09 Wesley, Geordi and Data's Angels

Thank you. I had a feeling that you'll like those parts.

Chapter 18
Home Soil

PICARD: (VO) Captain's log, stardate 41463.9. While mapping the Pleiades Cluster, we've been asked by the Federation to visit a group terraforming Velara Three. Communications have been erratic and there is some concern about their welfare.
Scene: Bridge.
GEORDI: Entering standard orbit now.
PICARD: It takes very special people to live in such desolation.
DEANNA: Visionaries who don't see this planet as it is, but as it will be.
RIKER: I've always wanted to see terraforming in operation.
PICARD: Lieutenant Yar, hailing frequencies.
TASHA: Hailing frequencies open, sir.
PICARD: Velara Three base, this is Captain Picard of the starship Enterprise. (silence)
TASHA: No malfunctioning equipment on either side, sir. They are receiving us.
PICARD: Velara Three base, this is the Enterprise. Come in please. Over.
GEORDI: Maybe no one's home.
DATA: We are sensing life-forms, sir.
PICARD: Velara Three base, do you copy?
A middle-aged man with a slight East European accent. Everyone say Hi! to General Gogol from the James Bond films.
MANDL: (on viewscreen) Velara base to Enterprise. Yes, Captain, I'm Director Mandl. I'm sorry about the delay, but we weren't expecting visitors.
PICARD: Terraform Command has asked us to see how you were getting along.
MANDL: (on viewscreen) We were a little behind, but we're back on schedule. I'd like to hope we'd be allowed to maintain that schedule.
DEANNA: We alarm him for some reason.
PICARD: Your staff is all well, I presume, Director?
MANDL: (on viewscreen) Understandably tired. We're working very hard, Captain.
PICARD: If there anything we can do to help? You and your staff are welcome aboard for a change of scene, rest.
RIKER: We have some holodecks which you might enjoy.
MANDL: (on viewscreen) No disrespect, sir, but we cannot afford the time.
COMPUTER: Channel closed.
DEANNA: His fear is escalating.
MANDL: (on viewscreen): If you will excuse me, sir, I really must get back to work.
DEANNA: I sense deliberate concealment, sir.
PICARD: Of what?
DEANNA: I don't know, but it's intense.
PICARD: (channel open) Director Mandl, we've heard of your remarkable achievements in terraforming. My crew would very much appreciate looking around.
MANDL: (on viewscreen) This is not really the best time. We are at a very critical phase just now.
PICARD: We would require no special attention.
MANDL: (on viewscreen) I'm trying not to be rude, sir, but this is really very inconvenient.
Channel closed.
DEANNA: He is concealing something. It's more than just being too busy. Your announcement about coming down has sent him almost to a point of panic.
PICARD: Well, whether he wants us or not. (channel open) Director Mandl, unless you're absolutely refusing permission for us to land at your station, prepare to receive our away team.
MANDL: (on viewscreen) As you wish.
PICARD: Counselor, perhaps you'd better go along as well.
DEANNA: Aye, sir.
PICARD: Someone that tense could be very unpredictable. Stay on your toes, Number One.
GEORDA: Captain, permission for my sister, Dana and I to join the away team.
PICARD: Granted.
GEORDA AND DANA: Thank you, sir.
Scene: Control room.
The team beam into the Terraforming base control room.
LUISA: Welcome to Velara Three. Please. I want you to remember it as it is now, because in a couple of decades you won't recognise it. Luisa Kim. Gardener of Edens.
RIKER: Commander William Riker, USS Enterprise. This is Counselor Troi, Lieutenant Yar, Lieutenant LaForge, Lieutenant Commander Data, Georda and Dana Hatter.
LUISA: Arthur Malencon, hydraulics specialist, (bald, middle-aged) and Bjorn Benson, Chief Engineer. (younger, blond)
BENSON: An android?
TASHA: And third in command of the Enterprise.
BENSEN: Where were you manufactured? Are there others like you?
DATA: Both matters are subjects of protracted discussion.
Dana joins them after hearing what Bensen asked Data.
DANA: (to Bensen) I am sorry but I could not help but overhear you ask if there are any others like Data.
BENSEN: That's right. Who are you?
DANA: I am Dana Hatter. Data's girlfriend and I too am an android.
BENSEN: Remarkable. Excuse me.
The two men go back to work.
LUISA: We don't get many visitors. It's exciting to have you here.
RIKER: We weren't sure how we would be received. Director Mandl was less than enthusiastic about our interest.
LUISA: I should apologise for him. We are at a critical phase. Usually he's quite charming.
RIKER: We'll try to stay out of the way. We've never seen a terraforming station, and we appreciate the opportunity.
LUISA: How much do you know about the process?
DATA: Theories, reports, but nothing first-hand.
LUISA: Oh, wonderful. Let me show you what we do. Newcomers find this
DEANNA: The other two are secretive, but she is as open as she appears.
LUISA: What we're doing is so exciting, so inspiring. We take a lifeless planet and little by little transform it into an M class environment, capable of supporting life. Terraforming makes you feel a little god-like. The first phase involves selecting the planet. That's very important. It must have the right mass and gravity, the correct rate of rotation, and a balanced day and night. The planet must also be without life or the prospect of life developing naturally. The Federation determines if that's so. Then, we take over. This station is phase two. Phase Three involves water. Usually we create basins using hydraulic landscaping, but the water on this planet is subsurface, and extremely high in salt content. We are just about to begin pumping and filtering the water, removing the salt, oxygenating and replacing. Next, we introduce micro-organisms, and when the process is complete eventually, we'll have a lush, arable, biosphere.
In 30-35 years according to her display.
RIKER: You make it sound poetic.
LUISA: I think it's the best job in the universe.
DATA: The efficiency of your hydraulic landscaping is quite elegant.
MALENCON: It isn't yet, but it will be. Right now I'm disturbed by erratic power surges in several of the servo-mechanisms that control the hydraulic probes.
GEORDI: Could it be the increased conductivity caused by the high saline content?
MALENCON: That was my first thought, but I
BENSEN: Arthur. The factors do not support that conclusion.
Mandl enters.
MANDL: I'm Director Mandl, and I'm sorry about having been so abrupt during our initial contact. Being isolated, one tends to forget the social graces. Are you seeing everything that you want?
DEANNA: What you're doing here is miraculous.
MANDL: What we are doing here is working a difficult and demanding timetable, and there will be no miracle unless Malencon here gets the hydraulic probes back on line. We are set to step up to full conversion immediately. Shouldn't you be in the hydraulic chamber, Arthur?
MALENCON: Now?
MANDL: Yes.
MALENCON: All right, Kurt.
DATA: Geordi, this appears to be the master subsurface pump.
GEORDI: You're right. Very impressive.
DATA: This is interesting. The water table is a thin ribbon between the sandy surface layer and the rocks below.
GEORDI: And those two surfaces follow that contour so precisely, the water maintains a consistent depth between them.
DATA: Which would require extreme precision from the probe controls.
MANDL: Here we have something which may be of interest to you. A vegetation graph. It is really the key centre for successful terraforming.
RIKER: Incredible. It's planned month by month, decade by decade?
MANDL: Every single thing is specific and exact. You see grand, romantic concepts. I see unyielding rock under an ocean of sand.
DEANNA: Commander!
RIKER: What is it, Deanna?
DEANNA: Malencon. He's in trouble!
MALENCON: (OC) Help! Help! Argh! (Screams and bangs)
They run to the hydraulics room door.
RIKER: Can you open it?
MANDL: It's jammed.
A last scream, and then quiet. The door opens to reveal a burnt body and a cylinder with a smoking hole in it. There is a laser in the room.
RIKER: (VO) First Officer's log, stardate 41464.3. What began as a routine visit to a terraforming site has turned into something far more serious. Arthur Malencon, the hydraulics engineer, has been critically injured by a laser drill which appears to have malfunctioned.
Scene: Hydraulics room.
PICARD: (OC) Situation report, Number One.
RIKER: For safety reasons, we're shutting off all power to the Hydraulics room before entering to recover the body. Then we'll beam him up to Sickbay, but from the look of his wounds, it's probably hopeless.
PICARD: (OC) Keep me informed.
GEORDI: (OC) Data?
DATA: Go ahead, Geordi.
Scene: Control room.
BENSEN: All set.
GEORDI: Data, we have your section completely powered down now. Bensen has just locked the master servomotor drive system.
Scene: Hydraulics room.
GEORDI: (OC) So it should be safe in there now.
TASHA: I'm going in.
DATA: I will go with you.
TASHA: Transporter Room, this is Lieutenant Yar. Two to beam up to Sickbay.
Tasha and Malencon are beamed away.
LUISA: I want to go. We should be with him. Kurt, please come too.
RIKER: Georda, Dana are you two going to beam back up.
GEORDA: I was thinking that Dana and I could stay here with Geordi and Data.
RIKER: Very well. You want to be with your boyfriends. I understand. You can stay.
GEORDA AND DANA: Thank you, Commander.
RIKER: Transporter Room, this is Commander Riker. Beam up four at my coordinates.
Riker, Deanna, Luisa and Mandl are beamed away.
Scene: Control room.
DATA: (OC) Geordi, this is intriguing. I have seen malfunctions
Scene: Hydraulics room.
DATA: But this is almost as if the laser drill seemed to operate itself with a will
Scene: Control room.
DATA: (OC) Separate from it's control console.
BENSEN: I can't explain it.
Scene: Hydraulics room.
DATA: The laser blasts seemed to end when the yelling stopped.
Scene: Control room.
BENSEN: Maybe Arthur stopped it, only not in time.
Scene: Hydraulics room.
DATA: Not possible.
Scene: Control room.
GEORDI: Then what are you suggesting?
Scene: Hydraulics room.
DATA: Uncertain. Geordi, please return power to the control console in this room. I wish to reactivate the programme.
Scene: Control room.
GEORDI: You got it.
Scene: Hydraulics room.
The laser powers up, turns, and fires a shot into a tunnel cut in the wall. Then it does the same in the opposite wall.
DATA: I am running the base drilling programme.
The little red light focuses on the back of Data's neck and the doors slam shut. Data turns and dodges the deadly beams.
Scene: Control room.
DATA: (OC) Geordi, servos off.
BENSEN: They are off.
GEORDI: Data, what's happening?
DATA: (OC) Too much to explain.
Benson and LaForge run to the Hydraulics room door.
GEORDI: Can you open that? LaForge to Enterprise. We have a problem.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Be specific.
Scene Control room.
GEORDI: Data's in the hydraulics room alone, and we're hearing laser blasts.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Get him out of there!
Scene: Control room.
BENSEN: It's not working again.
GEORDI: We've got to get this door open. Data! We can't get in! Data! Data! Data!
DANA: Data!
The door opens on a room full of smoke.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Away team, now. What is happening?
Scene: Hydraulics room.
PICARD: (OC) I'm going to beam him out of there.
DATA: Bridge, this is Lieutenant Commander Data. No need to beam me up, sir. The situation is under control.
GEORDI: Are you all right?
DATA: Yes.
DANA: (as she hugs Data tightly and he returns the hug) Thank goodness you are all right.
GEORDI: What happened? Did you do anything which might have set it off?
DATA: No, but the firing programme was dynamic.
GEORDI: The firing programme? In what way?
DATA: It adjusted to my tactics. It tracked with me, anticipating. A fixed programme could not have done that.
GEORDI: Are you suggesting that someone was controlling the aiming and firing sequence?
DATA: That is exactly how it appeared. There was a mind working against me.
BENSEN: What did you do to this laser drill? A year's work destroyed!
The drill looks like the last turkey in the shop.
DATA: I had no choice.
