STORY BY
Rick Berman
&
Ronald D. Moore
&
Brannon Braga
SCREENPLAY BY
Ronald D. Moore
&
Brannon Braga
DIRECTED BY
David Carson
RELEASED ON
Friday November 18, 1994
VIEWS
221
LAST UPDATE
2024-09-23 17:59:27
PAGE VERSION
Version 5
LIKES
0
SUMMARY
STARRING
STORY
BEHIND THE SCENES
DVD/BLU-RAY COMMENTARY
PLAYLIST
QUOTES
REVIEWS
Beyond bad
Written by
Pike on 2019-04-14
★
This movie is even worse than The Phantom Menace. There are so many things that I'm not even sure where to start.
BORING POLITICS
All the political stuff is as boring as hell.
CHEESY ROMANCE
All the romance stuff is as cheesy as can be. The writing is so frickin' immature that you'd think it's been written by a 6 year old having no clue of what love is. This is Romeo & Juliet in Space, only horrible.
SUMMARY
I give it 1 out of 10. Beyond bad.
___________________________________________
TRANSCRIPT
OPENING CREDITS
(a champagne bottle, Dom Pérignon 2265, tumbles through space to christen U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-B in the view of a crowd watching from Spacedock)
[Enterprise-B bridge]
JOURNALIST #3: Captain Kirk, how does it feel to be back on the Enterprise Bridge? ...Can I ask you a few questions? ...We'd like to know how you feel how you're going...
HARRIMAN: Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me. There will be plenty of time for questions later. I'm Captain John Harriman and I'd like to welcome you all aboard.
KIRK: It's our pleasure.
HARRIMAN: I just want you to know how excited we all are to have a group of living legends with us on our maiden voyage. ...I remember reading about your missions when I was in grade school.
KIRK: Oh, really. Well, ...may we have a look around?
HARRIMAN: Please, ...please.
CHEKOV: Demora!
JOURNALIST #1: Captain, ...this is the first Starship Enterprise in thirty years without James T. Kirk in command. How do you feel about that, sir?
KIRK: Oh just fine. I'm glad to be here to send her on her way.
JOURNALIST #3: And what have you been doing since you retired?
KIRK: Keeping busy.
JOURNALIST #3: Captain Kirk...
HARRIMAN (OC): Why don't we give the Captain a chance to look around?
(Kirk takes a longing glance at the Captain's chair)
CHEKOV: Captain. ... Excuse me. ...I'd like you to meet the helmsman of the Enterprise-B. Demora. ...Ensign Demora Sulu.
DEMORA: It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. My father's told me some ...interesting stories about you.
KIRK: Your father is Hikaru Sulu?
DEMORA: Yes sir.
CHEKOV: Oh, you've met her before, when she was...
KIRK: It wasn't so long ago. ...It couldn't have been more than....
CHEKOV: Twelve years, sir.
KIRK: Twelve years?
CHEKOV: Absolutely.
KIRK: Incredible. Congratulations, Ensign. It wouldn't be the Enterprise without a Sulu at the helm.
DEMORA: Thank you, sir.
CHEKOV: I'm sure Hikaru must be very proud of you.
DEMORA (OC): I hope so.
CHEKOV: I was never that young.
KIRK: No, ...you were younger!
SCOTT: Damn fine ship if you ask me.
KIRK: Scotty, ...it absolutely amazes me.
SCOTT: What would that be, sir?
KIRK: Sulu. When did he find the time to have family?
SCOTT: Well like you always say, if something's important, you'll make the time.
(Kirk takes a second glance at the Captain's chair)
SCOTT: Ah, so that's why you seem so restless. Finding retirement a little lonely, are we?
KIRK: You know, I'm glad you're an engineer. With a tact like that you'd make a lousy psychiatrist.
SCOTT: Ha, ha, ha...
HARRIMAN: Excuse me, gentlemen, ...if you'll take your seats.
KIRK: Yes, of course.
(Kirk gives the Captain's chair a nostalgic pat as he moves away)
HARRIMAN: Prepare to leave Spacedock. Aft thrusters ahead one-quarter, port and starboard at station keeping. ...Captain Kirk, I'd be honoured if you'd give the order to get underway.
KIRK: Thank you very much. I...
HARRIMAN: Please, sir.
KIRK: No.
HARRIMAN: Please, I insist.
KIRK: Take us out.
(the crew breaks out into general applause)
CHEKOV: Very good, sir.
SCOTT: Brought a tear to my eye.
KIRK: Oh, be quiet.
(as Kirk, Scott and Chekov return from their tour of the ship the journalists accost them again)
JOURNALIST #1: Gentlemen! Gentlemen! Tell me. Now that you've seen the rest of the ship, How's it feel to be back?
KIRK/SCOTT/CHEKOV: Fine. Fine. Fine.
HARRIMAN: Ladies and gentlemen, we've just cleared the asteroid belt. Our course today will take us out past Pluto and then back to Spacedock. Just a quick run around the block.
CONN OFFICER: Captain, will there be time to conduct any tests on the warp drive system?
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: We're picking up a distress call, Captain.
HARRIMAN: On... On speakers.
COMM VOICE: This is the transport ship Lakul. We're caught in some kind of energy distortion. Two ships in our convoy. ...We're trapped in a severe gravimetric distortion. We can't break free. We need immediate help. It' tearing us apart. This is the trans...
SCIENCE OFFICER: The Lakul is one of two ships transporting El-Aurian refugees to Earth.
HARRIMAN: Ensign Sulu, can you locate them?
DEMORA: The ships are bearing at three one zero mark two one five. Distance, three light years.
HARRIMAN: Signal the closest starship. We're in no condition to mount a rescue. ...We don't even have a full crew aboard.
NAVIGATOR: We're the only one in range, sir.
HARRIMAN: ...Well, then, ...I guess it's up to us. Helm, lay in an intercept course and engage at maximum warp.
DEMORA (OC): Aye sir.
SCOTT: (to Kirk) Captain, is there something wrong with your chair?
DEMORA: We're within visual range of the energy distortion, Captain.
HARRIMAN: On screen.
CHEKOV (OC): What the hell is that?
DEMORA: I've located the transport ships. ...Their hulls are starting to buckle under the stress. ...They won't survive much longer.
LIEUTENANT: We're encountering severe gravimetric distortions from the energy ribbon, Captain.
HARRIMAN: We'll have to keep our distance. We don't want to get pulled in too.
KIRK: Tractor beam! Tractor beam.
HARRIMAN: We don't have a tractor beam.
KIRK: You left Spacedock without a tractor beam?
HARRIMAN: It won't be installed until Tuesday. ...Ensign Sulu, try generating a subspace field around the ships. That might break them free.
DEMORA: There's too much quantum interference, Captain.
HARRIMAN: What about... What about venting plasma from the warp nacelles? That might disrupt the ribbon's hold on the ships.
NAVIGATOR: Aye sir. ...Releasing drive-plasma. ...It's not having any effect, sir. I think the ribbon's hold...
DEMORA: Sir! The starboard vessel's hull is collapsing...
CHEKOV (OC): How many people were aboard that ship?
DEMORA (OC): Two hundred sixty-five.
SCIENCE OFFICER: Sir, the Lakul's hull integrity is down to twelve percent.
