alcohol ic beverage called dresci . Dirgo makes an excuse that " " I was going to hand it round " " . Picard confiscates it and says that it would serve better as a disinfectant or coolant , and orders it to be kept under guard in the medicine box . On the " Enterprise " , Dr . Crusher is instructing her staff on three small island groups where the biggest radiation effects will be on the planet . Fortunately , they are sparsely populated and Dr . Crusher plans to replicate hyronalin for those population centers . Deanna Troi is behind her , and waits for her to finish . She attempts to assuage her fears of losing Wesley and Picard by noting that , while the nearest Federation ship is not that close , there ' s the possibility of the miners performing a search while they deal with the current situation . On the bridge , Worf confirms that the miners can start the search . In the meantime , Riker and La Forge configure the thrusters . It works for a bit , but one of the thrusters fail and Riker is forced to use the tractor beam . In the cavern , the three find a section with an increased level of the energy readings , and investigating , the trio find a strange fountain of water . Dirgo finds out the hard way that it is protected by a type of force field by running into it . Dirgo hastily fires at the field with his phaser , unexpectedly triggering a sentry energy weapon which knocks the weapon from his hand and encases it in a selenium - fiber shell . In the commotion , a landslide begins above Wesley , but Picard pushes him out of the way and himself is caught in the path of the falling rock s . Act Three . Wesley determines that Picard is suffering a broken leg , fractured arm , and internal bleeding . Dirgo initially helps still the bleeding , but is skeptical that Picard will survive and leaves . Weakened , Picard tells Wesley that he has to take charge and deter Dirgo from any further rash attempts to breach the force field . But clearly , their need for water is greater than ever . On the " Enterprise " , they continue to tow the waste vessel by tractor beam while dosing themselves with hyronalin . Unfortunately , they only have 38 minutes before the radiation becomes lethal . Crusher initiates radiation exposure protocol for all non - essential crew . Seeing that they won ' t clear the asteroid field for 51 minutes , Riker risks ordering the towing speed to be pushed . It quickly destabilizes the beam , so La Forge suggests bringing other fusion reactors online , even though the coolant pressure is reaching its maximum . Lethal exposure will now be reached in 35 minutes . Dirgo runs out of patience and tries to convince Wesley to make another attempt to breach the force field . Wesley tries to talk him out of attempting this , but Dirgo does not yield . This attempt results in Dirgo being encased in the shell , and killed . Act Four . In the Gamelan system , the " Enterprise " - D finally manages to get the leaking barge through the asteroid belt and directly into Gamelan ' s sun by , narrowly avoiding lethal radiation exposure to the crew in the process by ten seconds . They rush back to the Pentarus system to participate in the search for the now overdue shuttle . Wesley tends to Picard . The sun has gone down , and so the temperature has dramatically reduced . Wesley heats up some rocks with a phaser to keep Picard warm . Picard becomes temporarily unresponsive , so Wesley recounts his perspective of their trip to Starbase 515 to keep his attention focused . He says he feels extremely lucky to serve under Picard , and Picard in turn regrets his selfishness in bringing him along , as he worried he wouldn ' t see him again due to his procedure he was undergoing . Wesley promises to get to the water . Act Five . The " Enterprise " is now joining the search for the trio . Focusing on M - class worlds , they eliminate Pentarus II and V , as the miners have already searched them . Fortunately , there are four such moons , and the closest moon that could support life is Lambda Paz . Wesley struggles to figure out a way to disable the force field , while keeping Picard conscious and comfortable . During some tense and emotional exchanges , Picard tells Wesley that he envies him , saying " " you ' re just at the beginning of the adventure . " " He urges Wesley to seek out a man named Boothby as he considers him the " wisest man at the Academy . " Wesley asks what he teaches , to which Picard answers , " " He ' s the groundskeeper . " " Wesley confesses that everything he has done to succeed on the " Enterprise " has been to make Picard proud of him . Picard tells him that he ' s always been proud of him . On the moon , Wesley jury - rigs his combadge and tricorder to interfere and possibly disable the energy sentry . In trying to explain this to Picard , it seems he has some temporary memory loss , but remembers the situation . He succeeds and disables the force field around the fountain . He brings water to Picard in one of the shuttle ' s survival kit cases . Wesley is woken some time later by his mother , who is joined by Data and Worf . She informs her son that Picard is all right and his vital signs have been stabilized . As Picard is carried out on a stretcher by Martinez and another medic , he grabs Wesley ' s hand and confesses , " " You will be missed . " " Memorable quotes . " " Captain ? Of a mining shuttle ? " " " " Yes , ensign . Captain . " " " " She seems a very . . . a very sturdy craft . " " " " Dear God . " " " " Are you telling me there ' s no water ? " " " " And you were worried about how tough the " captain " is ? " " " " Sir , in the past three years , I ' ve lived more than most people do in a lifetime . " " " " If there ' s one thing that I ' ve learned from you it ' s that you don ' t quit , and I ' m not going to quit now ! " " " " Oh , I envy you , Wesley Crusher . You ' re just at the beginning of the adventure . " " " " Wesley , you remember . I was always proud of you . " " " " Mr . Crusher ? " " " " Yes , sir ? " " " " What are you doing in such a filthy uniform ? " " " " You don ' t look so shipshape yourself , sir . " " " " Wesley . . . you will be missed . " " Links and references . References . alcohol ; asteroid ; " Auprès de ma Blonde " ; Boothby ; captain ; Celsius ; chairman ; class M ; construction module ; deflector ; dehydration ; deuterium ; " dresci " ; duranium ; " " ; ermanium ; Federation ; Federation law ; fission reactor ; force field ; French language ; frequency ; fusion generator ; Gamelan V ; Gamelan V native s ; Gamelan sun ; Gamelan system ; garbage scow ; guidance coupling ; hertz ; hyronalin ; Lambda Paz ; lava ; Mach ; magnetic field ; Maltasion asteroid belt ; main shuttlebay ; maneuvering thruster ; Medical Unit One ; metric ton ; millirad ; miner ; mining shuttle ; NAR ; " Nenebek " ; Nsomeka ; oven ; Pentarus II ; Pentarus III ; Pentarus V ; Pentarus station ; Pentarus system ; Pentarus system primary ; plasma ; radiation ; radiation exposure ; radiation exposure protocol ; radiation poisoning ; Regalian ; replicator ; salenite ; selenium ; sentry ; shearing force ; sonodamite ; Starbase 515 ; Starfleet Academy ; unnamed starbase ; tokamak ; tricorder ; ventilation system ; volcano ; water