Scene: Ready room.
DATA: We were attempting to trace the source of the malfunction when it attacked me.
MANDL: How much more of this useless fantasy must I listen to?
PICARD: None at all, Mister Mandl. Until this is sorted out, I've provided temporary quarters for you and your staff. Perhaps you'd like to make use of them.
MANDL: You're overstepping your authority, Picard. You have no right to interfere.
PICARD: Mister Mandl, an attack on one of my crew gives me the right.
MANDL: I have a schedule to meet.
PICARD: Your schedule is on hold, until I have a satisfactory explanation of this. Director Mandl. Lieutenant Yar, would you escort the Director to his quarters.
TASHA: Aye, sir.
Mandl and Tasha leave.
PICARD: Go on with your report.
DATA: It would appear the laser's drilling system was reprogrammed, sir. As soon as its memory bank received power, it turned itself on and went after me. Fortunately, I was able to cope with it.
GEORDI: And not by much, from what I saw.
DATA: I believe it was programmed to destroy any person moving in that room, sir.
PICARD: Certainty? Or speculation?
DATA: Certainty.
GEORDI: That would have required the talents of a master programmer.
DATA: But it was done.
PICARD: And so the question becomes not who, since it clearly was one of the three remaining terraformers. The question becomes why? What are they hiding? What could be so important that one or all of them, could be desperate enough to kill?
GEORDI: Shall I have them brought in, sir?
PICARD: Not yet.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Malencon?
BEVERLY: I couldn't save him. The injuries were too severe, the damage too extensive.
RIKER: The entire Velara Three facility has been powered down, Captain.
WORF: We've just completed a remote power feed to the life support systems.
PICARD: Good. Data, I want you and Geordi to return for more careful inspection.
DATA: What are we to look for, sir?
PICARD: Evidence of tampering, negligence, sabotage, whatever. The answer's there, on the planet. Georda and Dana if you want you can return with Data and Geordi. Tasha, I want you to provide Counselor Troi and me with complete personnel records on our three guests. Psych profiles, training, everything. I'm looking for motive, intent, the psychological capacity to commit one murder and to attempt another.
TASHA: Aye, sir.
GEORDA AND DANA: Thank you, Captain.
PICARD: It seems we are becoming detectives, Number One.
Scene: Hydraulics room.
It's dark.
GEORDI: Not much left of this drill.
Data and Dana scans something in one of the tunnels, and a little light flashes in their face.
DATA: Geordi, Georda, I need some visual assistance.
GEORDI: Whoa. What is it? Nothing but basic elements. Inorganic. No carbon. Sandy texture. Those flashes are almost musical. I see colour variations and rhythms in complex harmonies.
DATA: Speculation. Could it be alive?
GEORDA: How could it be alive? It's inorganic.
DATA: Whatever it is, it could be what they are covering up, and the reason someone killed Malencon.
PICARD: (VO) Captain's log, supplemental. On my order, Data's startling discovery of a possible life form has been beamed aboard so that its true nature might be uncovered. But unlike life on Earth and elsewhere, it appears to be completely inorganic.
Scene: Medical lab.
The stuff from the tunnel walls is in a bell jar.
BEVERLY: A test for inorganic life.
DATA: It's never been done, Doctor.
BEVERLY: There are basic definitions for organic life. Must have the ability to assimilate, respirate, reproduce, grow and develop, move, secrete and excrete.
PICARD: Would any of those apply here?
BEVERLY: Perhaps growth and development.
DATA: Reproduction?
BEVERLY: Yes. Those two may be basic for any definition of life, organic or inorganic.
PICARD: Well, Doctor, you're charging unknown seas. How do we proceed?
BEVERLY: As we're dealing with a fundamental question, let's use the basic scientific method. Observe, theorise and attempt to prove it. Activate. Let's be sure of what we're dealing with. Is the sample organic?
COMPUTER: Negative carbon. Negative known life components. Substance inorganic.
DATA: Recheck analysis, please.
COMPUTER: Rechecking. Analysis verified. Not organic.
BEVERLY: Magnify to screen. Factor five. Hold surface. Factor ten.
Something microscopic within the structure is pulsing.
PICARD: What are we looking at?
WESLEY: It's really beautiful, whatever it is.
LESLEY: How true that is.
PICARD: What's that hum?
DATA: It started after Doctor Crusher ordered the scanner to magnify.
BEVERLY: Computer, de-magnify. Resume normal scan.
The hum continues.
PICARD: Everyone stand back.
It gets quieter.
BEVERLY: Step back again.
And quieter.
BEVERLY: It's us.
PICARD: Yes, we're causing it. Why?
DATA: Unknown. But it is definitely reacting to our presence. Perhaps it is picking up the electrical impulse of our systems.
LESLEY: The flashes haven't changed.
WESLEY: Could the hum be connected to the flashing?
BEVERLY: Computer, magnify. What is the magnification?
COMPUTER: Twenty five hundred diameters.
BEVERLY: Analyse the pattern of the flashes.
COMPUTER: Not repetitive or sequential. Pattern not recognised.
BEVERLY: What is the source of the flashes?
COMPUTER: Unable to specify. Theoretically not possible from this substance.
BEVERLY: Disregard incongruity and theorise as to source.
COMPUTER: Life.
Scene: Ready room.
MANDL: What do you mean a life form?! What life form?! A Federation recon expedition certified Velara Three lifeless.
PICARD: Understandable, given this particular life form's novel nature.
MANDL: What is that nature?
PICARD: Doctor Crusher is still making her determination. Mister Mandl, you know the Prime Directive.
MANDL: Are you saying that I knowingly defied it?
PICARD: That's what I have to find out. You're a man obsessed with what you does. Who knows what an obsessed man will do to keep going? Kill, perhaps?
MANDL: I create life. I don't take it.
Mandl storms out, insulted.
RIKER: You hit him pretty hard, Captain.
PICARD: What do you think, Counselor?
DEANNA: It was useful. I felt two levels. He did know about the life form, but the idea of murder seemed to shock him. Whether it was the whole idea, or just being accused of it, I can't tell.
PICARD: What about his file, Lieutenant Yar? Could he have accomplished the reprogramming that Data says took place?
TASHA: Mandl holds advanced degrees in computer science as well as artificial intelligence. It's possible.
PICARD: What about the others? Including the victim.
TASHA: Only the victim had the required expertise. Malencon did work where the whatever it is was found. Trying to suppress that knowledge would be motive for murder, if Mandl were obsessed enough.
DEANNA: Terraformers are often obsessive. It frequently goes with the career profile.
RIKER: How do you read the designer?
DEANNA: She's possessed of highly abstracted reality. Lovely visions, little data. You might do better than I.
Scene: Luisa's quarters.
Luisa has been crying when the door bell rings.
LUISA: It's not locked.
RIKER: Mind a visitor?
LUISA: Is it true? Did you really find a life form?
RIKER: The debate is still going on in some quarters, but I think so, yes.
LUISA: What's it like?
RIKER: We have nothing we can compare it with. It's microscopic. It seems colonial, simple. But it's inorganic. Which is why the recon scouts missed it. It was not your mistake.
LUISA: Everything I've worked so hard for is falling apart.
RIKER: Luisa, it's very beautiful. I could arrange for you to see it if you like.
LUISA: Perhaps later.
Scene: Bridge.
The image from the lab is on the viewscreen.
BEVERLY: (OC) Captain, this is Doctor Crusher. I think you'd better come to the Medical Lab.
Scene: Medical lab.
PICARD: What is it?
BEVERLY: Geordi observed movement.
GEORDI: Not movement exactly, but a definite shift in the energy pattern.
DATA: Without external influence.
PICARD: The hum has gone too. Why?
DATA: Unknown, sir. Perhaps it is scanning us.
PICARD: Scanning us? Why? What could it hope to learn?
DATA: Unknown at this time, sir.
GEORDI: It's changing.
PICARD: I don't see anything.
GEORDI: The infrared range is increasing.
COMPUTER: Warning. Input overload.
BEVERLY: The hum is back.
DATA: It is projecting an energy field.
GEORDI: And it's intensifying!
COMPUTER: Magnification deactivated.
Now there are two bright lights in the bell jar, instead of one.
BEVERLY: Two of them!
DATA: Only life can replicate itself, Doctor. Inorganic or not, it is alive.
BEVERLY: Activate quarantine field. (but something is pushing against it) Quarantine field full. Full shield backup!
The shield fails.
BEVERLY: Evacuating lab.
COMPUTER: Translation request being patched.
PICARD: Translation? From whom?
COMPUTER: (gibberish)
BEVERLY: Evacuate.
Scene: Corridor.
WESLEY: What's wrong on with the translator circuit?
PICARD: Bridge, this is the Captain. Request emergency power to initiate lab quarantine seal.
Scene: Bridge.
RIKER: Do it, Mister Worf.
WORF: Aye, sir.
RIKER: What's the nature of the problem, Captain? We've lost visual.
Scene: Corridor.
PICARD: We have confirmed that Data's discovery is life. But more than that, it is intelligent life.
Scene: Bridge.
RIKER: How do you know, sir?
Scene: Corridor.
PICARD: It's trying to communicate with us.
PICARD: (VO) Captain's log, supplemental. The inorganic life form from Velara Three has apparently taken over our Medical Lab.
Scene: Bridge.
WORF: It generates enough energy to interfere with the surrounding systems.
PICARD: Mister LaForge, can we see into the lab yet?
GEORDI: Negative, Captain. Reducing the backup to the quarantine seal might help.
PICARD: Doctor?
BEVERLY: I wouldn't.
PICARD: Continue quarantine.
GEORDI: Aye, sir.
TASHA: (OC) Director Mandl and the others are in the Observation Lounge as you requested.
PICARD: Counselor, I shall need you. You have the Bridge, Number One.
Scene: Observation Lounge.
PICARD: Director Mandl, I put it to you again. What do you know about these life forms?
MANDL: Not a thing.
PICARD: Enough! Sit down, Lieutenant. You are deliberately evasive and it must stop. You have kept information from me since our first communication. An alien life form has taken possession of my Medical Lab. You knew of its existence.
MANDL: Yes.
LUISA: Is this true? You knew there was life on Velara Three?
MANDL: I knew that there were random energy patterns, yes, I knew that. But not life. Not by any definition I have ever heard.
DEANNA: But you tried to keep that knowledge from us.
MANDL: No! They are meaningless silicon crystals, which rebroadcast sunlight.
PICARD: It is a life form and it has intelligence.
MANDL: Why do you say that?
PICARD: It's trying to communicate with us.
MANDL: Communicate with you?
PICARD: When did you first become aware of them?
BENSEN: Tell them about the pattern in the sand.
PICARD: Oh, yes. Do tell us.
BENSEN: When we first arrived, we noticed that in certain areas the sand had a sparkling effect, like sunlight bouncing off new fallen snow.
PICARD: What did you think it was?
BENSEN: Honestly, we did not give it any thought.
MANDL: Picard, I must point out again that we were assured, not once but many times, by the best scientific minds in the Federation, that this planet has no life. No life! And we were not looking, and therefore we did not see.
PICARD: All right. At first you dismissed it. But then you began to understand that there was something that was different about them.
MANDL: You can't know that.
PICARD: Your apprehension suggested it, when we first arrived. Tell me about these patterns.
BENSEN: At first we thought it was just a natural phenomenon unique to Velara Three.
MANDL: Refraction and a thin atmosphere is interesting, but certainly not life.
LUISA: Why was I never told about this?
MANDL: Because it's not particularly important.
BENSEN: As the building of the terraforming station went forward, the patterns in the sand ceased being random and became very specific. Geometric shapes suddenly appearing, disappearing, changing location, changing size.