HARRIMAN: Captain Kirk, ...I would appreciate any suggestions you might have.
KIRK: First ...move us within transporter range and beam those people aboard the Enterprise.
HARRIMAN: What about the gravimetric distortions? They'll tear us apart.
KIRK: Risk is part of the game if you want to sit in that chair.
HARRIMAN: Helm, close to within transporter range.
KIRK: And second, ...turn that damned thing off.
(the cameraman turns off the floodlight)
DEMORA: We're within range, sir.
HARRIMAN: Beam them directly to Sickbay.
LIEUTENANT (OC): Aye sir.
CHEKOV: How big is your medical staff?
HARRIMAN: The medical staff ...doesn't arrive 'til Tuesday.
CHEKOV: (mutters in Russian) (to journalists) You and you and you. You've just become nurses. Let's go.
DEMORA: Main engineering reports fluctuations in the warp plasma relays.
LIEUTENANT: Sir, I'm having trouble locking onto them. They appear to be ...in some sort of temporal flux.
KIRK (OC): Scotty?
SCOTT (OC): What the hell.
SCOTT: Their life signs are ...are phasing in and out of our space-time continuum.
KIRK: Phasing? To where?
NAVIGATOR: Sir! Their hull's collapsing!
KIRK (OC): Beam them out of there, Scotty!
SCOTT: Transport complete. ...I got forty-seven ...out of one hundred fifty.
(suddenly the ship is rocked by a huge explosion)
KIRK: Report!
SCIENCE OFFICER: We're caught in a gravimetric field emanating from the trailing edge of the ribbon.
HARRIMAN: All engines, full reverse!
[Enterprise-B sickbay]
CHEKOV: You're going to be all right. We are going to help you. We are going to help you.
JOURNALIST #2: It's okay. Everything is fine.
SORAN: Why? ...Why?
JOURNALIST #2: It's all right. You're safe. You're on the Enterprise.
SORAN: No. No, I have to go. I have to go back.
JOURNALIST #2: You have to stay right here.
SORAN: You don't understand! Let me go back! Let me go back! ...Let me go back! Let me go back, please!
(Chekov tranquillises Soran)
JOURNALIST #3 (OC): What was he talking about?
JOURNALIST #2: I have no idea.
CHEKOV: Can I help you?
GUINAN: It's going to be okay.
CHEKOV: You'll be all right. You just need to rest. Come over here.
[Enterprise-B bridge]
SCOTT: There's just no way to disrupt a gravimetric field of this magnitude!
LIEUTENANT: Hull integrity at eighty-two percent.
SCOTT: But I do have a theory.
KIRK: I thought you might.
SCOTT: An anti-matter discharge directly ahead might disrupt the field long enough for us to break away.
KIRK: Photon torpedo?
SCOTT: Aye sir.
SCIENCE OFFICER: We're losing main power.
KIRK (OC): Load torpedo bays, prepare to fire on my command.
DEMORA: Captain, ...we don't have any torpedoes.
KIRK: Don't tell me. ...Tuesday.
LIEUTENANT: Hull integrity at forty percent.
SCOTT: Captain, it may be possible to simulate a torpedo blast using a resonance burst from the main deflector dish.
KIRK: Where are the deflector relays?
DEMORA: Deck fifteen, section twenty-one alpha.
HARRIMAN: I'll go. You have the bridge.
KIRK: Wait! Your place is on the bridge of your ship. ...I'll take care of it.
KIRK: Scotty! Keep things together until I get back.
SCOTT: I always do.
LIEUTENANT Forty-five seconds to structural collapse!
SCOTT: Bridge to Captain Kirk.
[Enterprise-B deflector room]
KIRK: Kirk here.
SCOTT (on intercom): I don't know how much longer I can hold her together!
KIRK: That's it. Let's go!
[Enterprise-B bridge]
HARRIMAN: Activate main deflector.
SCOTT: We're breaking free.
(another explosion hits the Enterprise in the deflector dish area)
DEMORA (OC): It's all right. I'm increasing power to compensate. ...We're clear.
HARRIMAN: You did it, Kirk! Damage report, Ensign.
DEMORA: There's some buckling on the starboard nacelle. ...And we've also got a hull breach in engineering section. Emergency forcefields in place and holding.
SCOTT (OC): Where?
DEMORA: Sections twenty through twenty-eight on decks thirteen, fourteen ...and fifteen.
SCOTT: Bridge to Captain Kirk. ...Captain Kirk, please respond. ...Have Chekov meet me on deck fifteen.
[Enterprise-B corridor]
CHEKOV: My God... Was anyone in there?
SCOTT: Aye.
78 Years Later
[Enterprise sailing vessel]
(all the Enterprise crew are in nineteenth century naval dress)
RIKER (OC): Bring out the prisoner!
PICARD: Mister Worf, I always knew this day would come. Are you prepared to face the charges?
TROI: Answer him!
WORF: I am prepared.
RIKER: 'We, the officers and crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, being of sound mind and judgment, hereby make the following charges against Lieutenant Worf. One. That he did knowingly and wilfully perform above and beyond the call of duty on countless occasions. Two. Most seriously, that he has earned the admiration and respect of the entire crew.'
PICARD: Mister Worf. I hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, with all the rights and privileges thereto. And may God have mercy on your soul.
(the whole crew cheer and applaud)
LAFORGE: Hip! Hip!
ALL: Hooray!
LAFORGE: Hip! Hip!
ALL: Hooray!
LAFORGE: Hip! Hip!
ALL: Hooray!
PICARD: Congratulations, Mister Worf.
WORF: Thank you, sir.
RIKER: Extend the plank!
CREWMEMBERS: Into the sea with him. ...Feed him to the sharks. ...Walk the plank. etc.
RIKER: Lower the badge of office.
(an officer's hat is lowered over the end of the plank)
RIKER: He'll never make it. No one ever has.
(Worf jumps, grabs the hat and lands safely back on the plank)
PICARD: If there's one thing I've learnt over the years, is never to underestimate a Klingon.
(Worf dons the hat to cheers)
RIKER: Remove the plank.
(Crusher shows particular amusement as Worf drops into the sea)
PICARD: Number One. That's 'Retract the plank' not 'Remove the plank'.
RIKER: Of course, sir. ...Sorry!
WORF: Aarrgh! ...Aarrgh!
DATA: Doctor, I must confess I am uncertain as to why someone falling into freezing water is amusing.
CRUSHER: Oh, it's all done in good fun, Data.
DATA: Fun?
CRUSHER: Fun.
DATA: I do not understand.
CRUSHER: You've got to get into the spirit of things. Learn to be spontaneous. Live in the moment. Do something unexpected. Get it!
DATA: Got it.
(Data pushes Crusher into the sea knocking Worf back in who was climbing out)
CRUSHER: Oh! ...Oh!
LAFORGE: Data. That was not funny.
RIKER: All hands make sail! T'gansuls and courses. Stand by the braces!
PICARD: Will, ...just imagine what it was like. No engines. No computers. Just the wind and the sea and the stars to guide you.
RIKER: Bad food, brutal discipline. ...No women!
COMM VOICE: Bridge to Captain Picard.
PICARD: Picard here.
COMM VOICE: There's a personal message for you from Earth.
PICARD: Put it through down here. The best thing about a life at sea was that no one could reach you. This was freedom, Will.
