STORY BY
Rick Berman
&
Michael Piller
SCREENPLAY BY
Michael Piller
DIRECTED BY
Jonathan Frakes
RELEASED ON
Friday December 11, 1998
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210
LAST UPDATE
2024-09-28 21:26:43
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Version 7
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SUMMARY
STARRING
STORY
BEHIND THE SCENES
DVD/BLU-RAY COMMENTARY
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QUOTES
REVIEWS
TRANSCRIPT
OPENING CREDITS
[Ba'ku village hayfield]
(Artim emerges from a pile of hay in a field with children playing hide-and-seek)
BA'KU CHILD: There he is. Let's get him.
[Duck blind control room]
SO'NA COMM VOICE: Area seven to command.
STARFLEET OFFICER #1 (OC): Go ahead.
SO'NA COMM VOICE: We could use another survey team out here, sir.
STARFLEET OFFICER #1: Base to Ensign McCauley and Ensign Gilles, please report to area seven and assist the edaphology team.
McCAULEY/GILLES (on intercom): Acknowledged.
(figures in red isolation suits move amongst the Ba'ku villagers who are unaware of them)
GALLATIN: Admiral Dougherty is waiting for this. Transmit it to the ship.
SO'NA COMM VOICE: Alert, area twelve!
(a phaser shot streaks across the field where the children are playing)
SO'NA COMM VOICE: The android! He's out of control.
GALLATIN: Report.
SO'NA COMM VOICE: He's headed towards the village. We're trying to stop him.
STARFLEET OFFICER: Over there!
GALLATIN: Magnify. ...Hold your fire.
[Ba'ku village - day]
(the children run over a bridge. There are more phaser shots)
ANIJ: What is it? What's happening?
(in the village the pursuing survey team scatter market stalls)
[Duck blind]
CURTIS: Base to Commander Data.
DATA (OC): Rerouting ...micro hydraulic power distribution. ...Regulating thermal overload.
CURTIS: Data! Report to base immediately!
DATA (OC): Transferring positronic matrix functions. ...Engaging secondary protocols.
STARFLEET: He's starting to remove the headpiece.
GALLATIN: All field units. Intercept the android.
(Data in an isolation suit fells two pursuers)
[Ba'ku village - day]
SOJEF: Artim, it's all right.
(Data flings a pursuer into a pond)
SOJEF: Get inside. Now!
(suddenly Data's head appears above a bush to the consternation of the villagers)
SOJEF: Mind yourself there. Everyone get inside. Now! Back to your homes. ...Move it! Now! Move!
DATA: Secondary protocol is active.
[Duck blind]
STARFLEET OFFICER: They can see him.
GALLATIN: Stop him. Now!
CURTIS: Commander Data, stand down. That's an order. I repeat, stand down!
[Ba'ku village - day]
(Data takes a Son'a disruptor from one of the felled pursuers and fires to expose the control room behind the duck blind)
ANIJ: Who are they?
[Picard's quarters]
TROI: It's an M-class planet, population three hundred million.
PICARD: Say the greeting again.
TROI: Yew-cheen chef-faw, ...emphasis on the 'cheen' and the 'faw'.
CRUSHER: You either need a new uniform or a new neck.
PICARD: Yew-cheen chef-faw. My collar size is exactly as it was at the Academy.
CRUSHER: Of course it is.
RIKER: Our guests have arrived. They are eating the floral arrangements on the banquet table.
CRUSHER: I guess they don't believe in cocktails before dinner.
TROI: Oh, my God, are they vegetarians? That's not in here.
PICARD: Better have the chef whip up a light balsamic vinaigrette... something that goes well with chrysanthemums.
[Enterprise-E corridor]
PICARD: Yew-cheen...
TROI: ...chef-faw.
PICARD: Yew-cheen chef-faw.
PERIM (OC): Bridge to Captain Picard.
PICARD: Go ahead, Ensign.
PERIM (OC): Command wants to know our ETA at the Goren system.
PICARD: The Goren system?
RIKER: They need us to mediate some territorial dispute.
PICARD: Oh no! We can't delay the archaeological expedition to Hanoran Two. That'll put us right in the middle of monsoon season.
ENSIGN (OC): Captain.
(Picard is handed a padd)
PICARD: Thank you.
RIKER: The diplomatic corps is busy with Dominion negotiations.
PICARD: Oh, so they need us to put out one more brush fire. Can anyone remember when we used to be explorers?
[Enterprise-E turbolift]
RIKER: Deck ten.
PICARD: Yew-cheen chef-faw.
TROI: Remember, they have a significantly less advanced technology than ours. They only achieved warp drive last year.
CRUSHER: And the Federation Council decided to make them a protectorate so quickly?
PICARD: In view of our losses to the Borg and the Dominion, the Council feels we need all the allies we can get these days.
[Enterprise-E anteroom]
PERIM (OC): Captain on deck!
TROI: You'll be expected to dance with Regent Cuzar.
CRUSHER: Can she mambo?
PICARD: Very funny.
CRUSHER: The Captain used to cut quite a rug.
LAFORGE (on intercom): La Forge to Picard. Captain, I need to talk to you before the reception.
WORF: Captain.
PICARD: Mister Worf!
CRUSHER: Worf!
PICARD: What the hell are you doing here?
WORF: I was at the Manzar colony...
RIKER: He's a little late, Geordi, ...can it wait?
LAFORGE (on intercom): I don't think so.
PICARD: Excuse me. Tell him I'm already here and I'll talk to him when he arrives.
RIKER (OC): Geordi, the Captain would like you to come up here.
LAFORGE (on intercom): Tell him we've received a communiqué from Admiral Dougherty. It's about Data.
[Enterprise-E banquet room]
(a string quartet of crewmembers plays Hayden)
PICARD: Yew-cheen chef-faw, Regent Cuzar. Welcome aboard the Enterprise.
CUZAR: Captain Picard, may I welcome you in the time-honoured tradition of my people.
(Regent Cuzar presents an alien ceremonial headdress. Picard stoops for her to put it on him)
CUZAR: We are so honoured to be accepted within the great Federation family.
