Tam Elbrun Tam Elbrun was a Betazoid Federation first contact specialist and delegate , whose unusual telepathic abilities led him to be assigned to many first contact situations involving unusual species . Early life and career . Whereas most Betazoids gained their telepathic abilities at adolescence when they are able to control them , Tam was born with these telepathic abilities already developed . His medical record s and psychiatric profile show high scores on the extrasensory perception scale . Betazoids in this condition do not have the natural ability to ignore background thoughts from others . These abilities caused him stress enough to hospitalize him on several occasions throughout his life . He tended to take assignments which isolated him from other humanoids . However , he found that non - humanoid lifeform s ' thoughts relaxed him . Tam suffered from a history of mental instability and spent some time as a psychology patient at a university on Betazed . He met Deanna Troi there during the 2350s , where he was one of Troi ' s psychiatric patients . Elbrun gained infamy following his involvement in the Ghorusda Disaster , in which 47 Starfleet officer s from the were killed . Tam later blamed the incident on his over - involvement with the Ghorusdan s and failing to adequately advise Captain Darson of Ghorusdan customs . In 2366 , Tam was stationed on Chandra V as the only Federation delegate . He found the assignment peaceful , describing the Chandran s ' minds as " glacial " and calling them an " untroubled " people . Encounter with Gomtuu . He was called for a first contact mission during 2366 when an alien intelligence of an organic starship , codenamed " Tin Man " , was discovered in orbit of the dying star Beta Stromgren . Due to the pursuit of the Romulan s , who had the same goal , but seeking to claim the alien instead , his expertise was needed to contact it before they did . He accepted the mission because he could feel the loneliness of the creature even from his very far distance . He boarded the in order to quickly transport to the which stood the best chance of getting there first and possibly fending off Romulan ships . There , he connected with Deanna Troi again . In the transporter room , he greeted Deanna warmly ; referring to her affectionately as Dee . " En route " , Elbrun intimated to her that Tin Man had already initiated preliminary contact with him . Elbrun also developed a friendship with Data , who had no thoughts that Elbrun could read , providing Elbrun with much needed relief . Tam was also fascinated by Data ' s research into humanity . By extension , Tam also commented that even though he could not read Data ' s mind that Data was just different and that was not a bad thing . Upon the " Enterprise " - D ' s arrival at the star , a Romulan Warbird fired on it before heading into the system . Elbrun sent Tin Man , whose real name was Gomtuu , a telepathic warning , to which the being responded by emitting an energy wave that destroyed the Warbird and caused serious damage to the " Enterprise " - D . With the star ' s explosion imminent and the second Warbird closing , Captain Jean - Luc Picard asked Elbrun to coax Gomtuu into returning with them to the safety of Federation space . Elbrun explained Gomtuu ' s desire to commit suicide after the long - ago death of its crew , and asked to be transported aboard to establish personal contact . However , Picard was hesitant , questioning the loyalties that had caused Elbrun to protect Gomtuu at a risk to the " Enterprise " - D . When the second Romulan vessel arrived to destroy Tin Man , Picard was forced to send Elbrun and Data to communicate with the being . Once aboard , Elbrun established full mental contact with the ship . Gomtuu returned Data to the " Enterprise " - D and sent both the Federation and the Romulan vessels hurtling away from the star . Shortly afterward Beta Stromgren went supernova , but Gomtuu was nowhere to be found . Data explained that Elbrun chose to remain with Gomtuu , having found at last the mental peace that he had searched for all his life . ( )