PICARD: Computer. Arch.
RIKER: Look alive there!
(the holodeck arch appears on the deck and Picard reads the message)
TROI: Here. Take the wheel. ...Captain, are you all right?
PICARD: Yes. I'm fine. ...Excuse me.
PICARD: Computer. Exit.
RIKER: Mister La Forge. Set the royals and stunsails.
LAFORGE: What's a stunsail, sir?
RIKER: You see the last yardarm? Just above that...
COMM VOICE: Bridge to holodeck three.
RIKER: Riker here.
COMM VOICE: We're picking up a distress call from the Amargosa observatory, sir. They say they're under attack.
RIKER: RED ALERT! All hands to battle stations! Captain Picard to the bridge.
[Enterprise-D bridge]
(most of the bridge crew are still dressed in period costume)
RIKER: It looks like we're too late.
WORF: There are no other ships in the system.
RIKER: Captain, we are approaching Amargosa. It looks like the observatory took quite a beating.
PICARD: Survivors?
DATA: Sensors show five life signs aboard the station, Captain.
RIKER: The station complement was nineteen.
PICARD: Stand down from RED ALERT. ...Number One, ...will you begin an investigation? I'll be in my ready room.
RIKER: Sir?
PICARD: Make it so. Just do it!
RIKER: Mister Worf.
WORF: Aye sir.
[Amargosa Observatory]
RIKER: Mister Worf, you're with me.
WORF: These blast patterns are consistent with a type-three disruptor.
RIKER: Great! That narrows it to Romulan, Breen and Klingon.
WORF (OC): Over here!
WORF: It's all right. Do not struggle.
RIKER: It's okay, we're right here. ...I've got you. I'm Commander William Riker from the Starship Enterprise.
SORAN: Soran. ...Doctor Tolian Soran.
RIKER: Who attacked you, Doctor?
SORAN: I don't know, it all happened so fast.
SECURITY OFFICER: Commander, ...you'd better take a look at this.
WORF: Romulans!
[Data's quarters]
LAFORGE: Data, whatever possessed you to push her in the water in the first place?
DATA: I was attempting to ...get into the spirit of things. I thought it would be amusing. ...Spot! ...Is she still angry?
LAFORGE: I'd stay out of sickbay for a couple of days if I were you.
(Data goes to a closet and gets out the emotion chip)
LAFORGE: Data, ...you're not actually thinking about using that thing are you?
DATA: I have considered it for many months. In the light of my recent episode with Doctor Crusher now would be the appropriate time.
LAFORGE: I thought you were worried it would overload your neural net.
DATA: That is true. However, I believe my growth as an artificial lifeform has reached an impasse. For thirty-four years I have endeavoured to become more 'human', to grow beyond my original programming. Still I am still unable to grasp such a basic concept as humour. ...This emotion chip may be the only answer. ...Geordi...
LAFORGE: All right. ...Listen! At the first sign of trouble, I'm going to deactivate it. Agreed?
DATA: Agreed.
[Enterprise-D ready room]
RIKER: We found two dead Romulans on the station. We're analysing their equipment to see if we can determine what ship they're from.
PICARD: There's still no indication of why they attacked the station?
RIKER: They practically tore the place apart. Accessed the central computer, turned the cargo bay inside out. Obviously they were looking for something.
PICARD: This could signify a new Romulan threat in this sector. Inform Starfleet Command.
RIKER: You want me to contact Starfleet?
PICARD: Is there a problem?
RIKER: No sir. ...There was something else, Captain. One of the scientists, a Doctor Soran, insisted on speaking with you. I told him you were very busy, but he said it was absolutely imperative that he speak with you right away.
PICARD: Understood. That'll be all.
RIKER: Sir, is there anything wr?...
PICARD: No. ...Thank you.
[Enterprise-D Ten Forward]
GUINAN: Gentlemen, something new from Forcas Three.
(she pours two glasses, Data takes a drink)
LAFORGE: What?
DATA: I believe this beverage has provoked an emotional response.
LAFORGE: Really? What do you feel?
DATA: I am uncertain. Because I have had little experience with emotion I am unable to ...articulate the sensation.
GUINAN: Emotion?
LAFORGE: I'll explain later.
DATA: Ouf!
GUINAN: It looks like he hates it.
DATA: Yes. That is it. I hate this.
LAFORGE: Data, I think the chip is working.
DATA: Yes. I hate this! It is revolting!
GUINAN: More?
DATA: Please.
PICARD: I'm looking for a Doctor Soran from the observatory. ...Doctor Soran.
SORAN: Yes, ah yes, Captain. ...Thank you for coming.
PICARD: I understand there's something urgent you wish to discuss with me.
SORAN: Yes. I must return to the observatory immediately. I must continue a critical experiment I've been running on the Amargosa star.
PICARD: We're still conducting our investigation into the attack. ...As soon as that is complete, then I will allow you and your colleagues to return. But until then there is nothing I can do.
SORAN: Timing is very important in my experiments. If it is not completed in the next twelve hours, years of research will be lost.
PICARD: We're doing the best we can. If you'll excuse me.
SORAN: They say 'time is the fire in which we burn'. ...Right now, Captain, my time is running out. ...We leave so many things unfinished in our lives. ...I know you understand.
PICARD: I'll see what I can do.
(as Soran leaves he recognises Guinan and she is aware of his presence)
[Enterprise engineering]
WORF (OC): We have analysed the Romulan tricorders. They were scanning for a signature particle of a compound called trilithium.
RIKER: Trilithium?
WORF (OC): Yes. An experimental compound the Romulans have been working on. Trilithium is a nuclear inhibitor. In theory, it could stop all fusion within a star. However the Romulans never found a way to stabilise it.
RIKER: Why would they look for it on a Federation observatory? It doesn't make sense.
WORF: I do not know.
RIKER: Have Geordi and Data go over with the next Away Team. Tell them to scan the observatory for trilithium.
WORF: Aye sir.
[Amargosa Observatory]
LAFORGE: Well, there's no sign of any trilithium over here.
DATA: Ha, ha, ha! I get it. Ha. ha, ha! I get it.
LAFORGE: You get what?
DATA: When you said to Commander Riker 'The clown can stay...' Ha, ha, ha. '...but the Ferengi in the gorilla suit has to go.' Ha, ha, ha.
LAFORGE: What are you talking about?
DATA: During the Farpoint mission. We were on the bridge and you told the joke. That was the punch line. Ha, ha, ha!
LAFORGE: Farpoint? Data, that was seven years ago.
DATA: I know. I just got it. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Very funny! Ha, ha, ha...
LAFORGE: Wait a minute, ...there's a door hidden right behind here. I can see the separation with my VISOR.
DATA: There appears to be a dampening field in operation. I cannot scan beyond the bulkhead.
LAFORGE: There doesn't seem to be a control panel or an access port.
DATA: It appears to be magnetically sealed. ...I believe I can reverse the polarity by attenuating my axial servo. ...'Open sesame.' You could say ...I have a ...magnetic personality. Ha, ha, ha! Humour I love it!
LAFORGE: Data, come take a look at this, will you? Have you ever seen a solar probe with this kind of configuration?