PICARD: We have a dance later, I believe?
CUZAR: I look forward to it.
PICARD: Counselor?...
TROI: Nice bead work.
LAFORGE: Captain. Excuse me. Captain... Captain, Admiral Dougherty's aboard a Son'a ship in sector four four one. He's requesting Data's schematics.
TROI: Is something wrong?
LAFORGE: The message doesn't say.
PICARD: Data should have been back by now. They were only scheduled to observe the Ba'ku village for one week. Geordi, would you set up a secure com-link to the Admiral in the anteroom.
GEORDI: Aye sir.
ADISLO: Captain, Hars Adislo, we met at the Nel Bato Conference last year. Did you ever have a chance to read my paper on thermionic transconductance?
PICARD: Would you excuse me?
[Enterprise-E anteroom]
DOUGHERTY (on viewscreen): He's not acknowledging any Starfleet protocols. Not responding to any of our hails.
PICARD: Have you any idea what precipitated his behaviour?
DOUGHERTY (on viewscreen): None. Now he's holding our people hostage down there.
PICARD: Well the Enterprise could be at your position in two days, Admiral.
DOUGHERTY (on viewscreen): That's probably not a good idea. Your ship hasn't been fitted for this region. There are environmental concerns.
PICARD: What kind of concerns?
DOUGHERTY (on viewscreen): We haven't fully identified the anomalies yet. They're calling this whole area the Briar Patch. It took us a day to reach a location where we could even get a signal to you. Just get me Data's schematics. I'll keep you informed. Dougherty out.
PICARD: His emotion chip?
GEORDI: He didn't take it with him. Send the Admiral Data's schematics.
(Picard gestures to an ensign)
FEMALE ENSIGN: Yes sir?
PICARD: Ensign, would you report to the galley and tell the chef to skip the fish course.
FEMALE ENSIGN: Aye sir?
PICARD: I 'd like our guests to depart as soon as etiquette allows. I'm going to ask Worf to delay his return to DS9 so he can join us. We're going to stop by sector four four one on our way to the Goren system.
LAFORGE: They are in opposite directions, sir.
PICARD: Are they?
[Son'a ship body enhancement facility]
RU'AFO: I never should have let you talk me into that duck blind in the first place. Your Federation procedures have made this mission ten times as difficult as it needed to be.
DOUGHERTY: Our procedures were in place to protect the planet's population from unnecessary risk.
RU'AFO: Planet's population. Six hundred people. If you want to avoid unnecessary risks, next time leave your android home.
SO'NA OFFICER #1 (on intercom): Bridge to Ahdar Ru'afo. We're approaching the planet.
RU'AFO: Take us into a high orbit. ...Lie down, Admiral. The girls will take twenty years off your face.
DOUGHERTY: Another time, perhaps.
RU'AFO: Ha, ha, ha. Your self-restraint puzzles me, Admiral. You continue to deny yourself every benefit this mission has to offer.
DOUGHERTY: I prefer to wait until we can share the benefits with all the people of the Federation.
(the ship is rocked by several blasts)
[Son'a ship bridge]
RU'AFO: Report.
SO'NA OFFICER #1: Phaser blast. Unknown origin.
RU'AFO: Raise shields.
(the ship is rocked by another blast)
RU'AFO: Take us out of orbit.
TARLAC OFFICER: Photon torpedoes. Brace for impact!
(several more blasts)
SO'NA OFFICER #1 (OC): The vessel has broken off pursuit, sir.
ELLORAN OFFICER #1: Visual contact!
DOUGHERTY: That's our ship.
(Data circles in a scout ship)
[Enterprise-E bridge]
LAFORGE: Captain, we're about to lose all communications with Starfleet.
PICARD: Do you have everything you need from command?
TROI: I've downloaded all the files on the duck blind mission and the Son'a.
PICARD: (to Riker and Troi) You have two days to become experts. ...Mister Worf, our job is to come up with a plan to safely capture Data.
WORF: I've already had Commander La Forge modify this tricorder with one of Data's actuation servos. Its operational range is only four metres but it will shut him down.
PICARD: Good to have you back, Mister Worf. ...Slow to one-third. Take us in.
[Enterprise library]
RIKER: Half a century ago they conquered two primitive races, the Tarlac and the Ellora, and then integrated them into their culture as a labour class. ...Look at this. The Son'a are known to have produced vast quantities of the narcotic ketracel-white. Their ships are rumoured to be equipped with isolytc subspace weapons outlawed by the second Khitomer Accords.
(Troi has joined Riker at his console and is stroking his shoulder)
TROI: Why would we be involved with these people?
RIKER: Good question.
(she is now tickling the back of his neck)
RIKER: You haven't done that in a long time.
TROI: What?
RIKER: What you're doing to my neck.
TROI: Was I doing something to your neck?
[Worf's quarters]
PICARD (on intercom): Bridge to Commander Worf. ...Worf?
WORF: Captain?
[Enterprise-E bridge]
PICARD: I don't know how they do it on Deep Space 9, but on the Enterprise, we still report for duty on time.
(Worf jumps out his bunk, bashes his head)
WORF (on intercom): Sorry sir, I'm on my way.
PICARD: We'll skip the court martial this time. Picard out.
PICARD: When was the last time we aligned the torque sensors.
PERIM: Two months ago, sir.
PICARD: They don't sound right.
LAFORGE: The torque sensors are out of alignment ...by twelve microns. You could hear that?
PICARD: When I was an ensign, I could detect a three-micron misalignment.
DANIELS: Excuse me, sir. The Son'a ship with Admiral Dougherty aboard has entered tracking range.
(Worf has arrived on the bridge)
PICARD: Straighten your baldric, Commander. On screen.
DOUGHERTY (on viewscreen): Captain, I wasn't expecting you.
PICARD: This was too important for the Enterprise to be on the sidelines, Admiral.
DOUGHERTY (on viewscreen): I wish I had better news. Commander Data attacked us in the mission scout ship yesterday. Ru'afo and I have decided to send in an assault team.
PICARD: Commander Worf and I are working on several tactical plans...