PICARD: Did you ever feel that these patterns were attempting to communicate?
MANDL: No, never.
PICARD: Bensen?
BENSEN: I don't know. At the time, I didn't think so. But now, after hearing what you just said. Now, I don't know.
RIKER: (OC) Captain, we've regained magnification of the life form. It's divided again.
PICARD: Patch visual to Observation lounge.
Eight round things with a bar pattern are on the screen.
MANDL: There was no indication of any of this on Velara Three.
BENSEN: Absolutely none.
Scene: Bridge.
Working at the rear science stations.
WORF: I cannot understand the patterns.
GEORDI: Neither can I.
DATA: Please show me the spectral analysis magnification twelve K.
COMPUTER: Silicon. Germanium.
DATA: Transistor material.
COMPUTER: Gallium arsenide.
GEORDI: Emits light when charged.
COMPUTER: Cadmium selenide sulfide.
DATA: Emits charge when lit.
COMPUTER: Water, impurities, sodium salts.
WORF: Conductor. But is it alive?!
COMPUTER: Probability positive.
WORF: I wasn't asking you.
CREWWOMAN: (OC) Engineering to Bridge.
RIKER: This is Commander Riker, go ahead.
Scene: Engineering.
CREWWOMAN: The backup on the lab seal is fluctuating, sir. I think you should come down here.
Scene: Bridge.
RIKER: On my way. Data, you've got the Bridge. Inform the Captain.
Scene: Engineering.
RIKER: Status, Ensign?
CREWWOMAN: The quarantine seal is getting weaker. Every time I try to redirect backup it goes somewhere else. I think I've. No, it's locked three people in a turbolift and two more in the programmers' rest room.
RIKER: If that reading is right, there is no seal. Give me lab interior image.
CREWWOMAN: Yes, sir.
RIKER: Magnify.
The bell jar flares again, and the light gets brighter and pulses more quickly.
RIKER: Picard, this is Riker.
Scene: Observation lounge.
PICARD: We see it too, Number One.
Static charges flare from the bell jar.
PICARD: Get that seal back up.
Scene: Engineering.
CREWWOMAN: Sir, no matter what I do, the energy goes somewhere else. What if it hits the Sickbay, or nursery?
RIKER: Hold off. Impossible, Captain.
Scene: Observation lounge.
RIKER: (OC) We haven't got the power.
PICARD: (VO) Captain's log, supplemental. The life form, which has significantly increased in size, is again attempting to communicate with us.
Scene: Bridge.
DATA: The Universal Translator is coming on line, sir.
VOICE: Ugly, ugly giant bags of mostly water
PICARD: Bags of mostly water?
DATA: An accurate description of humans, sir. You are over ninety percent water surrounded by a flexible container.
BEVERLY: Life force, do you understand us?
VOICE: We understand. We ask you that you be gone. We call. We talk. You not listen.
PICARD: We didn't hear you. We come in peace.
VOICE: Ugly bags of mostly water, we try at peace. You still do not listen. Bags who drill in sands of home have to die.
RIKER: It killed Malencon.
DEANNA: We see and hear you now. We didn't know you were there. You are beautiful to us. All life is beautiful.
VOICE: Bag in dome did know. Caused much death. Made us kill. War is now with you.
DATA: The translator is now offline, sir.
PICARD: Can you hear us now? (the ship shakes) Mister LaForge?
GEORDI: Restabilising, Captain.
DATA: Sir, that chaos when we were studying it in the lab must have been the energy surge of a reproductive cycle. It is now a colony of single cells which organize as a computer. And like any computer
PICARD: More is stronger.
The ship shakes again.
PICARD: (VO) Captain's log, supplemental. We have regained visual contact with the lab, but our attempts to restore communication with this microbrain, as we have come to call it, has been unsuccessful. One thing that is certain, however. This life form has declared war on us.
Scene: Bridge.
RIKER: Their range of influence appears to be concentrated in the Medical Lab, Captain.
TASHA: All non-essential personnel have been moved to the most distant areas of the ship, sir.
PICARD: Data, any analysis of those bolts of light it emits?
DATA: That seems to be it's method of reprogramming, Captain. Each bolt of light consists of negatively and positively charged ions. A series of programme instructions, as it were. It seems to have a quicker rapport with our computers than we have.
WORF: What do you expect? It is computer.
PICARD: Have we disabled the Medical Lab computer console?
RIKER: Aye, sir. As soon as Data determined the microbrain's method of operation.
GEORDI: Captain, picking up a decrease in infra-red intensity.
WORF: Maybe the life-form has reached its energy level.
BEVERLY: Or maybe that's not the end of it. With single-celled life forms, at least organic ones, cell division is preceded by a resting state.
RIKER: The calm before the storm?
PICARD: Medical Lab on main viewer. Let's use this calm.
DATA: It does seem dormant, Captain.
PICARD: Tasha, set coordinates to beam it back where it came from.
TASHA: Coordinates set, sir.
PICARD: Energise.
They see the transporter effect try to take hold and then be repulsed.
GEORDI: Transporter power being redirected, sir. We are unable to affect it.
PICARD: Life form or not, intelligent or not , the safety of this ship and everyone aboard her is my primary responsibility. Data, evacuate all the air from the Medical Lab. I want a vacuum there.
DATA: Environmental systems fail to respond to command, Captain. It appears the microbrain has successfully interfaced with our computers.
Scene: Observation Lounge.
MANDL: Picard, if it did try to communicate with us, we didn't understand that.
PICARD: It has declared a state of war and we are on the defensive. We have no control over our Medical Lab nor our computer. At this moment it has the power to destroy this ship and everybody on it. I need your help.
MANDL: Unbelievable.
PICARD: It said you killed some of them. I need to know how.
MANDL: I don't know.
PICARD: What was Malencon doing when he was killed?
LUISA: There is a very thin layer of highly saline water under the sandy top soil. He was siphoning that off.
BEVERLY: Perhaps somehow that saline water sustained them.
DATA: It connected them.
LUISA: I don't understand.
BEVERLY: The microbrains may be like our own brain cells. Individually, a cell has life but not intelligence. Yet when interconnected, their combined intelligence is formidable.
DATA: The saline fluid is their circuitry, and to prevent its loss, they killed Malencon.
LUISA: If we had continued to remove that water, we would have destroyed them all.
PICARD: Reason enough for anyone to go to war.
RIKER: (OC) Captain, it's happening again. I think you'd better get in here.
Scene: Bridge.
This time, after the bright light, the bell jar breaks and a crystalline structure stands there, free.
RIKER: If this keeps up, it will tear up the Enterprise.
PICARD: What can you determine, Mister LaForge?
DATA: Captain, our sensors indicate that the microbrain expends a tremendous amount of energy during its reproductive cycle. Yet there is no discernible power drain on our own systems.
PICARD: Then what is feeding the damn thing?
GEORDI: We found traces of cadmium salts. Now, cadmium is a conduit for converting infra-red into electricity.
PICARD: Meaning?
DATA: Meaning the microbrains might be photoelectric.
PICARD: Kill the lights in the medical lab, Mister LaForge. Let's see if darkness will neutralise it.
GEORDI: Sorry, sir, it still has control of the computer. We can't do it by remote.
PICARD: Number One, light.
LUISA: The life form must have evolved at that narrow layer where the light got through the sand to the water. Drop the water a centimetre below the light penetration level, and they starve.
Scene: Corridor.
RIKER: Killing lab lights now.
Scene: Bridge.
TASHA: It's slowing down.
GEORDI: It's getting dimmer, too.
VOICE: More light please.
PICARD: Only if you will talk to us.
VOICE: We die. Bags of water kill us. You are like others.
PICARD: We have no wish to kill you. We never have.
VOICE: You do not say truth.
PICARD: We will end this war, if you will end the war.
VOICE: Darkness. Death. Terrible. Must go home to wet sand. War over.
PICARD: Agreed. We will send you home to your wet sand. Picard to Riker. Bring up the lights in the lab, just a bit. (he does) Are you better?
VOICE: Better.
PICARD: We mean you no harm. Do you believe me?
VOICE: Yes.
PICARD: Good. It is important that you trust us.
VOICE: Not yet. You are still too arrogant. Too primitive. Come back three centuries. Perhaps then we trust.
PICARD: We understand what you are saying. We will leave you. We will send you home.
Scene: Medical lab.
RIKER: Riker to Transporter Chief. Pick up the coordinates of the bell jar in the Medical Lab for return to Velara Three.
CHIEF: (OC) Coordinates entered, sir.
RIKER: Riker to Bridge. Captain, we're ready to beam it back to the planet.
Scene: Bridge.
DATA: I wish we were able to learn more about them, sir.
PICARD: In time, Mister Data. When we're better prepared.
MANDL: I wanted to create a place where living things could thrive, and all the while I was about to destroy the life that is there.
DEANNA: Our apologies.
PICARD: And respects. Lieutenant Yar.
TASHA: Coordinates set, sir.
PICARD: Energise.
PICARD: (VO) Captain's log, stardate 41464.8. I have declared an indefinite quarantine for Velara Three, and we are now returning to Starbase with the three surviving terraformers. Perhaps the lesson we have learned from this near tragedy will prevent it from happening elsewhere.
Scene: Ten Forward.
Lesley and her sisters were sitting at a table talking to each other when they were soon joined by their boyfriends.
WESLEY: Is this a private party or can we join you?
LESLEY: (laughs) Very funny Wes. Of course you three can join us.
DATA: (to Dana) I do not get how Lesley thought that Wesley's question was funny.
DANA: I will explain it later, Data.
Later that night Dana was sleeping in Data's embrace though Data doesn't sleep he stays up and watches his girl sleep. Georda is sleeping in Geordi's embrace. Lesley is sleeping in Wesley's embrace.

That was a really good chapter. I liked the parts with Lesley/Wesley, Dana/Data and Georda/Geordi. I also like the ending where Lesley and her sisters when they with their boyfriends.

Thank you. I had a feeling that you'll like those parts.

Chapter 19
Coming Of Age

Scene: Corridor.
WESLEY: Jake! Jake! Jake, wait a second. How're you doing?
JAKE: I'm fine. Really.
WESLEY: Jake, I'm sorry.
BEVERLY: (OC) Acting Ensign Crusher, report to transporter room eight.
JAKE: It's not your fault.
WESLEY: Yeah, I know. I wish both of us were going.
JAKE: I don't know. Only thirty two points.
BEVERLY (OC) Mister Crusher, respond.
WESLEY: I'm on my way, Doctor. I've got to go.
JAKE: I know. Hey, Wes. Do well for both of us, okay?
WESLEY: All right.
PICARD: (VO) Captain's log, stardate 41416.2. We're orbiting Relva Seven, where Wesley Crusher is about to be tested for entrance into Starfleet Academy. And to my great surprise, I have just learned that my old friend Admiral Gregory Quinn is on Relva Seven, and has requested to be beamed aboard the Enterprise immediately.
Scene: Transporter room.
LESLEY: Wesley wait!
WESLEY: What is it starshine?
LESLEY: I just wanted to tell you to do your best.
WESLEY: Don't worry I will.
LESLEY: Oh, one more thing.
WESLEY: What's that?
LESLEY: If by any chance some girl comes up to you and tells you that you're cute or something don't forget to mention me.
WESLEY: Don't worry, starshine. Your the only girl for me.
Lesley kisses Wesley. After they break the kiss Lesley leaves and joins her sisters. Immediately after Wesley is beamed down, Quinn and Remmick are beamed aboard. Quinn is old, silver-haired. Remmick is probably thirties, high forehead.
PICARD: Welcome aboard, Admiral.
