Home Soil ( episode ) When the " Enterprise " - D visits an outpost in the process of terraforming a dead planet , they find the science team threatened by a mysterious new form of life . Summary . Teaser . The is on a mission to catalog young planet s in the Pleiades Cluster . Along the way , they have been instructed by the Federation to check on the terraforming colony on Velara III , as they were behind schedule . Captain Picard calls down to the station , and after a minute or two of no answers from the planet , Director Kurt Mandl finally responds . The director insists there is no need for them to pay a visit as they are back on schedule . Counselor Troi senses that he is extremely nervous about something , especially when Picard insists that an away team be sent down to have a look around . Troi , Commander Riker , Lieutenant Yar , Lieutenant Commander Data , and Lieutenant La Forge beam to the facility . Act One . They are greeted by hydraulics specialist Arthur Malencon , biosphere designer Luisa Kim , and Chief Engineer Bjorn Bensen . Outside the complex is Velara III ' s dark , windswept desert , a hostile place , which Kim tells them to remember ; in a couple of decades , she plans for it to look like a Garden of Eden . Kim apologizes for their director ' s rudeness . She points out that they don ' t get many visitors and mentions that Dr . Mandl has been under stress lately . Kim offers a look around , proudly explaining their amazing procedure of taking a lifeless planet and converting it into a class M environment . Afterwards , La Forge and Data can ' t help but go to Malencon at the controls for the hydraulic probes . He mentions he has been having problems with the servos that control the probes . La Forge offers assistance , wondering if the high saline content of the soil is disrupting conductivity . Mandl finally enters , appearing gruff and moody . He reminds Malencon of their tight schedule and sends the tech off to work in the laser drill ing room . Mandl directs the away team ' s attention to a schematic diagram of their planning ; everything is specific and exacting . Suddenly , Troi senses terror and announces that Malencon is in trouble . A warning siren sounds and the group runs to the hydraulic station . As they approach , they hear the blasting of a drilling laser and cries of pain . The door to the room is sealed ; they try to force the hatch when the laser blasts and screams abruptly stop . Upon opening the door , they find the room is a complete mess and spot the smoldering remains of Malencon ; they are too late to save him . In the center of the room a large drilling laser hangs from a control arm , still pointing down at him . Act Two . Riker has Malencon ' s body transported to the ship . In the meantime , they have the power to the hydraulics room shut down . Kim , Mandl , Troi , and Riker head to the " Enterprise " - D as well ; the rest stay to survey the damage . Data finds it interesting that the laser seemed to stop at the moment Malencon stopped screaming . He reactivates power to the room and reruns the drilling program . Data watches the beam run its cycle as it blasts down into each of the bore holes . He turns away for a moment to check the readouts . Suddenly , the beam pivots toward him . He quickly dodges the stream as it blasts past him . It fires again , but he is saved by his android reflexes . La Forge and Benson come to the rescue , but find the door is sealed again . Beyond it , they hear a horrendous crash and the smashing of equipment . La Forge screams Data ' s name but receives no answer . They finally get the hatch open , and find that Data has ripped the machine down from its mounting . The whole device lies mangled on the floor , and Bensen laments a year ' s work has been destroyed . In Picard ' s ready room , he tells Mandl he is shutting down operations until the matter is investigated ; Mandl is outraged , stating that Picard is overstepping his authority . Picard says a member of his crew has been attacked , which gives him the right to intervene . Mandl reminds him that he has a delicate schedule to maintain , but Picard says it is on hold until he has answers . Yar escorts Mandl to his temporary quarters and now La Forge and Data inform him the drilling laser was somehow reprogrammed to kill anyone who entered the room . Picard suspects one of the three terraformers , and instructs La Forge and Data to return to the planet to look for any sabotage or tampering . He also tells Yar to dig up the service records of all the terraformers for himself and Counselor Troi to review and look for a possible motive . Data and La Forge return