RU'AFO: Your android has turned dangerously violent, Captain. Considerable damage was done to my ship. He must be destroyed.
DOUGHERTY (on viewscreen): I know what Data means to Starfleet, Jean-Luc, but our crew is at the mercy of those people on the planet.
PICARD: If our first attempt to capture Data fails, I will terminate him. ...I should be the one to do it. I'm his Captain ...and his friend.
DOUGHERTY: All right. You have twelve hours, Captain. Then I want you out of the Briar Patch. In the meantime, we'll head out to the perimeter to call for Son'a reinforcements in case you fail.
PICARD: Understood.
DOUGHERTY: Good luck, Captain. Dougherty out.
[Shuttlecraft]
WORF: Sensors are not picking up any ships coming from the surface.
PICARD: Transmit a wide band co-variant signal. That ought to get his attention.
WORF: He must be using the planet's rings to mask his approach.
PICARD: The metaphasic radiation of the rings is in a state of extreme flux. We'll steer clear of those.
PICARD: 'Come out, come out, wherever you are.'
WORF: Sir?
PICARD: Oh, that's something that my mother...
(blasts hit the shuttlecraft)
PICARD: Hold on. ...Open all hailing frequencies. ...Data, this is Captain Picard. Data, please respond!
(Data continues to attack the shuttlecraft)
WORF: If we fire a tachyon burst, it may force him to reset his shield harmonics. When he does, we can beam him out.
PICARD: Make it so.
WORF: Direct hit. He is resetting his shield harmonics.
PICARD: Beam him out!
WORF: He's activated a transport inhibitor.
PICARD: Prepare to enter the atmosphere. We'll use the ionospheric boundary to shake him.
WORF: Scanners are off line!
PICARD: Evasive maneuvers, ...heading one four zero mark three one.
(Data flies the scout ship past the shuttlecraft and makes eye contact with Picard)
PICARD: He can fly a ship. He can anticipate tactical strategies. Clearly his brain is functioning. We've seen how he responds to threats. I wonder how he would respond...
(another shot from Data)
PICARD: Mister Worf, do you know Gilbert and Sullivan?
WORF: No sir. I have not had a chance to meet all the new crewmembers since I have been back.
PICARD: They're composers, Worf, ...from the nineteenth century.
(Picard punches up the words for the song 'A British Tar' onto the console)
PICARD: Data was rehearsing a production of H.M.S. Pinafore just before he left.
PICARD: (singing) 'A British tar is a soaring soul, as free as a mountain bird.'
[Scout ship]
PICARD (on intercom): 'His energetic first should be ready to resist'
[Shuttlecraft]
PICARD: 'a dictatorial word.' Sing, Worf, sing!
[Scout ship]
PICARD (on intercom): 'His nose should pant'
DATA: 'and his lip should curl.'
PICARD (on intercom): 'His cheeks should flame'
DATA: 'and his brow should furl.'
[Shuttlecraft]
PICARD: 'His bosom should heave'
DATA (on intercom): 'and his heart should glow.'
PICARD/WORF and DATA (on intercom): 'and his fist be ever ready'
[Scout ship]
DATA and PICARD/WORF (on intercom): 'for a knock-down blow.'
[Shuttlecraft]
PICARD/WORF and DATA (on intercom): 'His nose should pant'
[Scout ship]
DATA and PICARD/WORF (on intercom): 'and his lip should curl.'
[Shuttlecraft and scout ship flying in planet's atmosphere]
PICARD/WORF/DATA (on intercom): 'His cheeks should flame and his brow should furl. His bosom should heave and his heart should glow'
[Scout ship]
DATA and PICARD/WORF (on intercom): 'And his fist be ready for a knock-down blow.'
[Shuttlecraft]
PICARD: Prepare the docking clamps.
DATA (on intercom): 'His eyes should flash with an inborn fire.'
[Scout ship]
DATA: 'His brow with scorn be wrung. He never should bow down'
[Shuttlecraft]
DATA (on intercom): 'to a domineering frown'
PICARD and DATA (on intercom): 'or the tang of a tyrant tongue.'
PICARD: 'His heart should stamp
[Scout ship]
DATA: 'and his throat should growl.'
[Shuttlecraft]
PICARD: 'His hair should twirl'
[Scout ship exterior]
DATA (on intercom): 'and his face should scowl.'
PICARD (on intercom): 'His eyes should flash'
DATA (on intercom): 'and his breast protrude.'
[Shuttlecraft]
PICARD/WORF and DATA (on intercom): 'And this should be his customary attitude.'
[Shuttlecraft and scout ship flying in planet's atmosphere]
PICARD/WORF/DATA (on intercom): 'His foot should stamp'
[Scout ship]
PICARD/WORF and DATA (on intercom): 'and his throat should growl.'
(Data feels the thump as the docking clamps engage)
PICARD/WORF (on intercom): 'His hair should curl and his face...'
(the two craft, locked together, wrestle in the planet's atmosphere)
[Shuttlecraft]
WORF: Inertial coupling is exceeding tolerance. If we do not release him, he may destroy both vessels.
PICARD: I'm not letting go of him.
(they plunge towards the planet's surface spinning as they go)
WORF: We must stabilise the dampening fields.
PICARD: Reroute emergency power to inertial dampers.
WORF: The auto-sequencer was damaged by phaser fire!
PICARD: Transferring controls to manual.
WORF: Auto-sequencer realigned.
PICARD: Engaging stabilisers.
WORF: Damping field established!
PICARD: Maximum power!
(the two craft skim the ground throwing up earth and grass)
PICARD: Now, Mister Worf!
[Scout ship]
(Worf blows open the hatch into the scout ship and disables Data with the modified tricorder)
WORF: Captain, Commander Data is safely in custody.
[Ba'ku village - day]
(Picard, Troi, Crusher and an away team beam down into the village. The children are playing a game with balls using their feet and arms)
GALLATIN: Captain, Subahdar Gallatin, Son'a Command.
CURTIS: Lieutenant Curtis, attaché to Admiral Dougherty.
PICARD: Are you all right?
CURTIS: We've been treated extremely well.