QUINN: Thank you. Captain Jean Luc Picard, Lieutenant Commander Dexter Remmick.
REMMICK: Sir.
PICARD: Allow me to introduce my staff. First Officer William Riker, Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher, Chief of Security, Natasha Yar. Well, what can we do for you?
QUINN: I need to speak with you.
PICARD: Certainly. This way. Number One?
QUINN: Alone.
PICARD: Is this a personal matter?
QUINN: Official business.
PICARD: Well then my First Officer
QUINN: Alone, Captain.
Scene: Ready room.
QUINN: Commander Remmick is with the Inspector General's office.
PICARD: Oh?
QUINN: He'll be conducting a full investigation of the Enterprise.
PICARD: What are you looking for?
QUINN: I have reason to believe there may be something very wrong on this ship.
PICARD: Tell me what you suspect.
QUINN: It's inappropriate to discuss it at this time. Mister Remmick, Starfleet is counting on you. You will find out what is wrong on this ship.
REMMICK: Yes, sir. Nothing and no one will stand in my way.
QUINN: And you, Captain, are ordered to cooperate in every way necessary with this investigation. Is that clear?
PICARD: Yes, sir.
QUINN: Mister Remmick, unless there are any further questions.
REMMICK: No questions, sir.
QUINN: Get on with your duties.
REMMICK: Yes, sir.
Remmick leaves.
PICARD: We've known one another for years. Tell me what you believe is wrong.
QUINN: Captain, it is vitally important that my orders be followed exactly. I'll be staying on the ship.
PICARD: As you wish, Admiral.
Scene: Classroom.
OLIANA: (a young red-head) What is it?
WESLEY: What?
OLIANA: The unit you just put down. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone.
WESLEY: It's a flux coordinating sensor.
OLIANA: I'm Oliana Mirren, one of the other finalists. You must be Wesley Crusher.
WESLEY: Yeah. Do you know me?
OLIANA: I heard there was a very smart, very young man who'd be tough competition.
WESLEY: Well, you wouldn't be here
OLIANA: I weren't smart. I know. But there's a lot more to it than just that. You're lucky. You've had practical experience aboard the Enterprise.
(Other young people enter)
T'SHANIK: Oliana. (to Wesley) T'Shanik of Vulcana Regar.
WESLEY: Wesley Crusher of the Enterprise.
T'SHANIK: You do not look as if you meet the age requirements.
WESLEY: Uh, I'll be sixteen next month.
OLIANA: Happy birthday.
WESLEY: Excuse me. (goes over to the third newcomer) I'm Wesley Crusher.
MORDOCK: Mordock.
WESLEY: Mordock? The Mordock? The Benzite who constructed the Mordock Strategy? I thought you already were in the Academy.
MORDOCK: No. Only a hopeful, like you.
An officer enters.
CHANG: Finalists, please take your seats I'm Tac Officer Chang. Welcome. You are here because you are all top candidates. Although only one student will be chosen for the Academy, you have shown from the preliminary testing that any of you could easily qualify. This may be the most difficult, exhausting experience of your life, and the most exciting challenge. Expect the unexpected. May you all do your best.
Scene: Bridge.
Remmick is tapping notes into his PADD.
DATA: May I help you, Mister Remmick?
REMMICK: Keep on doing whatever it is you're doing, Commander Data.
GEORDI: There's nothing much to see here, Commander. We're in a standard orbit, and the station has to be manned even if it's just routine.
RIKER: Something I can help you with, Mister Remmick?
REMMICK: When I'm ready, Mister Riker, I'll want to speak with you. Privately.
GEORDI: Commander, just having that guy around makes me feel guilty. What's he after, anyway?
RIKER: I don't know, Geordi, but I'm going to find out. Right now.
Scene: Ready room.
PICARD: Come.
RIKER: Captain, may I speak frankly?
PICARD: Always, Number One.
RIKER: As First Officer, I should be informed. I should know everything that you know.
PICARD: That's right, you should.
RIKER: Then what's this about? Remmick is going to turn this ship upside down.
PICARD: That's his job.
RIKER: And my job is to see that this ship runs smoothly.
PICARD: Which you do very well.
RIKER: Sir, am I under investigation?
PICARD: I don't know.
RIKER: And if you did?
PICARD: I couldn't tell you.
RIKER: I don't understand, sir. This is extremely frustrating.
PICARD: No less so for me. But I promised cooperation, and that's what we shall give.
RIKER: Sir.
Scene: Bridge.
REMMICK: I want some answers from you now, Commander Riker.
RIKER: Later.
REMMICK: You were ordered to cooperate
RIKER: Not now. (enters turbolift) When it doesn't interfere with my duties, Remmick.
Scene: Classroom.
COMPUTER: Last question on the hyperspace physics test. If the matter and antimatter tanks on a Galaxy class starship are nine tenths depleted, calculate the intermix ratio necessary to reach a starbase a hundred light years away at warp factor eight. Begin.
Wesley is straight in with 1:1. Oliana runs out of time.
COMPUTER: Time elapsed. You now have one hour free before the next test.
MORDOCK: I must admit, Wesley, you have a very fast mind.
WESLEY: Once as I realised it was a trick question, there was only one answer.
MORDOCK: Yes, there is only one ratio with matter antimatter. One to one.
OLIANA: You don't know how lucky you are. I can't imagine what it would be like to have things come so easily. I have to push every step of the way.
WESLEY: Oh, no, Oliana, it doesn't come that easily. I have to study all the time.
OLIANA: It's a good thing you're cute, Wesley, or you could really be obnoxious. See you later.
Oliana leaves.
WESLEY: Did you hear what she said, Mordock? She said I was cute.
MORDOCK: Is that good, Wesley?
WESLEY: Yes! I think.
Just then something dawn on him.
WESLEY: I just realized something.
MORDOCK: What's that?
WESLEY: Lesley told me that if some girl comes up to me and tells me that I'm cute, I should mention her.
MORDOCK: Who's Lesley?
WESLEY: My girlfriend aboard the Enterprise.
MORDOCK: Is she pretty?
WESLEY: She is beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful girl in the universe.
Scene: Bridge.
RIKER: I think I should apologise, Captain.
PICARD: No need, Number One. Mister Remmick's presence is unnerving, to say the least.
REMMICK: Are you available now, Mister Riker? Or do you still have duties to perform?
RIKER: I'm available, Mister Remmick.
REMMICK: Any problem with using your Ready room, Captain?
PICARD: No, Mister Remmick. Be my guest.
Scene: Ready room.
Remmick sits himself in the Captain's chair and gestures Riker to sit too.
REMMICK: If you prefer to stand, fine, Mister Riker. It won't have an effect on the length of my inquiry. (Riker sits) Now, there are several seeming discrepancies in the Captain's log. Let's go over them one by one, shall we?
RIKER: The Captain's log?
REMMICK: Yes. To the best of your knowledge, has the Captain ever falsified a log?
RIKER: Have you discussed this with him?
REMMICK: Right now, I'm asking you.
RIKER: If you want to discuss anything about Captain Picard, you bring him in here and ask him face to face.
REMMICK: You are required to answer my questions, Mister Riker, unless you're trying to cover something up! Now, there are several discrepancies in the Captain's log. Shall we go over them one by one?
RIKER: Proceed.
Scene: Engineering.
REMMICK: So, you are saying Captain Picard had no control over this vessel. He handed it over to Kosinski, who took the entire crew to the edge of the universe.
GEORDI: No, sir. That's not what I'm saying. Now, Kosinski was sent by Starfleet to improve our warp drive system. Captain Picard was ordered to take him aboard.
REMMICK: According to his own logs, his Bridge crew didn't think highly of Mister Kosinski's theories, yet the Captain allowed him to access to the engines anyway. Is that true, La Forge?
GEORDI: Not exactly, sir.
REMMICK: One way or the other, La Forge, Picard lost control of this ship. Is that true?
GEORDI: Yes, but that's not how it happened.
REMMICK: So, the answer is yes.
Scene: Ready room.
REMMICK: Do you believe the captain is emotionally and psychologically fit for command of this starship? There is nothing in his history or his personality that would suggest mental lapses?
DEANNA: Nothing.
REMMICK: Not even the Ferengi incident with his old ship, the Stargazer?
DEANNA: He was being controlled by a mind altering machine, Commander. Without his knowledge.
REMMICK: I would call that a mental lapse.
Scene: Holodeck.
There is no programme running.
WORF: Ensign, what are you doing on the holodeck? I thought you were still on Relva Seven.
WESLEY: I'm finished testing for the day.
WORF: I've disturbed you. I'll leave.
WESLEY: Wait. I thought I wanted to be alone, but I guess I don't.
WORF: How is the testing?
WESLEY: Okay. So far. It's not the ones that I've studied for that I'm worried about. It's the psych test. Facing my deepest fear and living through it. I'm trying to figure out what images to bring up.
WORF: Why?
WESLEY: I guess I want to scare myself. What do you think? Bulgallian rats? Lightning storms?
WORF: Do those things frighten you?
WESLEY: Sort of, I guess.
WORF: The psych test is no more or less important than the rest of the process.
WESLEY: That's what they said, but I can't stop thinking about it.
WORF: Thinking about what you can't control only wastes your energy and creates its own enemy.
WESLEY: How can they know what my deepest fear is when I don't?
WORF: By analysing your psychological profile. They were very accurate about everyone I tested with. Including myself.
WESLEY: You? I thought there was nothing that could frighten a Klingon warrior.
WORF: Only fools have no fear.
WESLEY: I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I'm asking too many personal questions.
WORF: It is very difficult for me to depend on anyone for anything. But especially for my life.
WESLEY: But on the Enterprise you do that every day. Everyone depends on everyone else to protect them.
WORF: Yes.
WESLEY: So you overcame it?
WORF: No. It is still my enemy.
Scene: Bridge.
RIKER: With this new extricator, sir, we can eliminate three more bulky machines from cargo space.
PICARD: That's excellent, Number One.
TASHA: Captain, there's an unauthorised entry in main Shuttlebay.
REMMICK: Unauthorised?
PICARD: Who is it, Lieutenant?
TASHA: Computer reads the ID number of Jake Kurland. Bridge to main Shuttlebay. Mister Kurland, this is Lieutenant Yar. Respond.
REMMICK: Isn't the area secured?
RIKER: Not now, Remmick. He's going to take this out, Captain.
TASHA: I'm locking off the bay launch doors, Captain.
WORF: Too late. He's using the flight emergency override
GEORDI: Smart kid.
REMMICK: Kid?
TASHA: He's launching.
PICARD: On viewer. Lieutenant Yar, open channel. Enterprise to shuttlecraft. Mister Kurland, this is Captain Picard. Mister Kurland.
JAKE: (OC) Captain, I'm going to Beltane Nine
Scene: Shuttlecraft.
JAKE: To sign onto a freighter. Tell my father I'm sorry.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: You can tell him yourself, in person. Bring that ship back at once.
JAKE: (OC) No.
Scene: Shuttlecraft.
JAKE: I can't face him. I'm leaving. (alarm sounds)
Scene: Bridge.
GEORDI: Captain, he's unbalanced the dilithium reaction.
Scene: Shuttlecraft.
JAKE: I've lost power!
Scene: Bridge.
RIKER: All he's got left are his manoeuvring jets, Captain.
GEORDI: At this trajectory, he'll enter the atmosphere and burn up at two hundred kilometres.
PICARD: Probable impact?
DATA: Atmospheric entry seventy eight seconds.
PICARD: Options?
WORF: Tractor beam?
RIKER: Not possible. He's too far away for a positive lock.
TASHA: He's out of transporter range.
REMMICK: Captain, you are completely responsible for that boy's life.