to the station . Data notices a strange flicker of light down at the far end of one of the bore shafts . He makes sure it isn ' t a reflection of light , and scans it with his tricorder . He gets no readings , so he asks La Forge to look at it with his VISOR . Using its various visual modes , La Forge scans the object . It ' s inorganic , yet the pulses of light and color are unexplainable . Data wonders if it could be alive ; it might be what the terraformers are trying to cover up . Act Three . The object is beamed to the " Enterprise " - D , where Dr . Crusher has it placed inside a glass dome for analysis in a medical lab . The computer makes scans and verifies that it contains no organic molecule s . Crusher enhances the scan on the wall display , which shows a complex pattern of crystal line forms . Energy patterns flow throughout a beautiful network of structures . It begins to emanate an audible hum . Crusher asks the computer what is causing the flashes and noise , but it is uncertain , since it is theoretically impossible for the substance to produce such an effect . However , it gets louder as they approach the object . She asks the computer for a hypothesis , to which it replies : " " Life " " . Picard relays the findings to Mandl and his staff . Mandl insists that the Federation verified Velara III to be lifeless , which Picard says is understandable given the novel nature of the lifeform . Regardless , Picard mentions his suspicions of Mandl knowing there was life down there ; a direct violation of the Prime Directive . Mandl makes it clear that he is in the business of creating life , not taking it . He leaves , and now Troi and Yar make it clear he did have some knowledge , but perhaps may not have concluded murder . Furthermore , only he and Malencon would have necessary skills to program the drill in the manner it behaved . Back in the medical lab , Crusher calls for Picard for new information . Picard arrives , and La Forge indicates he has detected a shift in the infrared spectrum ; its internal structure is somehow changing . Suddenly , the small flicker of light brightens , nearly blinding everyone in the room . The hum grows louder as well . The hum and light subside , revealing two points of light inside the bell jar . Data points out that only life can replicate itself . As a precaution , Crusher activates a containment field around the glass dome , but the computer has trouble maintaining the field . The computer indicates that a " translation request " is being made ; the glowing objects are trying to communicate with the computer . Power is increased to the containment field , but the fight for control continues . It looks as if Data is right ; it ' s a lifeform , and also intelligent , with the power to access the computer . Everyone evacuates the lab . Act Four . In the observation lounge , Picard now directly confronts Mandl , asking if he knew there was life on Velara III . He admits he knew of random energy patterns that disrupted their drilling , but that hardly indicated life by anything he is aware of . He adds they ' re meaningless silicon crystals that rebroadcast sunlight . Picard tells him they are hardly meaningless ; they are clearly alive and intelligent , and are trying to communicate . By now , the glass dome contains a cluster of several points of light . Data , La Forge and Worf further the analysis and confirm its structure and properties . From engineering , however , an ensign reports that the power fluctuations are increasing , causing numerous systems around the ship to go haywire ; something is taking over . Soon , the universal translator comes online by itself , saying " " Ugly giant bags of mostly water ! " " Picard is confused , and Data indicates it is an accurate description of Human physiology ; he points out that Humans are 90 % water surrounded by a flexible container . The crystals speak , saying they had asked the Humans to leave , but they did not listen . It has driven them to kill . Picard tries to reassure the crystals that they come in peace ; they didn ' t understand the message , and were unaware there was life on the planet . The crystals object , stating the " bags " at the station knew . They tried peaceful contact , but were ignored , and some were killed . They have no choice now but to declare war . Before Picard can respond , the crystals end communication . At this point the whole ship is jarred by a force . Data indicates that the crystals have joined together into a kind of living computer he calls a " microbrain " ; the more there are , the stronger they become . Act Five . Data identifies the flashes of light they emit