(Troi is watching the children play)
TROI: They have an incredible mental discipline, clarity of perception.
SOJEF: My name is Sojef, Captain.
PICARD: Jean-Luc Picard. These are my officers, Doctor Crusher, Counselor Troi.
SOJEF: Would you like something to eat?
PICARD: No, we're here to ...rescue them.
SOJEF: As you wish. But I would ask you to disarm yourselves. This village is a sanctuary of life.
PICARD: Prepare the hostages for transport to the ship.
CRUSHER: They should be quarantined before joining the ship's population.
PICARD: We were under the impression they were being held against their will.
ANIJ: It's not our custom to have guests here at all, let alone hold anyone against their will.
SOJEF: The artificial lifeform would not allow them to leave. In fact he told us they were our enemies and that more would follow.
ANIJ: Are you our enemy?
SOJEF: Anij!
PICARD: Our people have a strict policy of non-interference in other cultures. It's our Prime Directive.
ANIJ: Your directive apparently doesn't include spying on other cultures.
PICARD: The artificial lifeform is a member of my crew. Apparently, he was taken ill.
TOURNEL: There was a phase variance in his positronic matrix which we were unable to repair.
ANIJ: I think the Captain finds it hard to believe that we'd have any skills for repairing positronic devices.
SOJEF: Our technological abilities are not apparent because we have chosen not to employ them in our daily lives. We believe when you create a machine to do the work of a man, you take something away from the man.
ANIJ: But at one time, we explored the galaxy just as you do.
PICARD: You have warp capability?
ANIJ: Capability, yes. But where can warp drive take us, except away from here?
PICARD: I ...apologise for our intrusion.
[Enterprise-E ready room]
PICARD: ...and because they have warp capabilities, the consequences to their society are minimal.
DOUGHERTY (on console): You've done a terrific job, Jean-Luc. Now, pack your bags and get the hell out of there. How's Data?
PICARD: In stasis. La Forge is completing the diagnostic.
DOUGHERTY (on console): I'll need all your paperwork tomorrow. We're heading back your way. Set a course to rendezvous with us so you can transfer the crew and equipment on your way out.
PICARD (on console): You're not finished here?
DOUGHERTY: Er... Just a few loose ends to tie up. Dougherty out.
[Troi's office]
TROI: Come in. ...Hi.
RIKER: Got a minute?
TROI: Sure.
RIKER: I need a little counselling.
TROI: Well, there's a first time for everything.
RIKER: So, do I lie down or what?
TROI: Um Well, whatever makes you comfortable, but this isn't one of the usual therapeutic postures.
RIKER: But it is comfortable.
TROI: Why don't you try sitting up?
RIKER: Why don't you try lying down?
(he gives her a peck)
TROI: Well, you're in quite a mood today. Do you really need counselling or did you come down here to play?
RIKER: I think I'm having a mid-life crisis.
TROI: I believe you.
RIKER: I'm not sleeping well.
TROI: Doctor Crusher has something that can take care of that.
RIKER: What I need, I can't get from Doctor Crusher. ...Counselor, do you think it's possible for two people to go back in time to fix a mistake they made?
TROI: On this ship, ...anything's possible.
TROI: Yuk!
RIKER: Yuk?
TROI: I never kissed you with a beard before.
RIKER: I kiss you and you say 'yuk'!
[Enterprise-E corridor]
LAFORGE: I had to reconstruct Data's neural net and replace these. ...They contain memory engrams.
PICARD: How were damaged?
LAFORGE: By a Son'a weapon. There's no doubt about it, Captain. That's what caused Data to malfunction.
PICARD: But the Son'a report claimed they didn't fire until after he malfunctioned.
LAFORGE: Well, I don't believe it happened that way.
[Enterprise-E engineering]
PICARD: Why would they fire at him without provocation?
LAFORGE: All I know is he was functioning normally until he was shot. Then, his fail-safe system was activated.
PICARD: Fail-safe?
LAFORGE: His ethical and moral subroutines took over all of his basic functions.
PICARD: So what you're saying he still knew the difference between right and wrong.
LAFORGE: In a sense, that's all he knew. The system is designed to protect him against anyone who might try to take advantage of his memory loss.
PICARD: And yet he attacked us. And told the Ba'ku that we were a threat. ...Are the implants bothering you?
LAFORGE: No, I'm all right. I'm just tired.
(Geordi opens a panel to reveal Data standing in a restraint. He activates him)
DATA: Geordi? Captain?
PICARD: You're on the Enterprise, Data.
DATA: I seem to be missing several memory engrams. ...There they are.
PICARD: Data, what's the last thing that you remember?
DATA: 'his nose should pant and his lip should curl...'
PICARD: From the mission.
DATA: I was in an isolation suit gathering physiometric data on Ba'ku. My last memory is going into the hills, following some children.
[Ba'ku village - day]
(Artim is sitting up in a tree with another Ba'ku boy and they are playing with a 'palm-pet')
SOJEF: Artim, do you remember where you were on the day of lightning when the artificial lifeform appeared to us?
ARTIM: In the hills, by the dam.
PICARD: Can you show us?
DATA: There is no reason to fear me. I am now operating within normal parameters.
ARTIM: What?
DATA: They fixed me. ...Captain, the boy is afraid of me.
PICARD: It is nothing personal, Data. You have to remember these people have rejected technology.
DATA: I am the personification of everything they have rejected.
PICARD: Until this week, that young man probably never saw a machine, let alone one that walks and talks.
[Riker's quarters - bathroom]
(Troi and Riker are sharing a foam bath and Troi is shaving Riker)
WORF (on intercom): Bridge to Riker.
RIKER: Can I get back to you, Mister Worf?
WORF (on intercom): Admiral Dougherty's on the com-link, sir.
RIKER: Patch him through. ...Yes, Admiral.
[Son'a body facility]
(Ru'afo is on a medical treatment chair having facial treatment)
DOUGHERTY: Why haven't you left orbit?
RIKER (on intercom): Captain Picard is still on the surface, sir.
DOUGHERTY: Doing what?
RIKER (on intercom): He didn't want to leave until we could adequately explain why Data malfunctioned.