PICARD: Mister Remmick, either get out of my way and keep quiet, or I will have you removed from the Bridge. Viewer on shuttle cockpit.
TASHA: Visual on main viewer.
PICARD: Mister Kurland.
JAKE: (on viewscreen) I can't get the engine started. What am I going to do? I'm going to crash.
RIKER: He needs another fifty seconds for the core to cool down before it can restart.
PICARD: Stay calm, Jake. We'll get you back.
Scene: Shuttlecraft.
JAKE: Please, help me!
PICARD: (OC) Jake!
JAKE: It's no use, Captain. I'm going to die out here.
Scene: Bridge.
RIKER: He'll need another thirty seconds before he can restart.
DATA: Irrelevant, sir. Even if he restarts his engine now, he will not have enough thrust to escape impact.
PICARD: Mister Kurland, you are not going to die out there. You are going to do exactly what I tell you. Now, take the nose of the shuttlecraft and aim it directly at Relva Seven.
Scene: Shuttlecraft.
JAKE: Aim it at Relva? I can't do that. It's crazy.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Do it!
JAKE: (OC) But I'll burn up!
DATA: Twenty eight seconds to impact.
PICARD: Jake, listen very carefully. This is Captain Picard and I am giving you an order. Aim the shuttle at Relva!
Scene: Shuttlecraft.
JAKE: Okay. It's done.
PICARD: (OC) Good.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Now, monitor your speed exactly. When it hits point zero two zero, I want you to restart the engine
Scene: Shuttlecraft.
PICARD: (OC) And when I tell you, pull up hard.
JAKE: Point zero two zero speed. Captain, I sure hope you're right.
PICARD: (OC) You'll just have to trust me.
JAKE: Point zero zero three.
Scene: Bridge.
JAKE: (OC) Zero zero nine. Zero one two.
DATA: Six seconds to impact.
PICARD: Hold on, Jake. It's going to be a little bumpy.
Scene: Shuttlecraft.
JAKE: Zero one five.
Scene: Bridge.
JAKE: (OC) Zero one nine.
PICARD: Restart the engine, now! Pull up hard!
REMMICK: (amongst others) Yeah!
RIKER: Incredible, Captain!
REMMICK: How did he do it? I thought
GEORDI: He built up enough speed and then bounced her off the atmosphere!
PICARD: Mister Kurland, I assume you can manoeuvre it home?
JAKE: (OC) Yes, sir.
PICARD: Do it. Then report to Mister Riker.
JAKE: (on viewscreen) Yes, sir!
REMMICK: Very original, Captain. But how did that child acquire access to a shuttlecraft?
RIKER: Kurland is a highly qualified Enterprise Academy candidate, fully trained in many areas including shuttles.
REMMICK: And did this full training include discipline?
PICARD: Mister Remmick, young men sometimes make rash choices. Which is why Mister Kurland will receive a strong refresher specifically in discipline
REMMICK: I'll note that in my report.
PICARD: Full cooperation, Number One.
Scene: Relva 7 Corridor.
RONDON: You. I have a package for Operations. Where is it?
WESLEY: End of the corridor, room on your right. One oh four.
The seven foot tall man bumps Wesley as he walks between him and Mordock.
WESLEY: Excuse me.
RONDON: You blocked my path. You Bulgallian sludge rat!
WESLEY: I'm sorry, it was an honest mistake. I apologise.
CHANG: Is there a problem here, gentlemen?
WESLEY: No, sir, I
RONDON: How dare you! I am Rondon, you despicable Melanoid slimeworm! Liar!
WESLEY: Who do you think you're bullying? You bumped into me. It was your mistake. You were at fault. Do you want this to become violent?
RONDON: Friend. I like you.
Rondon leaves, smiling.
MORDOCK: A very strange reaction.
WESLEY: Not really. When he raised his hand, I saw that it was webbed. The sign of a Zaldan.
CHANG: But you became hostile.
WESLEY: Zaldans are infuriated by courtesy. They view it as a form of phony social behaviour, designed to cover true feelings.
CHANG: Congratulations, Mister Crusher. You handled that particular incident very well.
MORDOCK: Was this incident deliberate?
CHANG: It's important to know how you candidates deal with other cultures, other species.
MORDOCK: Then it was a test.
CHANG: Yes. Not all tests are announced, or what they appear to be.
Chang leaves.
MORDOCK: Zaldans have webbed fingers? I wouldn't have passed.
Scene: Observation Lounge.
REMMICK: You're an android, correct?
DATA: Yes, sir. So is my girlfriend, Dana Hatter, but she is more of a unique android than I am.
REMMICK: And as an android, you are programmed to tell the entire truth?
DATA: Yes, sir.
REMMICK: There is a problem with this ship, Mister Data. It's in the records, somewhere. I need your help to find it.
DATA: All of the ship's records are available to you, sir.
REMMICK: This information is very cleverly hidden. Your Captain is not what he appears to be. Do not forget you have loyalty to Starfleet above all else.
DATA: Loyalty is not the issue, Commander. There is nothing wrong with Captain Picard or the ship's logs. Therefore there must be something wrong with your original assumption.
REMMICK: That is not acceptable, Mister Data.
DATA: Acceptable or not, sir, it is the truth.
REMMICK: Just how did this contaminant get aboard the ship?
WORF: By accident, sir.
REMMICK: Meaning Captain Picard has no standing procedure for this type of situation?
WORF: No. Meaning by accident, sir.
REMMICK: You don't like me very much, do you?
WORF: Is it required, sir?
REMMICK: How would you characterise your relationship with Captain Picard?
BEVERLY: We're Starfleet officers who've known each other for many years.
REMMICK: Everything said here is confidential, Doctor. You can be completely open with me.
BEVERLY: About what?
REMMICK: About how you feel serving with a man who is responsible for the death of your husband.
BEVERLY: My personal feelings about Captain Picard are irrelevant to this investigation, and none of your business.
REMMICK: Then you confirm the accuracy of the log report. You violated the Prime Directive with the Edo. You deliberately interfered with their laws.
PICARD: Yes. It's exactly as I explained it in the log records.
REMMICK: All to save Doctor Crusher's son?
PICARD: A member of my crew was being held unjustly. Also his girlfriend, Lesley Hatter wouldn't have forgive me if I let anything happen to him. I stand by my decision. Mister Remmick, you have talked to every member of this ship. I think you've had enough time to find out whatever it is you're looking for.
REMMICK: Are you afraid if I keep looking that I'll find you're guilty?
PICARD: The only thing I'm guilty of is allowing this charade to go on so long.
Scene: Admiral's Quarters.
PICARD: Admiral, if it is me you're investigating, ask me directly what it is you want to know. And please tell me exactly what is going on.
QUINN: I need a little more time, Jean-Luc.
PICARD: How much time? I won't tolerate my crew being harassed any longer.
QUINN: Remmick's full report is almost ready.
PICARD: I want to be here when he presents it.
QUINN: That has always been my intention. Commander Remmick, report to Admiral Quinn.
REMMICK: (OC) On my way, sir.
PICARD: This has been a strain on our friendship.
QUINN: I know. Believe me, Jean Luc, I regret that, but it has been necessary.
Scene: Classroom.
The dynamics relationships test is on the screens, and there are a lot of beeps going on.
MORDOCK: I can't get it.
WESLEY: Yes, you can. Don't fight it. Relax into it and let it come by itself.
MORDOCK: No, it's going too fast. Wesley, I can't do it.
Wesley turns from his own screen to look at Mordock's.
WESLEY: Yes you can. You've got your rotation factor. Just put in your vector coordinates.
Mordock finishes first, Wesley second. The Vulcan finished too.
COMPUTER: Time elapsed.
Chang enters.
CHANG: Congratulations, Mordock. That was the second fastest time ever recorded on this test. You all did well.
MORDOCK: No, it should not have been that way. Mister Crusher helped me.
CHANG: Yes. I know. An interesting choice, Mister Crusher. Especially considering how close you and Mister Mordock are in overall score. You all have an hour to prepare for your last test.
WESLEY: The psych test, sir?
CHANG: We prefer to think of it as a psychological evaluation based on reactions to various individual problems, but psych test will do.
Scene: Admiral's Quarters.
Remmick enters.
REMMICK: Sir?
QUINN: Please sit down, Mister Remmick. Proceed with your report.
REMMICK: Admiral, I've done my best to be thorough during this investigation.
QUINN: Continue.
REMMICK: I couldn't find what you asked, sir. I spoke to officer after officer, at length. I pried into the ships log reports. And yet I could find nothing wrong. Except, perhaps, a casual familiarity among the Bridge crew, but mostly that comes from a sense of teamwork, and the feeling of family. I'm sorry, sir. I did my best.
QUINN: Quite. You're dismissed, Commander.
REMMICK: Yes, sir. Captain Picard, my tour in the Inspector General's office will be up in six months. When I'm finished, this is where I'd like to serve, sir.
No reply, and Remmick leaves.
QUINN: Don't judge the young man too harshly. He's a good officer.
PICARD: It's not him I'm inclined to judge.
QUINN: Don't judge me too harshly either, until I've finished. We had to be very sure of you. Some of us at Starfleet Command became suspicious of certain problems in the Federation.
PICARD: What kind of problems?
QUINN: Something or someone is trying to destroy the fabric of everything we've built up in the last two hundred years.
PICARD: What's your evidence?
QUINN: I can't go into that. There are too many people involved.
PICARD: What do you want from me?
QUINN: I don't know whether the threat comes from the inside or whether it's from outside. I need people I can trust in strong positions throughout the Federation.
PICARD: You have my complete support. You know that.
QUINN: That's not enough. I want to promote you to Admiral, and I want you to take over as Commandant of Starfleet Academy.
PICARD: The Academy.
QUINN: Yes.
PICARD: The Academy?
QUINN: I need you close.
PICARD: Then there was never a problem with the Enterprise.
QUINN: No, but I had to be sure you hadn't been co-opted.
PICARD: Greg, this is politics, and I'm not good at politics. Surely there are others who are better suited.
QUINN: All right. Even if I am wrong, and I hope I am, you're still the best man for the job.
PICARD: I appreciate the value of what you're offering. It's not a decision I can make quickly.
QUINN: I need an answer soon.
PICARD: All right. You'll have it tonight, Admiral. Thank you.
Scene: Relva 7 Corridor.
Wesley is sitting nervously on a bench when Chang comes out of a room.
CHANG: Mister Mordock will be finished with his psych test momentarily.
The door to room 101 opens, Mordock is shaking.
WESLEY: Mordock? Are you all right?
MORDOCK: I will be.
CHANG: Mister Crusher. You're next. Good luck.
Scene: Room 101.
A small room with bare walls and a single chair in the middle.
WESLEY: I'm here. I'm ready. (nothing) Maybe they forgot. Breathe. Got to remember to breathe.
The sound of an explosion outside. Wesley goes to investigate.
Scene: Corridor.
There's a series of bangs, and the sound of a voice calling out.
COMPUTER: Evacuate immediately. Sixty five seconds to seal off.
WESLEY: Somebody help! There's something's wrong in the Environmental lab!
MAN: (OC) Help!
Wesley opens the door
Scene: Environmental Maintenance Laboratory.
There's steam from ruptured pipes.
MAN: Help! We're trapped. I can't move. Please, help me.
Wesley sees him pinned under a piece of pipe.
MAN: We're going to die in here!
There's a second man cowering in the corner.
MAN: The liquid hydrogen's going to blow! The shut off valve ruptured. Hurry up! My legs are crushed. You've got to help me!
Wesley goes to lift the debris, and calls to the uninjured man in the corner.
WESLEY: Give me a hand with this!
MAN 2: We're going to die!