(Data opens and closes his tricorder like a mouth answering Geordi's question)
DATA: No, Geordi. I have not. Have you? ...No I have not. It is most unusual. ...Ha, ha, ha. Mister Tricorder! Ha, ha, ha.
LAFORGE: Just see if you can help me get these panels open.
DATA: Make it so.
LAFORGE: Whoa! My VISOR's picking up something in the theta band. It could be a trilithium signature.
(Data continues chuckling at his witticism)
LAFORGE: Data, we don't have time for this!
DATA: I cannot help myself. ...I think that something is wrong.
(Data suddenly seems to be having an 'electronic' seizure)
LAFORGE: Data! ...Data, are you all right?
DATA: I believe the emotion chip has ...overloaded my positronic relay.
LAFORGE: We better get you back to the ship. La Forge to Enterprise. ...La Forge to Enterprise.
SORAN: Gentlemen, is there a problem?
LAFORGE: Doctor Soran? Yeah, there appears to be some sort of damping field in here. It's blocking our com signal. Can you turn it off?
SORAN: Of course. I'd be only too happy to.
(Soran knocks Geordi out and points a phaser at Data)
DATA: Please. Please ...do not hurt me. Please.
[Picard's quarters]
PICARD: Yes. Come. ...Yes, Counselor. Is there something I can do for you?
TROI: I've come to see if there's anything I can do for you.
PICARD: Oh, it's just family matters. ...You never met my brother and his wife, did you?
(Picard opens a photo-album that he had been studying)
TROI: No.
PICARD: Robert. ...So opinionated. So pompous and arrogant. He always had to have the last word. But he mellowed a little bit in the last few years. I was going to get together with them all next month on Earth. I thought we'd go to San Francisco. René's always wanted to see Starfleet Academy.
TROI: René? Oh, your nephew.
PICARD: He's so unlike his father. He's a dreamer. Imaginative. ...Very gentle.
TROI: What's happened?
PICARD: Robert and René, they're... ...burned to death in a fire.
TROI: I'm sorry.
PICARD: That's all right, Counselor. These things happen.
TROI: Captain, it's not all right.
PICARD: I can't help keep thinking about ...about all the experiences that René is not going to have. Not going to Academy, reading books and listening to music, falling in love. ...Building a life. ...Well, it's not going to happen now.
TROI: I didn't realise he meant so much to you.
PICARD: I'd come to feel that René was as close as I would get to having a child of my own.
TROI: Your family history is very important to you, isn't it?
PICARD: Right. Oh, ...from being a small child, I can remember being told about the family line. The Picard who fought at Trafalgar. The Picard who won the Nobel Prize for chemistry. The Picard's who settled the first Martian colony. When Robert married and had a son, I...
TROI: ...You felt it was no longer your responsibility to carry on the family line.
PICARD: Right. Yes. That's it exactly. You know, Counselor, Recently I've become very much aware that there are fewer days ahead than there are behind. ...But I took comfort from the fact that ...the family would go on. But now there'll be no more Picards.
(an explosion lights up the cabin window)
[Enterprise-D bridge]
PICARD: Report.
RIKER: A quantum implosion has occurred within the Amargosa star. All nuclear fusion is breaking down.
PICARD: How is that possible?
WORF: Sensor records show that the observatory launched a solar probe into the sun a few moments ago.
RIKER: The star is going to collapse in a matter of minutes.
WORF: Sir, the implosion has produced a level twelve shock wave.
TROI: That'll destroy everything in this system.
TRANSPORTER CHIEF (on intercom): Transporter room to bridge. I can't locate Commander La Forge or Mister Data, sir.
RIKER: Have they come back to the ship?
WORF: No sir. They are not on board.
PICARD: How long before the shock wave hits the observatory?
WORF: Four minutes, forty seconds.
PICARD: Number One.
RIKER (OC): Mister Worf.
WORF (OC): Aye sir.
[Amargosa Observatory]
LURSA (on intercom): Soran, transmit your coordinates.
(Soran hears Riker and Worf approaching and starts a phaser battle with them)
RIKER: What the hell's he doing?
PICARD (on intercom): Enterprise to Commander Riker, you have two minutes left.
RIKER: Did you hear that, Soran? We've got a level twelve shock wave coming in. We've got to get out of here!
[Enterprise-D bridge]
ENSIGN HAYES: Sir. A Klingon Bird-of-Prey is decloaking off the port bow.
PICARD: What?
[Amargosa Observatory]
(the phaser fight continues)
RIKER: Data! See if you can get to Geordi!
DATA: I ... I cannot, sir.
B'ETOR (on intercom): Prepare for transport.
(Geordi and Soran transport out to the Klingon Bird-of-Prey)
[Enterprise-D bridge]
TRANSPORTER CHIEF (OC): Commander Riker's team is aboard, sir.
PICARD: Helm! Warp one. Engage!
[Bird-of-Prey bridge]
B'ETOR: You've done it, Soran.
(whereupon Soran punches B'Etor and a scuffle ensues until Soran is restrained)
B'ETOR: Wait! ...I hope for your sake you were initiating a mating ritual.
SORAN: You got careless. The Romulans came looking for their missing trilithium.
B'ETOR: Impossible. We left no survivors on their outpost.
SORAN: They knew it was on the observatory. If the Enterprise hadn't intervened, they would have found it.
LURSA: They didn't find it, and now we have a weapon of unlimited power.
SORAN: No, Lursa, I have the weapon. And if you ever want me to give it to you, I would advise you to be a little more careful in the future.
B'ETOR: Perhaps we are tired of waiting.
SORAN: Without my research ...the trilithium is worthless, ...as are your plans to reconquer the Klingon Empire. ...Set course for the Veridian system. Maximum warp.
LURSA: Bosh-ta-JaH Veridian (Set course for Veridian)
[Enterprise sickbay]
CRUSHER: He's an El-Aurian, ...over three hundred years old. He lost his entire family when the Borg destroyed his world. Soran escaped with a handful of other refugees aboard a ship called the Lakul. That ship was later destroyed by some kind of energy ribbon, but Soran and forty-six others were rescued by the Enterprise-B.
RIKER: That was the mission where James Kirk was killed.
CRUSHER: I checked the passenger manifest of the Lakul. Guess who else was on board?
[Guinan's quarters]
GUINAN: Soran is a name I haven't heard in a long time.
PICARD: You remember him?
GUINAN: Yes.
PICARD: Guinan. It is very important that you tell me everything that you know. We think that Soran has developed a weapon, ...a terrible weapon. One that might even give him enough power to destroy...
GUINAN: Soran doesn't care about weapons or power. He just cares about getting back to the Nexus.
PICARD: What's the 'Nexus'?
GUINAN: The energy ribbon that destroyed that ship was just not some random phenomenon travelling through the universe. It's a doorway to another place that we call the Nexus. It's a place that I've tried very, very hard to forget.
PICARD: What happened to you?
GUINAN: It was like being inside joy. As if joy was something tangible ...and you could wrap yourself in it like a blanket. And never in my entire life have I been as content.
PICARD: And then you were beamed away from there.
GUINAN: Pulled. Ripped away. None of us wanted to go. I would have done anything, ...anything to get back there. But once I realised that wasn't possible I learned to live without that.
PICARD: What about Soran?
GUINAN: If he's still obsessed he could be a very, very dangerous man.