appear to be program instructions allowing them to interface with the ship ' s computers . Additionally , it is intelligent enough to interface faster than the crew can . After a quick flare up of energy and more disturbances in the ship , the crystals seem to power down . Crusher indicates that with single - celled organic life , replication is followed by a resting state ; perhaps it is the same for the microbrain . Picard orders Yar to beam the entity back to the planet . She tries to energize the beam , but the beam is redirected . Picard is agitated ; lifeform or not , the safety of the ship is at stake . He tells Data to remove the atmosphere from the medical lab . Data tries , but again , the controls are locked out . Picard meets with the terraformers , explaining that the entity said it has tried to contact them before , but they ignored it . Mandl claims that if it tried communicating , they didn ' t understand it ; how were they to know ? Picard wants to know what the terraformers did to cause the crystals to fight back . Kim indicates Malencon was siphoning off a layer of saline water on the surface of the sand . Crusher suggests that life needs water ; perhaps it was sustaining them . Data suggests it might have been what linked them together ; individually , a single brain cell is not intelligent , but when linked to others , intelligence is formidable . To prevent the loss of the saline , it drove them to kill . The image of the medical lab shows the mass in the glass dome growing brighter . Suddenly , the dome shatters . Data and La Forge come up with an idea ; they had detected cadmium salts , which create electrical current under infrared light . Perhaps the crystals are photoelectric in nature . Picard has them kill the lights in the medical lab . Riker opens an access panel at the room , and disables the lighting system . Now in total darkness , the glow of the microbrain begins to soften , and the crystals respond , begging for more light . They reluctantly declare the war to be over if they are returned to the " wet sand " . Picard has Riker bring the lights back up , just a bit , to relieve them of their torment . He expresses his apologies for having caused them harm , and has the transporter chief beam the entity back to Velara III . Afterward , Picard places an indefinite quarantine on the planet . Data is disappointed that they couldn ' t learn more about the strange lifeform . They set course to the nearest starbase to drop off the surviving terraformers . Memorable quotes . " " Someone that tense could be very unpredictable . Stay on your toes , Number One . " " " " Ugly giant bags of mostly water . " " " " I sense deliberate concealment , sir . " " " " Of what ? " " " " I don ' t know , but it ' s intense . " " " " I ' m Luisa Kim , gardener of Eden . " " " " She is as open as she seems . " " " " I create life . . . I don ' t take it ! " " " " A year ' s work . . . destroyed ! " " " " Terraformers are often obsessive . It frequently goes with the career profile . " " " " . . . But is it alive ? " " " " Probability : positive . " " " " I wasn ' t asking you . " " " " Terraforming makes you feel almost God - like . " " " " Agreed . We will send you home , to your wet sand . " " Links and references . References . 2360 ; 2363 ; 2395 ; 28th century ; aquarium ; artificial intelligence ; atmosphere ; bell jar ; biomed research unit scanner ; biosphere ; biosphere designer ; brain cell ; cadmium selenide ; carbon ; centimeter ; class M ; computer program ; computer science ; conference room ; ; containment field ; death ; desalinization ; desktop monitor ; director ; Earth ; Eden ; Emergency Manual Override station ; emergency power ; fish ; gallium arsenide ; germanium ; " Henry V " ; hydraulic landscaping ; hydraulic probe ; hydraulics ; imager ; inorganic ; ion ; laser drill ; lifeform ; Livingston ; master subsurface pump ; microbrain ; microorganism ; model ; MSD ; number one ; nursery ; observation lounge ; painting ; photoelectric ; photosynthesis ; Pleiades Cluster ; programmer ; quarantine field ; ready room ; refraction ; rest room ; sabotage ; salt ; sand ; science laboratory ; scientific method ; shipboard video feed ; shock ; silicon ; situation report ; skant ; snow ; sodium salt ; standard orbit ; starbase ; sulfide ; sunlight ; tear ; Terraform Command ; terraformer ; terraforming ; terraforming uniform ; transistor ; tricorder ; tunnel ; type 1 phaser ; universal translator ; unnamed plants ; utility uniform ; vacuum ; Velara III ; Velara Base ; vegetation graph ; viewscreen ; VISOR ; water ; water table ; window ; year Unused production references . Velara system