[Riker's quarters - bathroom]
RIKER: His future in Starfleet could depend on it.
[Son'a body facility]
DOUGHERTY: Remind the Captain his twelve hours are up.
[Riker's quarters - bathroom]
RIKER: Yes sir.
DOUGHERTY (on intercom): Dougherty out.
[Son'a body facility]
SO'NA DOCTOR: Your body is producing far too many toxins. We've reached the limit of genetic manipulation.
RU'AFO: I won't need any more genetic manipulation if our Federation friends will allow us to complete this mission.
[Ba'ku planet lake - day]
DATA: Tricorder functions are limited due to heavy deposits of kelbonite in these hills.
PICARD: How about a passive radiation scan?
DATA: Curious, there appear to be strong neutrino emissions coming from the lake.
(Data walks into the lake and disappears under the surface)
ARTIM: Can he breathe under water?
PICARD: Data doesn't breathe.
ARTIM: Won't he rust?
PICARD: No.
(Data emerges from the lake a short distance along the beach)
DATA: Captain! ...Captain, I believe I know what is causing the neutrino emission.
(Data climbs onto a dam and opens a sluice gate which begins to drain the lake revealing the holoship)
DATA: The vessel is clearly Federation in origin, Captain.
PICARD: 'Just a few loose ends to tie up.'
SOJEF: We're not interested in such things.
ANIJ: I am.
(Picard and Data climb onto a twin-hulled raft, Anij joins them)
PICARD: It think it would be wiser...
ANIJ: I'm, going with you.
(when they arrive at the holoship Data uses his tricorder to open the doors)
[Holoship]
DATA: It is a holographic projection. ...Incomplete, I might add.
PICARD: What you're seeing is a computer driven image created by photons and forcefields.
ANIJ: I know what a hologram is, Captain. The question is why would anyone want to create one of our village?
PICARD: Data, if you were following the children and discovered this ship...
DATA: It is conceivable I was shot to protect the secret of its existence.
PICARD: Why would they duplicate this village except to deceive the Ba'ku?
ANIJ: Deceive us?
PICARD: To move you off this planet. You go to sleep one night in the village. Wake up the next morning on this flying holodeck transported en masse. In a few days, you're relocated on a similar planet without ever realising it.
DATA: Why would the Federation or the Son'a wish to move the Ba'ku?
PICARD: I don't know.
(suddenly there is a burst of disruptor fire causing Anij to jump into the lake. Picard and Data return the fire downing the Son'a soldier)
PICARD: Computer. End programme. Decloak the vessel.
ANIJ: Help! I can't swim!
(Data and Picard promptly jump in after her)
PICARD: Don't panic.
ANIJ: I've been shot at. Thrown into the lake out of an invisible ship that's come to abduct us. What's there to panic about?
(Data surfaces)
DATA: In the event of a water landing, I have been designed to serve as a floatation device.
[Enterprise-E transporter room]
PICARD: Mister Worf, did the hostages mention a cloaked ship during their debriefing?
WORF: No sir.
PICARD: Debrief them again. ...Have you been in a fight, Mister Worf?
WORF: No sir. It is a gorch.
PICARD: Gorch?
DATA: A pimple, sir.
PICARD: Oh, ...well, it's ...hardly noticeable.
[Enterprise-E corridor]
(when Riker strokes his chin Data realises Riker is now clean-shaven)
RIKER: Smooth as an android's bottom, eh, Data?
DATA: I beg your pardon, sir?
RIKER: Admiral Dougherty wants to know why we haven't left yet.
PICARD: We're not going anywhere.
[Enterprise-E turbolift]
PICARD: Deck five.
RIKER: (referring to Worf's gorch) Klingons never do anything small, do you?
WORF: Doctor Crusher asked to speak to you when you returned.
PICARD: Picard to Crusher.
[Enterprise-E sickbay]
CRUSHER: Captain, the Son'a hostages declined to be examined. I had them confined to quarters.
[Enterprise-E turbolift]
PICARD: And our people?
[Enterprise-E sickbay]
CRUSHER: Not at all. They're fine ...in fact, they're better than fine. Increased metabolism, improved muscle tone, high energy. We should all be so lucky.
[Enterprise-E turbolift]
PICARD: Very good, Doctor. Picard out.
[Enterprise-E corridor]
PICARD: Worf, don't release the Son'a officers until I've talked to Ahdar Ru'afo.
WORF: Aye sir.
DATA: Commander! May I, ...may I?
(Data touches Riker's chin and shakes his head)
[Picard's quarters]
PICARD: Computer. Music. ...No, no, not that. Something Latin.
COMPUTER VOICE: Specify.
PICARD: A mambo. (Picard begins to move to the rhythm)
PICARD: That's more like it.
[Ba'ku home - night]
(Picard knocks at the door, Anij answers it)
PICARD: How old are you?
SOJEF: We came here from a solar system on the verge of self-annihilation, ...where technology had created weapons that threatened to destroy all life. A small group of us set off to find a new home, ...a home that would be isolated from the threats of other worlds. ...That was three hundred and nine years ago.
PICARD: And you haven't aged a day since then?
SOJEF: Actually, I was a good deal older when we arrived ...in terms of my physical condition.
ANIJ: There's an unusual metaphasic radiation coming from the planet's rings. It continuously regenerates our genetic structure. You must have noticed the effects by now.
PICARD: We've just begun to. ...I suppose you're seventy-five.
ARTIM: No. I'm twelve.
TOURNEL: The metaphasic radiation won't begin to affect him until he reaches maturity.
PICARD: To most offlanders, what you have here would be more valuable than ...gold-pressed latinum. ...I'm afraid that's the reason that someone may be trying to take your world away from you.
ARTIM: The artificial lifeform was right.
PICARD: If it were not for Data, it's probable that you would be re-located by now.
TOURNEL: How can we possibly defend ourselves?
SOJEF: The moment we pick up a weapon, we become one of them. ...We lose everything we are.
PICARD: It may not come to that. ...Clearly, the architects of this conspiracy want to keep it a secret. Not only from you, but from my people as well. ...I don't intend to let them.