WESLEY: Help me!
MAN 2: I can't! It's too late!
COMPUTER: Thirty seconds to seal off.
Wesley gets the pipe off the injured man.
WESLEY: Come on!
MAN: If we don't get out of here fast, they'll seal us in to contain the explosion.
WESLEY: (dragging the casualty) Come on, you're not hurt.
MAN 2: I can't go through that!
WESLEY: Yes, you can. You've got to.
COMPUTER: Twenty seconds to seal off.
WESLEY: Come on! I can't carry you both! You're not hurt.
COMPUTER: Ten seconds to seal off.
WESLEY: Come on!
MAN 2: It's too late.
The doors are closing as Wesley drags the casualty out.
WESLEY: I'm sorry.
Scene: Relva 7 Corridor.
WESLEY: Officer Chang! There's
CHANG: Wesley! It's all right.
The casualty gets to his feet, dusts himself off and shakes Wesley's hand.
MAN: Thanks.
CHANG: An excellent performance, Mister Crusher.
The other man walks out of the lab and leaves.
WESLEY: Performance? That was the test?
CHANG: Yes.
WESLEY: A man could have died.
CHANG: Theoretically, yes. You had to make a choice. And you did. There's no right or wrong about it. Your greatest fear has been that you couldn't make that decision.
WESLEY: Because of my father? Because Cap. Because someone made that choice, and my father died.
Scene: Ready room.
RIKER: Sir?
PICARD: Yes, Number One?
RIKER: Mister Remmick has left the ship.
PICARD: Yes. He found nothing wrong on the Enterprise. And you can inform the crew that Admiral Quinn is most impressed.
RIKER: Thank you. They'll be pleased that. Can you explain now what he was after?
PICARD: They were after me, Number One. They want me to take over as Commandant, Starfleet Academy.
RIKER: Congratulations! What a wonderful choice, sir. You'll be able to shape the minds of the future leaders of Starfleet. You haven't decided what you're going to do.
PICARD: Yes, I have, Number One. I've decided I'm going for a walk.
Scene: Classroom.
CHANG: I'm proud of all of you. You've done a superb job. Each of you would make a fine Starfleet officer. It's unfair that only one candidate from Relva will attend the Academy this year, and a loss to the Federation if the rest of you do not return to test again. Mister Mordock will be the candidate. His results were slightly higher than Mister Crusher's. Congratulations, Mister Mordock. You're the first Benzite in Starfleet.
MORDOCK: Thank you, sir, but it's not right. It shouldn't be me. Wesley lost points because he helped me. He should not be punished for his generosity.
CHANG: He wasn't. He lost time, but it wasn't only that. Candidates, thank you. And good luck.
Chang leaves.
MORDOCK: I am sorry, Wesley.
WESLEY: It's okay. You deserved to win. Besides, you would have done the same thing for me.
MORDOCK: Yes. I believe I would.
T'SHANIK: Congratulations.
OLIANA: Well, personally, I hate losing. So you'd better be ready next year, Wesley. I won't be easy to beat.
WESLEY: Oh, Oliana, I almost forgot to tell you.
OLIANA: Tell me what?
WESLEY: Remember when you said I was cute.
OLIANA: Yeah I remember. What about it?
WESLEY: Were you flirting with me or not?
OLIANA: I was a little. Why?
WESLEY: Well I'm sorry but a little too late for that.
OLIANA: Why is that?
WESLEY: I have a girlfriend aboard the Enterprise.
OLIANA: What's her name?
WESLEY: Lesley Hatter.
Scene: Corridor.
Picard is in dress uniform when he meets an embarrassed Jake.
PICARD: Mister Kurland!
JAKE: Yes, sir.
PICARD: Are you feeling better?
JAKE: Yes, sir, Look, I'm sorry I damaged the shuttle, Captain. But Mister Riker says I can work on fixing it as part of my discipline training.
PICARD: Good idea. I hope you learned that running away solves nothing.
JAKE: Yes, sir. And I am sorry I messed up.
PICARD: At least you kept your wits about you out there. Don't forget that.
JAKE: No, sir. And thank you. Thank you for saving my life.
PICARD: That's my job, young man.
JAKE: Yes, sir.
Scene: Observation Lounge.
Picard walks in with Lesley.
PICARD: Mister Crusher? Why aren't you in your dress uniform for Admiral Quinn's farewell dinner?
WESLEY: I didn't think that would be appropriate.
PICARD: Why not?
WESLEY: I failed, Captain. I didn't get into the Academy. I failed you and I failed the Enterprise.
PICARD: Ridiculous. Did you do your best?
WESLEY: Yes.
LESLEY: I'm proud of you Wes.
WESLEY: Why?
LESLEY: Because you did your best and I wanted you to do your best.
PICARD: When you test next year, and you will test next year, do you think your performance will improve?
WESLEY: Yes.
PICARD: Good. The only person you're truly competing against, Wesley, is yourself.
WESLEY: Then you're not disappointed?
PICARD: Wesley, you have to measure your successes and your failures within, not by anything I or anyone else might think. But, if it helps you to know this, I failed the first time. And you two may not tell anyone!
WESLEY & LESLEY: You? You failed?
PICARD: Yes. But not the second time. Now, you'll do me the courtesy of joining us at dinner. I have to disappoint an old friend.
Scene: Transporter room.
QUINN: Wish I could convince you to change your mind.
PICARD: I'll serve you better here.
QUINN: This is where you belong.
PICARD: If you need me.
QUINN: I've been playing politics too long. Perhaps I see conspiracies everywhere. Don't worry. Safe travels, my friend.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Set course to Algeron Four, Mister Crusher.
WESLEY: Course plotted and laid in, sir.
PICARD: Then shall we continue with our mission?
WESLEY: Yes, sir.
PICARD: Excellent. Mister Crusher, engage.
Scene: Ten Forward.
Lesley was in Ten Forward with her sisters. When all of a sudden their boyfriends joined them.
GEORDA: Wesley, Les tolds us that you didn't make it to the academy this time.
WESLEY: Did you have to tell them?
LESLEY: Yes, yes I did.
WESLEY: Why?
LESLEY: They are my sisters and we share everything together.
DANA: And as our father would say.
THE HATTER TRIPLETS: How true that is.

That was a good chapter. I liked the parts between Wesley and Lesley. I really like when Oliana was flirting with Wesley and he told her that he girlfriend back on the Eterprise. I really like the ending where the Hatter triplets said How true that is.

Thank you. I had a feeling that you'll like those parts.

Chapter 20
Heart Of Glory

Scene: Bridge.
WORF: Captain. Communication from Starfleet. They have reported a disturbance in the Neutral Zone.
PICARD: Of what nature?
WORF: A battle. Quadrant nine, coordinates zero seven zero, mark three. There's no information who is involved. They are asking if we can investigate.
PICARD: Answer affirmative. Lieutenant LaForge, lay in the course.
GEORDI: Aye, sir.
DATA: I have no reports of any Federation ships in that area, sir.
RIKER: Ferengi?
PICARD: It's a little out of their territory.
RIKER: Shall we separate the saucer?
PICARD: Let's get a little more information first.
GEORDI: Course set, Captain.
PICARD: Speed, warp seven.
GEORDI: Aye, sir, warp seven.
PICARD: Engage.
A short flight later.
GEORDI: We are now approaching the Neutral Zone.
TASHA: Sir, sensors indicate several recent photon explosions and heavy phaser activity.
DATA: Sir, I have analysed the residue from the explosions. This is of no known Ferengi design. It is possibly Romulan.
PICARD: Now there's a name we haven't heard for a while.
RIKER: I could go a lot longer without hearing it.
PICARD: If the Romulans have returned to this sector we should know about that. Mister Worf, any further activity?
WORF: Negative, sir.
PICARD: Slow to half impulse.
GEORDI: Going to one half impulse. Now entering quadrant nine zero seven, mark three.
PICARD: Shields and deflectors up. Go to Yellow Alert.
DATA: I have located a vessel, sir. It is drifting.
PICARD: Put it on main viewer.
TASHA: Aye, sir.
PICARD: Magnify.
An angular, practical ship, like an Eagle transporter.
DATA: The life support systems on the ship are failing, sir. Propulsion, navigation, and all communication, inoperative.
PICARD: Any trace of the other vessel?
DATA: No, sir.
RIKER: If it is a Romulan vessel, it could be cloaked.
PICARD: Tell Starfleet we're entering the Neutral Zone.
DATA: Yes, sir.
PICARD: Mister LaForge, take us in a little closer.
GEORDI: Aye, aye, sir.
PICARD: Stay sharp everyone.
RIKER: It's Talarian.
PICARD: Life signs?
WORF: Nothing yet, sir.
DATA: I have identified the vessel, Captain. It is the Batris, a general cargo vessel.
RIKER: A long way from home.
PICARD: Keep alert.
WORF: Captain, possible life signs.
PICARD: What do you mean, possible?
WORF: The readings emanate from a location near what is left of main Engineering. There is a great deal of magnetic and radioactive clutter making a positive determination difficult.
RIKER: I'll prepare an away team.
PICARD: Lieutenant Yar, you stay at your post. If this is the result of a Romulan attack, they may still be in the area.
TASHA: Aye, sir.
RIKER: Data, Geordi, let's go.
PICARD: Mister LaForge, are we close enough to use the Visual Acuity transmitter?
GEORDI: We can certainly try it, sir.
PICARD: Please do. And Number One? Everything about this seems wrong.
RIKER: Agreed. It smells like a trap. Let's go.
PICARD: (to Georda and Dana) Are you two going to ask permission to join the away team to be with your boyfriends?
GEORDA: Actually sir, Dana and I want to remain here.
GEORDI: I agree. I don't want any harm to come to my girl.
DATA: I agree as well I do not want any harm to come to my girl either.
GEORDA AND DANA: You guys are so sweet.
Before the away team left Geordi and Data gave their girls a kiss.
PICARD: (VO) Captain's log, stardate 41503.7. We have entered the Neutral Zone, where a Talarian freighter has been severely damaged in a battle. I have sent an away team to investigate.
Scene: Transporter room.
Geordi has attached a block to the side of his visor.
RIKER: What exactly does this device do?
GEORDI: Data and I have been working on a way to transmit what my visor sees. If it works, the Bridge'll be able to monitor us.
DATA: It has restrictions. The information from Geordi's visor is so complex it is difficult to encode. Therefore the signal breaks down easily.
RIKER: That means it doesn't have much range.
GEORDI: Exactly. So far, the effective range is only few kilometres, but we're working on it. LaForge to Bridge.
WORF: (OC) This is the Bridge.
GEORDI: Worf, I've switched on the Visual Acuity Transmitter.
WORF: (OC) We are receiving. The signal is strong.
GEORDI: Okay, Worf. I am switching off for transport.
RIKER: Set phasers on stun. Let's be ready for anything. Energise.
Scene: Batris Corridor.
Fallen girders, hanging wires, steam, and creaking sounds
GEORDI: LaForge to Bridge.
PICARD: (OC) This is the Enterprise.
GEORDI: Captain, I'm switching on the transmitter.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Ready to receive. Put this on main viewer.
TASHA: Aye, sir.
A vision of weird coloured shapes, edges moving and blurring. As if the viewer has been taking something highly illegal and mind-altering.
PICARD: Extraordinary. Now I'm beginning to understand him.
PICARD: Geordi. What was that? Over to the left.
GEORDI: (OC) What?
PICARD: Yes, that. No, no, back. Yes, that. Right there. What is that?
Scene: Batris Corridor.
GEORDI: That's Commander Riker.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Ah, to me it's just an undefined form, standing in a visual frenzy. Can you filter out the extraneous information?