PICARD: Why would he destroy a star? ...Thank you, Guinan.
GUINAN: If you go, you're not going to care about anything. Not this ship, Soran, nothing. All you'll want is to stay in the Nexus. And you're not going to want to come back.
[Bird-of-Prey quarters]
(Soran is studying Geordi's VISOR)
SORAN: Marvellous technology. This is a remarkable piece of equipment.
LAFORGE: I'm glad you approve.
SORAN: Not very stylish though is it? ...Have you ever considered a prosthesis that would make you look a little more, ...how can I say? ...More normal.
LAFORGE: What's normal?
SORAN: What's normal? Well, that's a good question. Normal is what everyone else is, and you are not.
LAFORGE: Why don't we just get down to it? What do you want?
SORAN: As you may or may not be aware, I am an El-Aurian. Some people call us a race of 'listeners'. We listen. Right now, Mister La Forge, you have my complete attention. I want to listen to everything you know about trilithium.
Captains log, stardate 48632.4. Doctor Crusher has informed me that Data's emotion chip has been fused into his neural net and cannot be removed. However she believes he is fit for duty, so I have asked him to join me in Stellar Cartography.
[Enterprise Stellar Cartography]
DATA (OC): According to our information, the ribbon is a conflux of temporal energy which travels through this galaxy every thirty-nine point one years. It will pass through this sector in approximately forty-two hours.
PICARD: Yes. Guinan was right. She said that Soran was trying to get back to the ribbon. Now if that's true there has to be some connection with the Amargosa star. Data, give me a list of anything that was affected by the star's destruction, no matter how insignificant.
PICARD: Data?
DATA: Sorry sir. It will take the computer a few moments to compile the information.
PICARD: Data, ...are you all right?
DATA: No sir. I am finding it difficult to concentrate. I believe I am overwhelmed with feelings of remorse, regret concerning my actions on the observatory.
PICARD: What do you mean?
DATA: I wanted to save Geordi, but I experienced something I could not expect. ...Fear. I was afraid. ...According to our current information, the destruction of the Amargosa star has had the following effects in this sector. ...Gamma emissions have increased by point zero five percent. The Starship Bozeman was forced to make a course correction. ...Ambient magnetic fields...
PICARD: Wait. The Bozeman. ...Why would it make a course correction?
DATA: The destruction of the Amargosa star has altered the gravitational forces throughout this sector. As a result any ship passing through this region would have to make a minor course correction.
PICARD: A minor course correction? ...Where's the ribbon now?
DATA: This is its current position.
PICARD: Can you project its course?
DATA: Captain, ...I cannot continue with this investigation. I wish to be deactivated until Doctor Crusher can remove the emotion chip.
PICARD: Are you having some kind of malfunction?
DATA: No sir. I simply do not have the ability to control these emotions.
PICARD: Data, I have nothing but sympathy for what you are feeling, but right now I need you to...
DATA: Sir! I no longer want these emotions! Deactivating me is the only viable solution.
PICARD: Part of having feelings is learning to integrate them into your life, Data, ...learning to live with them. No matter what the circumstances...
DATA: No, I cannot...
PICARD: You will not be deactivated! You're an officer on board this ship and I require you to perform your duty. That is an order, Commander!
DATA: Yes sir. ...I will try, sir.
PICARD: Sometimes it takes courage to try, Data. Courage can be an emotion too. Now can you project the course of the ribbon?
DATA: I believe so.
PICARD: Enhance grid nine-A. ...Where was the Amargosa star? ...Now you said when the Amargosa star was destroyed, it affected the gravitational forces in this sector. Did the computer take that into account when it projected the course of the ribbon?
DATA: No sir. I will make the appropriate adjustments.
PICARD: That's what Soran's doing, ...he's changing the course of the ribbon. ...But why? Why would he try to change its path? ...Why doesn't he just fly into it with a ship?
DATA: Our records show that every ship which has approached the ribbon has either been destroyed or severely damaged.
PICARD: He can't get to the ribbon, so he's trying to make the ribbon come to him. ...Data, does it pass near any M-Class planets?
DATA: Yes sir. There are two in the Veridian system.
PICARD: It's close to Veridian Three ...but not close enough. ...Data, what would happen to the ribbon's course if Soran destroyed the Veridian star itself? ...That's where he's going.
DATA: It should be noted, sir, that the collapse of the Veridian star would produce a shock wave similar to the one we observed at Amargosa.
PICARD: Destroying all the planets in this system.
DATA: Veridian Three is uninhabited. However Veridian Four supports a pre-industrial humanoid society.
PICARD: Population?
DATA: Two hundred thirty million, sir.
PICARD: Picard to bridge.
WORF (on intercom): Worf here, sir.
PICARD: Set a course for the Veridian system, maximum warp.
[Bird-of-Prey bridge]
LURSA: Did you get anything from the human?
SORAN: No. His heart just wasn't in it.
KLINGON HELM: We have entered orbit of Veridian Three.
SORAN: Prepare to transport me to the surface.
B'ETOR: Wait. When do we get our payment?
SORAN: This contains all the information you'll need to make a trilithium weapon. ...It's been coded. Once I'm safely to the surface, I'll transmit the decryption sequence to you, ...not before.
KLINGON HELM: Mistress! A Federation starship is entering the system!
LURSA: What? On viewer.
KLINGON HELM (OC): They are hailing us.
B'ETOR: Du'cha! (On speakers)
LURSA (OC): We're still cloaked. They can't see us.
PICARD (on intercom): Klingon vessel. We know what you're doing, and we will destroy any probe launched toward the Veridian star. We demand that you return our Chief Engineer and leave this system immediately.
SORAN: There's no time for this. Eliminate them.
B'ETOR: That's a Galaxy-class starship. We are no match for them.
SORAN: I think it's time we gave Mister La Forge his sight back.
[Enterprise-D bridge]
RIKER: Maybe they're not out there.
PICARD: They're just trying to decide whether a twenty year-old Klingon Bird-of-Prey can be a match for the Federation flagship.
TROI: Perhaps they're on the surface.
WORF: Sir, according to my calculations, a solar probe launched from either the Klingon ship or the planet's surface will take eleven seconds to reach the sun. However, since we do not have an exact point of origin, it will take us between eight and fifteen seconds to lock our weapons onto it.
RIKER: That's a pretty big margin of error. Much too big.
PICARD: Mister Data, how long before the ribbon arrives?
DATA: Approximately forty-seven minutes, sir.
PICARD: I've got to find some way to get to Soran.
WORF: Klingon vessel decloaking directly ahead, sir. ...They are hailing.
PICARD: On screen.
LURSA (on viewscreen): Captain. What an unexpected pleasure.
PICARD: Lursa, It is very important that I speak with Soran.
LURSA (on viewscreen): I'm afraid the Doctor is no longer aboard our ship.
PICARD: Then I will beam to his location.
B'ETOR (on viewscreen): The Doctor values his privacy. He would be quite upset if an armed away team interrupted him.
PICARD: Then I will beam to your ship and you can transport me to Soran.
RIKER: Captain, you can't trust them. For all you know they killed Geordi. They might kill you too.
LURSA (on viewscreen): We did not harm your Engineer. He's been our ...guest.
RIKER: Then return him.
B'ETOR (on viewscreen): In exchange for what?