[Ba'ku village - night]
(Picard and Anij are taking a walk)
ANIJ: We've always known that to survive, we had to remain apart. It hasn't been easy. Many of the young people want to know more about the offland. ...They're attracted to stories of a faster pace of life.
PICARD: Most of my people who live that faster life would sell their souls to slow it down.
ANIJ: But not you?
PICARD: There are days!
ANIJ: You don't live up to your reputation as an offlander, Picard.
PICARD: Well, in defence of offlanders, there are many more people like me.
ANIJ: Who wouldn't be tempted by the promise of perpetual youth? ...I don't think so.
PICARD: You give me more credit than I deserve. Well, of course, I'm tempted. Who wouldn't be? ...But some of the darkest chapters in the history of my world involve the forced relocation of a small group of people to satisfy the demands of a large one. I'd hoped we had learned from our mistakes, but ...it seems that some of us haven't.
(Picard pauses to inspect some beautifully handcrafted quilts)
PICARD: This is extraordinary craftsmanship.
ANIJ: It's the work of students. ...They're almost ready to become apprentices. In thirty or forty years, some of them will take their place among the artisans.
PICARD: Apprenticing for thirty years... ...Did your people's mental discipline develop here?
ANIJ: More questions. Always the explorer. ...If you stay long enough, that'll change.
PICARD: Will it?
ANIJ: You stop reviewing what happened yesterday, ...stop planning for tomorrow. ...Let me ask you a question. ...Have you ever experienced a perfect moment in time?
PICARD: A perfect moment?
ANIJ: When time seemed to stop ...and you could almost live in that moment.
PICARD: Seeing my home planet from space for the first time.
ANIJ: Exactly. Nothing more complicated than perception. ...You explore the universe. We have discovered that a single moment in time can be a universe in itself, ...full of powerful forces. ...Most people aren't aware enough of the now to even notice.
PICARD: I wish I could spare a few centuries to learn.
ANIJ: It took us centuries to learn that it doesn't have to take centuries to learn it.
PICARD: There's one thing I don't understand. In three hundred years ...you never learned to swim!
ANIJ: I just haven't got around to it yet. ...I wonder if you're aware of the trust you engender, Jean-Luc Picard. In my experience, it's unusual for...
PICARD: ...an offlander?
ANIJ: For someone so young.
(they arrive back at Anij's front door. Picard walks across the bridge and spies Geordi standing on a headland as the sun rises. He joins him)
PICARD: Geordi?
LAFORGE: Captain. ...As it turned out there wasn't anything wrong with my implants at all. There was something right ...with my eyes. ...When Doctor Crusher removed the ocular connections, she found that the cells around my optic nerves had...
PICARD: ...started to regenerate.
LAFORGE: It may not last and ...if it doesn't, ...I just wanted, ...before we go, I... You know, I've never seen a sunrise. ...At least not the way you see them.
[Enterprise-E ready room]
RU'AFO: Am I to understand you are not releasing my men, Captain?
PICARD: We found the holoship.
DOUGHERTY: Ru'afo, why don't you let the Captain and me...
RU'AFO: No!
(the skin cracks on Ru'afo's forehead and blood trickles down)
RU'AFO: This entire mission has been one Federation blunder after another. You will return my men or this alliance will end with the destruction of your ship.
(Ru'afo leaves)
DOUGHERTY: You're looking well, Jean-Luc. ...Rested.
PICARD: I won't let you move them, Admiral. I will take this to the Federation Council.
DOUGHERTY: I'm acting on orders from the Federation Council.
PICARD: How can there be an order to abandon the Prime Directive?
DOUGHERTY: The Prime Directive doesn't apply. These people are not indigenous to this planet. They were never meant to be immortal. We'll simply be restoring them to their natural evolution.
PICARD: Who the hell are we to determine the next course of evolution for these people?
DOUGHERTY: Jean-Luc, there are six hundred people down there. We'll be able to use the regenerative properties of this radiation to help billions. ...The Son'a have developed a procedure to collect the metaphasic particles from the planets rings.
PICARD: A planet in Federation space.
DOUGHERTY: That's right. We have the planet. They have the technology. ...A technology we can't duplicate. You know what that makes us? ...Partners.
PICARD: Our partners are nothing more than petty thugs.
DOUGHERTY: On Earth, petroleum once turned petty thugs into world leaders. Warp drive transformed a bunch of Romulan thugs into an Empire. We can handle the Son'a. I'm not worried about that.
PICARD: Someone probably said the same thing about the Romulans a century ago.
DOUGHERTY: With metaphasics, life spans will be doubled. ...An entire new medical science will evolve. I understand your Chief Engineer has the use of his eyes for the first time in his life. ...Would you take that away from him?
PICARD: There are metaphasic particles all over the Briar Patch. Why does it have to be this planet?
DOUGHERTY: It's the concentration in the rings that makes the whole damned thing work. Don't ask me to explain it. I only know they inject something into the rings that starts a thermolytic reaction. When it's over, the planet will be uninhabitable for generations.
PICARD: Admiral, delay the procedure. Let my people look at the technology.
DOUGHERTY: Our best scientific minds already have. We can't find any other way to do this.
PICARD: Then the Son'a can establish a separate colony on this planet until we do.
DOUGHERTY: It would take ten years of normal exposure to begin to reverse their condition. Some of them won't survive that long. Besides, they don't want to live in the middle of the Briar Patch. ...Who would?
PICARD: The Ba'ku. ...We are betraying the principles upon which the Federation was founded. It's an attack upon its very soul. ...And it will destroy the Ba'ku ...just as cultures have been destroyed in every other forced relocation throughout history.
DOUGHERTY: Jean-Luc, we are only moving six hundred people.
PICARD: How many people does it take, Admiral, before it becomes wrong? A thousand? Fifty thousand? A million? How many people does it take, Admiral?
DOUGHERTY: I'm ordering you to the Goren system. I'm also ordering the release of the Son'a officers. File whatever protest you wish to, Captain. ...By the time you do, this will all be done.