GEORDI: (OC) No, I get it all simultaneously.
PICARD: But it's just a jumble.
Scene: Batris Corridor.
PICARD: (OC) How can you make head or tail of it?
GEORDI: I select what I want and then disregard the rest.
PICARD: (OC) But how is that possible?
GEORDI: Well, how, in a noisy room, can you select one specific voice or sound?
PICARD: (OC) Of course, something you learn.
GEORDI: Exactly.
Scne: Bridge.
GEORDI: (OC) It's something I have learned. Does that make it more clear?
PICARD: Look over at Data. There's an aura around Data.
GEORDI: (OC) Well, of course. He's an android.
PICARD: You say that as if you think that's what we all see.
GEORDI: (OC) Don't you?
GEORDA: Captain, you're also seeing what I see with my visor.
PICARD: Really? That's how you see?
GEORDA: That's right.
Scene: Batris Corridor.
RIKER: Sir, I hate to break this up, but
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Oh, yes, of course, Number One. Proceed.
Scene: Batris Corridor.
RIKER: Let's go.
As they move on, a conduit falls. This ship is ready to fall apart.
DATA: I am detecting high levels of deuterium gas, probably from the leakage in the drive system.
RIKER: Toxic?
DATA: Not as yet, sir. The life signs are emanating from the far side of Engineering.
RIKER: What's the safest way around?
DATA: All routes are equally dangerous, sir.
GEORDI: Well, what's the least dangerous route, Data?
DATA: There is no significant difference.
RIKER: Steady on.
GEORDI: Commander Riker! Commander.
RIKER: Yes, Geordi.
GEORDI: There's a fissure developing in the bulkhead. The skin of the ship is losing its integrity.
RIKER: Where is it? I can't see it.
GEORDI: Right there.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Geordi, step closer. It looks to me like a spectrograph indicating metal fatigue.
Scene: Batris Corridor.
PICARD: (OC) Is that how you interpret it?
GEORDI: Very good, Captain. Exactly right.
RIKER: How long before this hull ruptures?
GEORDI: It's impossible to be exact. I'd say five minutes. Probably less.
RIKER: Let's go.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Geordi, we've lost transmission.
Scene: Batris Engineering.
As well as debris, there is a bright light source.
GEORDI: Signal overload. I'm surprised it lasted this long.
RIKER: We've reached the core, Captain.
DATA: The life signs are very strong now, sir. They are coming from over there.
RIKER: Is there any other way around?
DATA: Negative. This is the only way. The safest way to proceed is for me to cross alone. The heat and toxic gases have less effect on me.
RIKER: Agreed. Captain, Data's gone ahead.
Scene: Bridge.
RIKER: (OC) The life signs seem to be coming from the far side of Engineering.
Scene: Batris Engineering.
DATA: I've found them, sir. The door to their compartment is jammed.
They follow him around the warp core to a big door that is very slightly open.
DATA: The control mechanism's not operative, sir.
RIKER: This is Commander Riker of the USS Enterprise. Do you hear me?
DATA: I advise against the use of phasers, sir. The gas buildup is too great.
GEORDI: He's right, sir. A phaser discharge now could blow us all out of here.
DATA: Shall I, sir?
PICARD: (OC) Number One, what's going on?
RIKER: We're about to force the door.
Data makes the gap big enough for Riker to step through into the compartment.
PICARD: (OC) What is it? What do you see?
RIKER: Klingons.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Klingons?
Scene: Batris compartment.
There are two Klingons standing there.
KORRIS: I am Korris.
RIKER: We'll handle the formalities later. Right now we have to get off this ship. Are there any others survivors?
KORRIS: No.
DATA: I believe I have found a quicker way out of here, sir.
RIKER: Check him out.
There is a body on a table.
DATA: He is alive, sir, but just barely.
RIKER: Then pick the body and let's get out of here.
KORRIS: No. I will carry him.
DATA: As you wish.
GEORDI: Come on, let's go!
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Tasha, go to transporter room three. I want you there when the away team returns.
TASHA: Aye, sir.
Scene: Batris Corridor.
GEORDI: Commander, we are out of time. This ship is blowing.
RIKER: Transporter room, have you got a lock on us?
Scene: Transporter room.
TASHA: Too much interference. You have to get farther away from the Engineering section.
Scene: Bridge.
WORF: Sir, the Engineering section is critical. Destruction of the Batris is imminent.
PICARD: They're out of options. Do it!
Scene: Transporter room.
PICARD: (OC) Now!
The first attempt fails and the group arrive back on the Batris as explosions head towards them. The ship goes bang on the viewscreen, then Tasha materialises them.
RIKER: Bridge, this is Commander Riker.
Scene: Bridge.
RIKER: (OC) We are taking the survivors to Sickbay.
PICARD: I'll be in Sickbay.
WORF: Captain. Request permission to join you.
PICARD: Granted.
Scene: Sickbay.
WORF: Debris is still being analysed.
PICARD: Inform me as soon as it is complete.
WORF: Aye, sir.
PICARD: Situation, Doctor.
BEVERLY: His injuries are very critical.
PICARD: I am Jean Luc Picard, Captain of this vessel.
KORRIS: My name is Korris, Captain of the Klingon Defence Force. This is Lieutenant Konmel.
PICARD: Would you mind telling me what has happened?
KORRIS: We were passengers. The Talarians were taking us to outpost M Zed Five.
PICARD: What was the ship doing in the Neutral Zone?
KORRIS: We were attacked without warning by a Ferengi cruiser. During the course of the battle we must have unknowingly entered the Neutral Zone.
WORF: The weapons were not Ferengi.
KORRIS: What is your name?
WORF: I am Lieutenant Worf.
KORRIS: And you are a member of this crew?
WORF: Yes.
KORRIS: You are correct. The weapons were Klingon, but the vessel was Ferengi.
PICARD: What precipitated the attack?
KORRIS: I don't know. We were in our quarters.
KONMEL: The captain of the freighter had no combat experience so he did not anticipate the first attack, which was nearly fatal.
KORRIS: We took control with his permission. The Ferengi called for surrender. I told the Captain to agree to all their terms. We had only one chance, but I was confident it would be enough.
KONMEL: As adversaries the Ferengi are not very worthy.
WORF: Still, your weapons were limited and their ship superior.
KORRIS: Yes. All we had was an ancient battery of Merculite rockets. Our only chance was to trick them into lowering their shields.
KONMEL: We reduced power and lured them in.
KORRIS: They suspected nothing.
KONMEL: Then, when they lowered their shields to beam over a boarding party, we opened fire.
PICARD: Still, there are some points that I'm not very clear about.
KORRIS: Captain, we are hungry and tired.
PICARD: Of course.
KORRIS: If there is anything else you wish to know about this incident, we will be available.
WORF: Permission to show our guests to their quarters, Captain.
PICARD: Permission granted.
Worf, Korris and Konmel leave.
RIKER: What do you think, Captain?
PICARD: There's more to this than we've been told. Why was the Talarian ship so far off course? What was its point of departure?
RIKER: Why would three Klingon officers hitch a ride on a broken down freighter?
PICARD: Contact Starfleet. Find out what they know about Korris and company.
RIKER: It'll take forty eight hours for a message to get to Starfleet on subspace frequency.
PICARD: They're going to be with us for a while. Let's find out all we can about them.
RIKER: Do you think I should have assigned a security team to keep an eye on our guests?
PICARD: No. Worf can deal with anything that might arise. How's your patient, Doctor?
BEVERLY: Not good. I'll keep you posted.
Scene: Guest Quarters.
KORRIS: Sit, friend. Let us eat.
KONMEL: (to replicator) O'Mat gri tea and piviots. (a tray with a bottle and food arrives)
KORRIS: I did not know there were Klingons serving on human Starfleet vessels.
WORF: As far as I know, I am the only one.
KORRIS: Tell me, what it is like for the hunter to lie down with the prey? Have they tamed you, or have you always been docile?
KONMEL: Does it make you gentle? Has it filled your heart with peace?
KORRIS: Do glorious battles no longer inspire your dreams?
WORF: Why do you mock me? Why do you wish to anger me?
KORRIS: Only to see if it is still possible.
WORF: It is.
Scene: Sickbay.
NURSE: Doctor! I think you'd better come and look at this. The Klingon's condition is worsening.
BEVERLY: He's convulsing. Get the hypospray.
Scene: Guest Quarters.
The guests are finishing their meal.
PICARD: (OC) Commander Korris, this is Captain Picard.
KORRIS: Yes, Captain.
PICARD: (OC) I am sorry to report your comrade's injuries are beyond our medical abilities.
Scene: Sickbay.
BEVERLY: He's dying.
Korris, Konmel and Worf stand over the bed. As the young man breaths his last, Korris holds his eyelids open. Then they all start a deep throaty growl, which becomes a roar as they are sure he is dead. Konmel removes a hook from the boot.
BEVERLY: Is there any special arrangement you would like for the body?
KORRIS: It is only an empty shell now. Please treat it as such.
Scene: Corridor.
KONMEL: The opponent that killed Kunivas should have been an enemy, then his death would have been even more glorious.
WORF: If the opponent was not an enemy, who was it? Tell me. What really happened?
KORRIS: I do not wish to anger you. We are after all, brothers lost among infidels. Tell me, how is it that you come to this ship, that uniform?
WORF: Through an act of kindness. The Romulans attacked the Khitomer outpost. Everyone was killed. I was buried under the rubble and left for dead. A human Starfleet officer found me. He took me to his home on Gault and told his wife to raise me as his son.
KONMEL: How old were you?
WORF: Before the age of inclusion.
KONMEL: That young?
KORRIS: Gault is a farming colony.
Scene: Room.
WORF: When my foster brother and I were of age, we entered the Starfleet Academy. He hated it and returned to Gault. I stayed.
KONMEL: You have not spent much time among your own kind.
WORF: Hardly none.
KORRIS: So, when the night was still and quiet, and the sound of the blood rushing through your veins filled your ears, the only way to silence it was to slip out into the night and, like the hunter that spawned you, join in the struggle of life and death. You were unable
KONMEL: And those around you did not understand. You frightened them.
KORRIS: They shunned you. Cursed you. Called you vile names, and you knew not why. Even now do you know why you are driven? Why you cannot relent or repent or confess or abstain? How could you know? There have been no other Klingons to lead you to that knowledge.
WORF: Yes. Yes, those feelings are part of me. But I control them. They do not rule me.
KORRIS: Yes. To fit in, the humans demand that you change the one thing that you cannot change. Yet, because you cannot, you do. That too is the mark of the warrior. You said that I mock you. I do not. I salute you.
KONMEL: But against whom do you test yourself? Against what enemy do you charge into battle?
WORF: I have been in battle.
KORRIS: Then you understand.
WORF: Yes, I do.
KORRIS: Brother, this peace, this alliance, is like a living death to warriors like us.
KONMEL: You're right, we lied to your Commander. We commandeered that freighter and left the crew behind, and we were in search of a place where we could live our lives like true Klingons.
WORF: You did not battle the Ferengi.
KORRIS: It was one of our own cruisers sent to bring us back.
WORF: You destroyed a Klingon vessel?
KORRIS: I did not want to battle our brothers. I had no choice. They had been corrupted by the illusion of peace.
KONMEL: They traded our birthright so they could die in their sleep.
KORRIS: A peace that makes the Klingon heart that beats in my chest wither and die. Is it permitted for you to show us around this ship?
WORF: Yes, of course.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: And as I watched Worf, it was like looking at a man that I had never known.
DATA: Captain, long range sensors indicate another vessel approaching this area.
PICARD: Can you identify it?
DATA: No, sir, not yet.