DATA: Me sir.
PICARD: Me! I will be your prisoner, but first you must beam me to the surface so I can speak with Soran.
B'ETOR (on viewscreen): The Captain would make a much more valuable hostage.
LURSA (on viewscreen): We'll consider it a prisoner exchange.
PICARD: Agreed. ...Have Doctor Crusher meet me in transporter room three. You have the bridge, Number One.
[Enterprise-D transporter room]
TRANSPORTER OFFICER (OC): Receiving the coordinates, Captain.
PICARD: Energise.
(as Picard dematerialises, Geordi materialises and collapses. Doctor Crusher and Nurse Ogawa attend to him)
[Veridian III mountaintop]
(Picard materialises revealing a scaffolding rocket launcher at the summit)
SORAN: Welcome, Captain. ...You must think I'm quite the madman.
PICARD: The thought had crossed my mind.
SORAN: I know why you're here. You're not entirely confident you can shoot down my probe, so you've come to dissuade me from my horrific plan. ...Good luck. ...Now if you'll excuse me, Captain, I'm rather busy.
PICARD: Soran!
(as Picard moves towards Soran he is temporarily stunned but a forcefield)
SORAN: Do be careful, Captain. That's a fifty giga-watt forcefield. I wouldn't want to see you get hurt.
[Bird-of-Prey bridge]
KLINGON HELM: I have established the link.
LURSA: Put it on viewer. ...It's working. The VISOR's transmitting.
B'ETOR: Where is he?
(Doctor Crusher appears on the viewscreen)
CRUSHER (on viewscreen): (silent) Don't worry, there's been no permanent damage. Your heart is perfectly fine. There's been a little arterial damage.
B'ETOR: Human females are so repulsive.
[Enterprise-D sickbay]
CRUSHER: There's a myocardial degeneration. I've removed the nanaprobe and I think you're going to be fine. I'll need to run some more tests. I'll let you know.
LAFORGE: Thanks, Doc.
LAFORGE: Data, it's okay.
DATA: I am sorry I let you down. I have not been behaving like myself lately.
LAFORGE: No Data, you haven't. You've been behaving like a human.
[Veridian III mountaintop]
PICARD: You don't need to do this, Soran. ...I'm sure we could find another way of getting you into this Nexus.
SORAN: I've spent eighty years looking for another way. Believe me, this is the only one.
(Soran presses some buttons on a keypad and a rocket reveals itself on the launcher)
PICARD: What you're about to do Soran, is no different from when the Borg destroyed your world. They killed millions too, ...including your wife ...and children.
SORAN: Nice try. ...You know, there was a time when I wouldn't hurt a fly. Then the Borg came. And they showed me that if there is one constant in this whole universe. ...It's death. ...Afterwards I began to realise it didn't really matter. We're all going to die sometime. It's just a question of how and when. You will too, Captain. Aren't you beginning to feel time gaining on you? ...It's like a predator. It's stalking you. ...Oh, you can try and outrun it with doctors, medicines, new technologies, but in the end time is going to hunt you down, ...and make the kill.
PICARD: It's our mortality that defines us, Soran. It's part of the truth of our existence.
SORAN: What if I told you I've found a new truth.
PICARD: The Nexus?
SORAN: Time has no meaning there. The predator has no teeth.
[Bird-of-Prey bridge]
LURSA: Where is he now?
B'ETOR: He bathed. Now he's roaming the ship. ...He must be the only Engineer who doesn't go to engineering.
[Enterprise-D bridge]
RIKER: Any luck, Mister Worf?
WORF: No sir. I still cannot locate the Captain.
RIKER: The sensors still cannot penetrate the planet biosphere. There's too much interference. Can you find a way to scan for lifeforms?
DATA: I would be happy to, sir. I just love scanning for lifeforms. ...'Life forms, ...you tiny little lifeforms, ...you precious little life forms, ...where are you.'
[Bird-of-Prey bridge]
B'ETOR: Finally!
[Enterprise engineering]
FARRELL: Commander, I'd like to run a level three diagnostic on the port plasma relays. I think one of the generators is fluctuating.
LAFORGE: Fine, do that.
[Bird-of-Prey bridge]
LURSA: That's it! Replay from time index nine two four. ...Magnify this section and enhance. ...Their shields are operating on a modulation of two five seven point four.
B'ETOR: Adjust our torpedo frequency to match two five seven point four!
(the Bird-of-Prey launches a torpedo attack on the Enterprise)
[Enterprise-D bridge]
WORF: They have found a way to penetrate our shields.
RIKER: Lock phasers and return fire! ...Deanna, take the helm. Get us out of orbit.
DATA: Hull breach on decks thirty-one through thirty-five.
RIKER: Mister Worf, what do we know about that old Klingon ship. Are there any weaknesses?
WORF: It is a Class D-twelve Bird of Prey. They were retired from service because of defective plasma coils.
RIKER: Plasma coils? ...Any way we can use that to our advantage?
WORF: I do not see how. The plasma coil is part of their cloaking device.
[Enterprise engineering]
LAFORGE: Let's get a stabiliser on that conduit. ...Reinforce that starboard interlock. Reroute main power through the secondary coupling.
[Enterprise-D bridge]
RIKER: Data, would a defective plasma coil be susceptible to some sort of ionic pulse?
DATA: Perhaps. Yes! Yes, if we sent a low-level ionic pulse, it might reset the coil and trigger the cloaking device. Excellent idea, sir!
WORF: As their cloak begins to engage, their shields will drop.
RIKER: Well that's two seconds they'll be vulnerable. Mister Data, lock on to their plasma coils.
DATA: No problem.
WORF: Our shields are holding.
[Bird-of-Prey bridge]
LURSA: Fire at will.
[Enterprise-D bridge]
RIKER: Mister Worf, prepare a spread of photon torpedoes. We'll have to hit them the instant they begin to cloak.
WORF: Aye sir.
RIKER: We're getting one shot at this. Target their primary reactor.
DATA: I have accessed their coil frequency. Initiating ionic pulse.
RIKER: Make it quick!
(there is a major explosion on the Enterprise bridge)
[Bird-of-Prey bridge]
LURSA: Target their bridge.
B'ETOR: Full disruptors.
KLINGON HELM: We are cloaking!
B'ETOR: What?
KLINGON HELM: Our shields are down!
(the Klingons watch as a single torpedo heads towards their Bird-of-Prey and destroys it)
[Enterprise-D bridge]
DATA: Yes! Mm!
[Veridian III mountaintop]
(Picard throws a stone at the forcefield)
SORAN: Haven't you got anything better to do?
(when Soran resumes his activities on the rocket, Picard spots a rock bridge. He throws a stone underneath it and doesn't trigger the forcefield)
[Enterprise engineering]
LAFORGE: It must have been that last torpedo. La Forge to bridge. I've got a problem down here. The magnetic interlocks have been ruptured. I...
(an explosion rocks engineering)
LAFORGE: Coolant leak! We have a coolant leak, everybody. Let's go. Let's get out of here. ...Everybody out! Let's move! ...Let's move! Let' go! Bridge, we have a new problem. We're five minutes from a warp core breach. There's nothing I can do.
[Enterprise-D bridge]
RIKER: Deanna, evacuate everyone to the saucer section. Mister Data, prepare to separate the ship.