[Picard's quarters]
(Picard returns to his quarters and removes the pips from his collar)
[Son'a body enhancement facility]
RU'AFO: Gallatin! So the righteous Starfleet Captain finally released you.
GALLATIN: Yes sir.
RU'AFO: Did you encounter any problems on the surface?
GALLATIN: No sir. ...But it wasn't easy being among them.
RU'AFO: I'm sure. Just don't forget what they did to us. ...We'll have them rounded up in a day or two. We needn't bother with the Federation holoship any more. Just get the holding cells ready.
GALLATIN (OC): Yes sir.
RU'AFO: (to an Elloran attendant)
I'm going to miss these little flesh-stretching sessions of ours, my dear.
[Captain's yacht]
DATA (OC): Re-routing the transport grid to avoid detection was wise, sir. However the transporter is rarely used after oh two hundred hours.
(Geordi and Riker (in uniform), Troi, Worf, Crusher and Data (in civilian clothes) descend on a lift)
TROI: Taking the Captain's yacht out for a spin?
WORF: Seven metric tons of ultritium explosives, eight tetryon pulse launchers, ten isomagnetic disintegrators.
RIKER: Looks like you're planning on doing some hunting?
PICARD: Return to your quarters. ...That's an order.
RIKER: No uniform? No orders.
LAFORGE: Captain. How could I look at another sunrise, knowing what my sight cost these people?
DATA: I feel obliged to point out that the environmental anomalies may have stimulated certain rebellious instincts common to youth which could affect everyone's judgment. ...Except mine, of course.
CRUSHER: Okay, Data, what do you think we should do?
DATA: Saddle up. ...Lock and load.
PICARD: They won't begin the procedure while the planet is still inhabited. So, ...our job is to keep the planet inhabited. Will. Geordi. Go back and put a face on what's happening here. Make the Council 'see' the Ba'ku. It's too easy to turn a blind eye to the suffering of a people you don't know.
RIKER: I'll be back before you know it.
PICARD: We'll hold out as long as we can.
[So'na ship tactical room]
RU'AFO: The injector performs perfectly in every simulation.
GALLATIN: Sir, as the Enterprise left orbit, one of their support craft went down to the surface. It appeared to be the Captain's yacht. Five persons on board.
RU'AFO: We're not waiting until morning. Take the shuttles and get everyone off the surface tonight. ...Gallatin! If Picard or any of his people interfere, ...eliminate them.
[Ba'ku village - night]
TOURNEL: We're leaving the village. Take only what you need. Bring food. We may not be back for days.
DATA: It is a transport inhibitor. ...It will help prevent spaceships from beaming anyone off the surface.
PICARD: These veins of kelbonite running through the hills will interfere with their transporters, and when the terrain forces us away from the deposits, then we'll use transport inhibitors as a compensation. The mountains have the heaviest concentration of kelbonite. Once there it will make transport virtually impossible.
ANIJ: There are caves in those mountains.
PICARD: Then we should be able to hold on for a long time once we're there, but they're not Going to make it easy for us to get there.
DATA: Captain, we have activated the transport inhibitors around the village.
PICARD: Good.
(Son'a shuttlecraft appear in the sky)
PICARD: Let's move these people out!
[Son'a shuttlecraft]
ELLORAN OFFICER #2: Transporters are not functioning.
GALLATIN: They're blocking the beam with some kind of inhibitor. We'll have to locate and destroy them.
[Ba'ku village - night]
SOJEF: (to Artim) You're carrying too much. We have a long climb ahead of us.
(the Son'a shuttles open fire)
WORF: We've lost three transport inhibitors. There's a gap in the field.
(as the Ba'ku flee the attack continues and groups are being transported out. Artim stumbles)
ARTIM: Father!
(Data grabs his hand)
[Son'a ship tactical room]
GALLATIN: They're following the kelbonite deposits. Using the interference to block our transporters.
RU'AFO: Recommendations?
DOUGHERTY: Take me down. Let me talk to Picard.
RU'AFO: Talk! We should send down an assault team and take them by force.
DOUGHERTY: That is not an acceptable option. If people get hurt, all the support we have in the Federation...
RU'AFO: Federation support, Federation procedures, Federation rules. ...Look in the mirror, Admiral. The Federation is old. In the past twenty-four months, they've been challenged by every major power in the Quadrant. The Borg, the Cardassians, the Dominion. They all smell the scent of death on the Federation. That's why you've embraced our offer, because it will give your dear Federation new life. Well, how badly do you want it, Admiral? Because there are hard choices to be made. Now! If the Enterprise gets through with news about their brave Captain's valiant struggle on behalf of the defenceless Ba'ku, your Federation politicians will waver, your Federation opinion polls will open a public debate, your Federation allies will want their say. ...Need I go on?
GALLATIN: There is an alternative to an all-out assault. Isolinear tags would allow our transporters to lock on to them.
RU'AFO: We'd have to tag every one of them. That would take time and we don't have it. The Enterprise is only nineteen hours from communications range with the Federation.
DOUGHERTY: I'll order Riker to turn around.
RU'AFO: Picard's first officer. Do you really believe he'll listen? My ships are capable of intercepting the Enterprise before it reaches the perimeter. I could send them to ...to escort it back, ...but Commander Riker might not want to come.
DOUGHERTY: Send your ships.
[Ba'ku planet foothills]
ARTIM: Do you like being a machine?
DATA: I aspire to be more than I am.
ARTIM: I know why. So people like us won't be afraid of you any more.
DATA: ...Perhaps?
ARTIM: Don't you ever get tired?
DATA: My power cells continually recharge themselves.
ARTIM: I can't imagine what it's like to be a machine.
DATA: Perhaps it would surprise you to know that I have often tried to imagine what it would be like to be a child.
ARTIM: Really?
DATA: Really.
ARTIM: For one thing, your legs are shorter than everyone else's.
DATA: But they are in a constant state of growth. Do you find it difficult to adapt?
ARTIM: Adapt?
DATA: A child's specifications are never the same from one moment to the next. It is a wonder that you do not ...trip over your own feet.
ARTIM: Sometimes I do.