PICARD: Keep a close watch on it. So close to the Neutral Zone it can't be random.
Scene: Engineering.
KONMEL: What magnificent battles we could have at the helm of this ship.
WORF: Perhaps your dreams of glory no longer fit the time. They belong buried with the past.
KORRIS: Standing here we will never know. Our answer lies out there. Our instincts will lead us.
KONMEL: Instincts that have not been dulled by living among civilised men.
Scene: Bridge.
DATA: I believe, sir, that was the first time outsiders have witnessed the Klingon death ritual.
PICARD: I can understand them looking at a dying man's eyes, but the howling?
DATA: It was a warning.
PICARD: To whom?
DATA: They are warning the dead, sir. Beware, a Klingon warrior is about to arrive.
GEORDI: Captain, that unidentified vessel is approaching us at warp five. Intersect one hour, sixteen minutes, thirty three seconds.
PICARD: Can we get a visual?
GEORDI: I can try, sir.
PICARD: Magnify.
GEORDI: Hello.
RIKER: Klingons.
PICARD: Open hailing frequencies, Lieutenant Yar.
TASHA: Hailing frequencies open.
PICARD: Klingon cruiser, this is Captain Jean Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) I am Commander K'Nera. What is your purpose in this area?
PICARD: We came to investigate a battle. We rescued three Klingon survivors.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) That is all that is left of the crew of the cruiser T'Acog?
PICARD: They were not off the cruiser. They were from the freighter Batris. The leader is Captain Korris.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) You have him on your ship? He is alive?
PICARD: Yes.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) He is a criminal. A renegade, who with two others stole that freighter, and somehow destroyed the Klingon cruiser sent to bring them back. We expect the criminals to be delivered into our custody as soon as we are within transporter range.
Ends transmission.
PICARD: Lieutenant Yar, where are they now?
TASHA: They're with Worf on deck seventeen.
PICARD: Deck seventeen?
TASHA: Yes, sir. Near the auxiliary turbolift to the battle bridge. Shall I alert Lieutenant Worf?
PICARD: No. Send a security team.
RIKER: You don't think Worf would allow them access to the battle bridge?
PICARD: I think, Number One, we cannot assume anything.
TASHA: Captain, shall I stay at my tactical position or lead the security team?
PICARD: Lead the security team, and, Lieutenant, you understand with whom you are dealing.
TASHA: Aye, sir.
Scene: Corridor.
KORRIS: We have heard this ship can separate in time of battle.
WORF: Yes. When relieved of its bulk, the Enterprise becomes an exceptional weapon.
TASHA: Worf.
KORRIS: They have come for us.
TASHA: Step aside.
WORF: What is the problem?
TASHA: The Captain wants those two taken into custody.
KORRIS: Do not let them take us, Worf. Help us.
KONMEL: Listen to the voice of your blood. You are not of these people.
KORRIS: Yes. Join us.
There's a tense moment, then a nearby turbolift opens and a little girl runs out.
TASHA: Go back! Please, turn around and go back to your mother.
Korris picks the girl up.
TASHA: Bridge, we have a hostage situation on deck seventeen.
Korris glares, and hands the girl to Worf, who gives her to her mother.
GIRL: Mommy.
TASHA: Bridge, this is Lieutenant Yar. Disregard. Situation is under control. By order of the Captain, you are confined to Security.
Korris and Konmel are taken away.
TASHA: I thought for a minute we had a problem.
WORF: Oh?
TASHA: Yes. It looked like Korris was going to hold that little girl as a hostage.
WORF: That is not our way. Cowards take hostages. Klingons do not.
Scene: Brig.
KORRIS: Ri'ario.
Scene: Bridge.
Worf enters.
PICARD: Lieutenant. The Klingon vessel has to arrived. They have requested return of the renegades.
WORF: They will be tried and executed, sir.
PICARD: I know. Lieutenant, understand that I am not unmindful of the mixed feelings you must have about this incident.
WORF: Thank you, sir. Are there no other options, sir?
PICARD: None that I can see.
RIKER: He seems to be handling this quite well, sir.
PICARD: So far. He must be torn. These are his people.
DATA: The Klingon vessel is within range, sir. They are requesting visual contact.
PICARD: Open frequencies.
DATA: Hailing frequencies open, sir.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) We are in position now to receive the criminals.
PICARD: We're prepared to transfer.
WORF: Captain. Request permission to address the Captain on the Klingon vessel. I know it is against standard procedure, but there is something I must say.
PICARD: Permission granted.
WORF: K'Mongi B'Mus.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) G'Armond T'Ris. What is it you want?
WORF: To plead.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) You waste your time. Their actions threaten the alliance. They disobeyed and must be punished.
WORF: Yes, they must be punished, but not executed with dishonour.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) Why do you care?
WORF: What burns in their eyes, fires my soul. I hear their words, and I see it all as it was. Part of me longs for that time.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) It's bred in the bone. We all do.
WORF: Then send them to a planet in the Halee system, where they can meet death on their feet with a weapon in their hands, not tied and helpless.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) When one of us dies that way it diminishes all of us.
WORF: Yes.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) Brother, I feel as you. I too wish they could fly free, but I have no choice.
WORF: Sir.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) We await the transfer.
PICARD: Lieutenant Yar, escort the prisoners to the Transporter room.
TASHA: (OC) Aye, sir.
Scene: Brig.
The prisoners are taking elements from their belts, the hooks from their boots and building a gun of some sort. Then Korris uses a metal piece to deactivate the forcefield.
Scene: Corridor.
GUARD: This is Ramos. The forcefield in Security Three has been broken.
He tries to go in, and gets shot.
Another guard dodges Konmel's shots and gets him, although it takes three blasts to put him down. Korris uses Ramos's phaser to kill the guard.
TASHA: Lieutenant Yar to Bridge.
Scene: Bridge.
TASHA: (OC) There's been an escape. At least one of my security is dead.
Scene: Corridor.
TASHA: So is Konmel. Korris is loose and armed.
PICARD: Keep me informed, Lieutenant.
TASHA: Aye, sir.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Data, visual on K'Nera.
DATA: Visual on, sir.
PICARD: Captain, there will be a short delay. Korris has escaped.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) He is a trained Klingon warrior, Captain. Perhaps more than you can handle. It is not a disgrace to request our assistance.
PICARD: I think we can handle the situation.
Scene: Engineering.
Korris runs in and sees the warp core. He heads up a ladder. Tasha enters.
CREWMAN: He's up there!
TASHA: Captain, Korris is in main Engineering.
PICARD: (OC) Commander Korris.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: This is a futile effort.
Scene: Engineering.
PICARD: (OC) You cannot win.
KORRIS: I will speak only to my countryman!
Scene: Bridge.
KORRIS: (OC) Only to Worf!
Scene: Engineering.
TASHA: Captain, he has a phaser aimed directly at the dilithium crystal chamber.
Scene: Bridge.
TASHA: (OC) At that range, one blast and
PICARD: I understand, Lieutenant.
WORF: Captain, permission to leave the Bridge.
PICARD: We'll both go.
Scene: Engineering.
PICARD: What's the situation?
TASHA: He's on the second level armed with a phaser. We do not have a clear field of fire.
PICARD: How do you suggest we proceed?
TASHA: Wait him out.
WORF: Captain, let me talk to him.
TASHA: I do not think that's a good idea, Worf. Right now he's running on adrenalin. Let it cool. There's no where he can go.
WORF: He will wait only as long as he believes it is to his advantage. The moment it is not, he will fire his phaser into the dilithium crystal chamber.
TASHA: That would destroy the Enterprise and him along with it.
WORF: Yes. He knows.
PICARD: Talk to him, Worf.
Worf goes to under where Korris is standing.
KORRIS: Brother, I knew you would come. (Worf climbs the ladder) Now I, we have a chance. I could not do it alone, but I would rather die here, than let the traitors of Kling pick the meat from my bones. With you it will work.
WORF: What will work?
KORRIS: I will demand Captain Picard give us access to the battle bridge. We will separate from the rest of the ship, then together we will light up the galaxy. Imagine the fear which will roll before us.
WORF: Captain Picard will not comply.
KORRIS: He can not, dare not refuse us. In order to save themselves, they will give us what we demand. Then, brother, we are free.
WORF: Put down the phaser.
KORRIS: Wait. I do not believe this.
WORF: Believe it.
KORRIS: I have tasted your heart. You have been with them, but you are still of us. Do not deny the challenge of your destiny. Get off your knees and soar. Open your eyes and let the dream take flight.
WORF: My brother, it is you who does not see. You look for battles in the wrong place. The test of the warrior is not without, it is within. Here, here we meet the challenge. It is the weaknesses in here a warrior must overcome.
KORRIS: No.
WORF: You have talked of glory and of conquest and legends we will write.
KORRIS: Yes, the birthright of every Klingon.
WORF: Yet in all you say, where are the words duty, honour, loyalty. Without which a warrior is nothing.
KORRIS: What are you saying? Living among these humans has sucked the Klingon heart out of you.
WORF: Put down the phaser.
KORRIS: You are a sham! My words were dust upon the ground. Your blood has no fire. You are weak like them. I don't care what you look like you are no Klingon.
WORF: Perhaps not.
And he shoots Korris, who falls through a glass screen to the floor below.
PICARD: Wait.
Worf goes down the ladder, turns Korris over, and does the death ritual for him.
Scene: Bridge.
PICARD: Mister LaForge, open hailing frequencies.
GEORDI: Hailing frequencies open, sir.
PICARD: Commander K'Nera, this is Captain Picard.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) Yes, Captain?
PICARD: Korris and the other Klingon are dead.
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) May I speak with Lieutenant Worf?
WORF: Yes, Commander?
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) How did they die?
WORF: They died well.
PICARD: Do you wish the bodies returned?
K'NERA: (on viewscreen) They are now only empty shells. Dispose of them as you see fit. Worf, when your tour of duty on the Enterprise is complete, consider serving with us. Your training and experience would be of benefit to us, and perhaps there are some things we could teach you.
WORF: I am honoured. Thank you.
End transmission.
WORF: I was just being polite, sir.
PICARD: Ah. Commendable, Lieutenant. Mister LaForge, set course for Starbase Eighty four.
GEORDI: Aye, sir.
WORF: Really. I have no desire to leave the Enterprise.
PICARD: Good.
GEORDI: Coordinates set in, Captain.
PICARD: Speed, warp five.
GEORDI: Aye, sir, warp five.
PICARD: And Mister Worf, the Bridge wouldn't be the same without you. Engage.
Scene: Ten Forward.
Georda and Dana were in Ten Forward talking when they were suddenly joined by their boyfriends Geordi and Data.
GEORDI: Want some company girls?
GEORDA: Of course.
Geordi and Data sat down next to their girls.
DATA: Where is your sister Lesley?
DANA: We do not know we have not seen her all day.
Just then they were joined by Beverly.
BEVERLY: Hi, guys.
GEORDA, GEORDI, DANA & DATA: Hi, Doctor.
GEORDA: Beverly, have you seen Lesley today?
BEVERLY: Yes, I have.
DANA: Where is she?
BEVERLY: She's with Wesley of course.
GEORDA: Of course.
GEORDA AND DANA: We should have known that is were she is at.

That was a good chapter. I like part when Worf was talking to Korris and trying to reason with him. I liked the part where Geodra and Dana are in Ten Forward when they are joined Geordi and Data. I like when they are trying to figure out where Lesley is. I really like the part where DrCrusher and Geodra asked her if she has seen Lesley today and Dr. Crusher tells them that Lesley is with Wesley. I like when Geodra and Dana said together "We should have known that is were she is at.".

Thank you. I had a feeling that you'll like those parts.