[Enterprise-D corridors]
COMPUTER VOICE: Starship separation in five minutes. ...Starship separation in four minutes thirty-five seconds.
[Enterprise-D sickbay]
CRUSHER: Let's move him out. Let's go. Take him out. Quick.
[Enterprise-D Jeffries tube]
COMPUTER VOICE: Starship separation in four minutes thirty seconds.
[Enterprise-D corridor]
COMPUTER VOICE: Starship separation in four minutes fifteen seconds.
LAFORGE: Farrell!
FARRELL (OC): Yes.
LAFORGE: There's no one with these kids. Let's get them to the W-tube. We'll find the parents later.
COMPUTER VOICE: Starship separation in four minutes.
[Veridian III mountaintop]
SORAN: Now, you'll have to excuse me, Captain. I have an appointment with eternity and I don't want to be late.
(Picard moves to widen the aperture under the rock bridge)
[Enterprise-D Jeffries tube]
RIKER (OC): The core breach is accelerating. We've go to get out of here.
LAFORGE: That's it, bridge, ...we're all out!
[Enterprise-D bridge]
DATA: One minute to warp core breach.
RIKER: Begin separation sequence. Full impulse power once we're clear. Warp core is going critical.
DATA: Separation complete.
TROI: Engaging impulse engines.
DATA (OC): Core breach in progress.
COMPUTER VOICE: Primary stabilisers off-line. Engaging secondary systems.
RIKER: Report!
TROI: Helm controls are off-line!
DATA: Oh, shit...
(on the viewscreen Data has realised the saucer section is hurtling towards the planet)
[Veridian III mountaintop]
(as Soran climbs to the rocket Picard crawls under the rock bridge. Soran spots him and fires his phaser at him. Meanwhile the saucer section re-enters the planet's atmosphere)
[Enterprise-D bridge]
DATA: I have rerouted auxiliary power to the lateral thrusters. I'm attempting to level our descent.
RIKER: All hands, brace for impact!
[Enterprise-D crew quarters]
LAFORGE: Hold on there, tight. Hold on!
[Enterprise-D ready room]
CRUSHER: Hold their heads!
(the saucer section comes to rest after crashing through a forest)
[Enterprise-D bridge]
TROI: I'm okay.
(Riker looks up to see the sky through the shattered bridge dome)
[Veridian III mountaintop]
(as Soran goes to cross a scaffolding bridge he is confronted by Picard. They struggle and Picard succeeds in knocking Soran's phaser down off the bridge. The fight continues, Picard is knocked down and when Soran hears a rumble the rocket launches towards the sun. On impact the sky turns dark and they see the Nexus approaching)
[Nexus French living room]
(Picard is blindfolded)
PICARD: What... What is this? Where am I?
(the blindfold is removed to reveal a Christmas scene)
PICARD'S CHILDREN: Surprise!
MADISON PICARD: We love you father.
THOMAS PICARD: Were you scared?
MIMI PICARD: I helped decorate the tree.
OLIVIA PICARD: I helped decorate it. It took all day.
THOMAS PICARD: Say Merry Christmas, Papa.
OLIVIA PICARD: Seen your present?
MIMI PICARD: I love you, father.
PICARD: And I love you too.
ELISE PICARD: Move back and give your father some room. ...Cup of Earl Grey?
PICARD: That would be perfect, dear.
RENÉ PICARD: This one's for you.
PICARD: Oh, thank you very much, René.
RENÉ PICARD: Merry Christmas, uncle.
PICARD: And Merry Christmas to you too.
ELISE PICARD (OC): René, can you help me with the table?
PICARD: René! ...Come here. ...Go and help your aunt.
(Picard notices a spherical decoration blinking on the Christmas tree. It reminds him of the Veridian sun going out)
PICARD: This isn't right. ...This can't be real.
GUINAN (OC): It's as real as you want it to be.
PICARD: Guinan! ...What's going on? ...Why am I here?
GUINAN: You're in the Nexus.
PICARD: This is the Nexus?
GUINAN: For you. This is what you wanted.
PICARD: But ...I never had a home like this. ...Nor a wife and children. ...But these are all mine. ...Guinan, what are you doing here? ...I thought you were on board the Enterprise.
GUINAN: I am. ...I'm also here. ...Think of me as an echo of the person you know. ...A part of herself she left behind.
PICARD: When the Enterprise-B beamed you up from the Lakul?
THOMAS PICARD: Papa, help me build my castle.
PICARD: Yes I will, in a few minutes.
MIMI PICARD: Papa, thank you for the dolly. She's very beautiful.
PICARD: These are my children. ...These are my children!
GUINAN: Of course. Time has no meaning here. So you can go back and see them born, or go forward and see your grandchildren.
ELISE PICARD (OC): Dinner's ready everyone!
MATTHEW PICARD: Dinner's ready, Papa.
PICARD: Go on. Go on without me.
PICARD: Guinan, ...can I leave the Nexus?
GUINAN: Where would you go?
PICARD: I don't understand.
GUINAN: But as I said, time has no meaning here. So if you leave you can go anywhere, any time.
PICARD: All right, I know exactly where I want to go. The mountaintop on Veridian Three, just before Soran destroyed the star. I have to stop it. But I need help. Now, if you were to come back with me. Together, we c...
GUINAN: I can't leave here. I'm there already, remember? But I bet I know someone who can.
[Nexus Rockies farmyard]
(Kirk is chopping logs)
GUINAN (OC): And from his point of view, he just got there too.
PICARD: Kirk! ...James T. Kirk.
KIRK: Beautiful day.
PICARD: Yes, it certainly is.
KIRK: Would you mind?
PICARD: Oh.
(Picard places a log on the block)
PICARD: Captain, I'm wondering, do you realise?...
KIRK: Hold on a minute. Do you smell something burning?
[Nexus Rockies farmhouse kitchen]
KIRK: Looks like somebody was trying to cook some eggs. ...Come on in. It's all right, it's my house. ...At least it used to be, I sold it years ago.
PICARD: I'm Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship ...Enterprise.
KIRK: The clock, ...I gave this clock to Bones.
PICARD: I'm from what you would consider the future, ...the twenty-fourth century.
(a dog barks in the doorway)
KIRK: Butler! ...Butler, how can you be here? ...He's been dead seven years.
ANTONIA (OC): Come on, Jim, I'm starving. How long have you been rattling around in that kitchen?
KIRK: Antonia! ...What are you talking about? ...The future? This is the past. ...This is nine years ago.
(Kirk gets a broken pair of spectacles out of a box)
KIRK: ...The day I told her I was going back to Starfleet.
KIRK: These are Ktarian eggs, ...It was her favourite. I was preparing them to soften the blow.
PICARD: I know how real this must seem to you, but it's not. This isn't really your house. We're both of us caught up in some kind of temporal nexus.
KIRK: Dill.
PICARD: I beg your pardon?
KIRK: Dill weed. ...In the cabinet, second shelf to the left, ...behind the oregano.
PICARD: How long have you been here?
KIRK: I don't know. I was aboard the Enterprise-B in the deflector control room... ...Stir these, will you?
(Kirk thrusts a hot frying pan into Picard's hands)
PICARD: Ow!
KIRK: The bulkhead in front of me disappeared. ...Then I found myself out here just now chopping wood, ...right before you walked up. Thanks.
PICARD: Look, ...history records that you died saving the Enterprise-B from an energy ribbon eighty years ago.
KIRK: You say this is the twenty-fourth century.
Picard: Aha.
KIRK: And I'm dead?
PICARD: Not exactly. As I said, this is some kind of...
KIRK/PICARD: Temporal nexus.
KIRK: ...Yeah, I heard you. ...Something is missing.
(the 'missing' two slices of toast pop up from the toaster)
PICARD: Captain, look! I need your help. I want you to leave the Nexus with me. ...We have to go back to a planet, Veridian Three. ...We have to stop a man called Soran from destroying a star. Millions of lives are at stake.
KIRK: You said history considers me dead. Who am I to argue with history?
PICARD: You are a Starfleet Officer. You have a duty...
KIRK: I don't need you to lecture me. I was out saving the galaxy when your grandfather was in diapers. Besides which, I think the galaxy owes me one. All right, ...I was like you once ...so completely blinded by duty and obligations that I couldn't see anything past this uniform. And in the end, what did it get me? An empty house. ...Not this time.
(Kirk purposefully climbs the stairs)
KIRK: This time I'm going to walk up these stairs, march into that bedroom ...and tell Antonia that I want to marry her. ...This time it's going to be different.
(Picard follows Kirk through the bedroom door into a barn)
[Nexus Idaho farm barn]
PICARD: This is not your bedroom.
KIRK: No, it's not. ...It's better!
PICARD: Better?
KIRK: This is my uncle's barn in Idaho. I took this horse out for a ride eleven years ago ...on a spring day, ...like this. If I'm right, this is the day I met Antonia. ...This Nexus of yours is very clever. I can start all over again ...and do things right from day one.
(Kirk mounts the horse and rides out. Picard goes to saddle another horse to follow him)
[Nexus Idaho countryside]
(Kirk jumps a ravine on the horse and back)
KIRK: I must have jumped that fifty times. Scared the hell out of me. Except this time. ...Because it isn't real.
(Kirk sees a woman on a horse on a distant hill)
PICARD (OC): Antonia?
KIRK: She isn't real either, is she? Nothing here is. ...Nothing here matters.
KIRK: You know, maybe this is less about an empty house than that empty chair on the bridge of the Enterprise. Ever since I left Starfleet I haven't made a difference. ...Captain of the Enterprise, huh?
PICARD: That's right.
KIRK: Close to retirement?
PICARD: I'm not planning on it.
KIRK: Let me tell you something. Don't! Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you. Don't let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you're there, you can make a difference.
PICARD: Come back with me. Help me stop Soran. Make a difference again.
KIRK: Who am I to argue with the Captain of the Enterprise? ...What's the name of that planet, ...Veridian Three?
PICARD: Yes.
KIRK: I take it the odds are against us, and the situation is grim?
PICARD: You could say that.
KIRK: You know if Spock were here, he'd say I was an irrational, illogical human being for taking on a mission like that. ...Sounds like fun.
[Enterprise-D bridge]
DATA: I have rerouted auxiliary power to the lateral thrusters. I'm attempting to level our descent.
RIKER: All hands, brace for impact!
(the Enterprise-D saucer section is crashing on the planet's surface)
[Veridian III mountaintop]
(Soran is on the scaffolding bridge and finds Kirk and Picard either side of him)
SORAN: Just who the hell are you?
PICARD: He's James T. Kirk. Don't you read history? ...I've got to get to the launcher. The ribbon will be here in a minute.
KIRK: I'll take care of Soran.
(Kirk goes to find Soran only to be confronted by him, phaser in hand)
SORAN: Actually I am familiar with history, Captain, and if I'm not too much mistaken, you're dead.
(Picard intervenes allowing Kirk to disarm Soran and a fight develops and Soran is left dangling on a rope)
KIRK: I thought you were heading for the launcher.
PICARD: I changed my mind. ...Captain's prerogative.
(Soran, still hanging from the rope, uses a padd to cloak the rocket launcher and then accidentally drops it. It lands onto the scaffolding bridge)
PICARD: We need that control padd. ...Captain, look! ...Where's Soran?
(Kirk heads for the bridge and Soran blasts it with his phaser leaving Kirk hanging on to it. Picard rescues Kirk)
PICARD: We're running out of time. ...Look! The control padd is still on the other side.
KIRK: I'll get it. You go for the launcher.
PICARD: No, you'll never make it by yourself. We've got to work together.
KIRK: We are working together. Trust me.
PICARD: Good luck, Captain.
KIRK: Call me, Jim.
(Kirk jumps to the other half of the broken bridge, retrieves the padd, decloaks the rocket launcher before the bridge breaks away and plunges downward with him on it)
SORAN: Picard! Get away from that launcher. ...Now!
(Soran gets to the launcher to find the warning message 'LOCKING CLAMPS ENGAGED'. As the rocket attempts to launch, it, together with Soran, is enveloped in an explosion. Picard scrambles down the mountainside to find Kirk lying under the wreckage of the bridge)
KIRK: Did we do it? ...Did we make a difference?
PICARD: Oh, yes, we made a difference. Thank you.
KIRK: It's the least I could do for the Captain of the Enterprise. ...It was ...fun. ...Oh my.
(Picard leaves his combadge on the cairn of stones over Kirk's body and then sees a shuttlecraft coming in to land)
Captain's log, stardate 48650.1. Three Starfleet vessels have arrived in orbit and have begun to beam up the Enterprise survivors. Our casualties are light but unfortunately the Enterprise herself cannot be salvaged.
[Enterprise-D cargo bay]
DATA: It has been extremely difficult, Counselor.
TROI: Then why did you decide not to remove the emotion chip?
DATA: At first I was unprepared for the unpredictable nature of the emotions. However having experienced two hundred and sixty-one distinct emotional states, I believe I have learned to control my feelings. They will no longer control me.
TROI: Well, I hope you're successful, Data. ...Data, over here, I've found something. ...One life sign, very faint.
DATA: Spot! ...I'm very happy to see you, Spot.
TROI: Another family reunited. ...Data, ...are you all right?
DATA: I am uncertain, Counselor. I am happy to see Spot, and yet I am crying. Perhaps the chip is malfunctioning?
TROI: I think it's working perfectly.
DATA: Hello, Spot.
[Enterprise-D ready room]
RIKER: Is this it?
PICARD: Yes, that's it, Number One. Thank you.
(Picard picks up his family photo-album)
RIKER: I'm going to miss this ship. She went before her time.
PICARD: Someone once told me that time is a predator that stalks us all our lives. I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey, and reminds us to cherish every moment, ...because they'll never come again. ...What we leave behind is not as important as how we lived. ...After all, Number One, we're only mortal.
RIKER: Speak for yourself, sir. I plan to live forever.
[Enterprise-D bridge]
RIKER: I always thought I'd get a shot at this chair one day.
PICARD: You may still, Will. ...Somehow I doubt this will be the last ship to carry the name Enterprise. ... Picard to Farragut. Two to beam up.
END CREDITS
HISTORY
2024-09-23 17:59:27 -
Pike:
Added the writers and director.
2024-09-12 00:55:41 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
2024-08-22 18:11:33 -
Pike:
Updated the summary.