DATA: My legs are exactly eighty-seven point two centimetres in length. They were eighty-seven point two centimetres the day I was created. They will be eighty-seven point two centimetres the day I go off line. My operation depends on specifications that do not change. I will never know the experience of ...growing up or ...tripping over my own feet.
ARTIM: But you've never had adults telling you what to do all the time, ...or bedtimes, ...or having to eat food you don't like.
DATA: I would gladly accept the requirement of a bedtime in exchange for knowing what it is like to be a child.
ARTIM: Do machines ever play?
DATA: Yes, I play the violin ...and my chess routines are quite advanced.
ARTIM: No, I mean, have you ever just played ...for fun?
DATA: Androids do not have fun.
ARTIM: Look, if you want know what it's like to be a child, you need to learn to play.
WORF: Captain!
PICARD: Mister Worf, you need a haircut.
WORF: Accelerated hair growth is often experienced by Klingons during Jak'tahla.
ANIJ: Jak'tahla?
PICARD: Roughly translated, puberty, although for a Klingon that scarcely does it justice. Any severe mood swings, unusual aggressive tendencies, ...you let me know at once.
WORF: Yes sir. The Ba'ku need some rest, sir. According to the geo-scan, this is the safest area within the next few kilometres.
PICARD: Very well. We'll take an hour.
WORF: Aye sir.
ANIJ: Right beyond that ridge is where the caves begin. ...We can hide there for days.
PICARD: By now the Son'a will have scanned the area and know that just as well as we do.
ANIJ: It's been three hundred years since I've seen a bald man.
PICARD: How is it you never married? And don't tell me it's just because you haven't got around to it yet.
ANIJ: What's the rush?
PICARD: I should warn you, I've always been attracted to older women.
[Ba'ku planet foothills - an altered reality]
(everything is in slow motion, the waterfall and the pollen from a flower blown by Anij)
PICARD: How are you doing this?
ANIJ: No more questions.
(they watch a humming bird in slow motion)
[Enterprise-E bridge]
PERIM: Commander, I'm showing two Son'a ships on an intercept course.
RIKER: How long 'til they reach us?
PERIM: Eighteen minutes.
LAFORGE: We won't be able to get a transmission out of here for at least another hour.
DANIELS (OC): They're hailing us.
RIKER: Tell them our transceiver assembly's down and we can send messages but not receive them.
DANIELS: I don't think they believe us.
RIKER: Why not?
(the ship shakes from a near miss)
RIKER: Photon torpedo. Isn't that the universal greeting when communications are down?
LAFORGE: I think it's the universal greeting when you don't like someone.
(the ship shakes again)
RIKER: Full impulse.
LAFORGE: The manifolds can't handle full impulse in the Patch, Commander.
RIKER: If we don't outrun them, the manifolds are going to be the only thing left on this ship.
LAFORGE: I'll be in engineering.
RIKER: RED ALERT! All hands. Battle stations!
[Ba'ku planet foothills]
TROI: And have you noticed how your boobs have started to firm up?
CRUSHER: Not that we care about such things in this day and age.
TROI: Uh huh.
CRUSHER: Thank you, Data.
WORF: I have an odd craving for the blood of a live Kolar beast. This environment must be affecting me again.
DATA: And have you noticed how your boobs are firming up? Not that we care about...
(two Son'a shuttles appear over the hill)
WORF: Take cover!
(the shuttles launch the isolinear tags that target individuals and beam them up. The Enterprise crewmembers try to shoot them down)
WORF: Isolinear tags. Their transporters can lock onto them.
PICARD: We have to find shelter.
ANIJ: There's a cavern at the base of the next hill.
PICARD: This way!
[Enterprise-E bridge]
DANIELS: Shields at sixty percent!
[Enterprise-E engineering]
LAFORGE (on intercom): Engineering to bridge. We're burning deuterium down here. We're going to blow ourselves up. We won't need any help from the Son'a.
[Enterprise-E bridge]
RIKER: What's inside that nebula cluster?
PERIM: Cometary debris, pockets of unstable metreon gas. We don't want to go in there, sir.
RIKER: Yes, we do. I'll take it from here, Ensign. ...It's time to use the Briar Patch like Br'er Rabbit did.
[Ba'ku planet foothills]
PICARD: Inside the caves! Quickly! ...Everyone! This way!
(Picard, Crusher and Worf continue to shoot down the isolinear tags. Worf's phaser rifle malfunctions so he bats one out of the air with the butt)
WORF: Definitely feeling aggressive tendencies, sir.
[Enterprise-E bridge]
DANIELS: They've detonated an isolytic burst. A subspace tear is forming.
RIKER: On screen.
PERIM: I thought subspace weapons were banned by the Khitomer Accord.
RIKER: Remind me to lodge a protest.
[Enterprise-E engineering]
LAFORGE: Our warp core is acting like a magnet to the tear. We're pulling it like a zipper across space.
RIKER (on intercom): Options?
LAFORGE: We could eject the core.
[Enterprise-E bridge]
RIKER: Will that stop the tear?
[Enterprise-E engineering]
LAFORGE: You got me, Commander.
[Enterprise-E bridge]
RIKER: Is that your expert opinion?
[Enterprise-E engineering]
LAFORGE: Detonating the warp core might neutralise the cascade, but then again it might not. Subspace weapons are unpredictable. That's why they were banned.
[Enterprise-E bridge]
DANIELS (OC): The tear is closing on us. ...Impact in fifteen seconds.
RIKER: Eject the core.
[Enterprise-E engineering]
LAFORGE: I just did.
[Enterprise-E bridge]
DANIELS (OC): Impact in ten seconds.
RIKER: Detonate!
(the warp core explosion throws the Enterprise clear of the nebula)
[Enterprise-E engineering]
LAFORGE: Get me a medic over here!
[Enterprise-E bridge]
DANIELS: It worked, Commander! The tear has been sealed.
[Enterprise-E engineering]
LAFORGE: Yeah, but there's nothing to stop them from doing it again. We're fresh out of warp cores.
[Enterprise-E bridge]
PERIM: We're still thirty-six minutes from transmission range, sir.
RIKER: We're through running from these bastards.
[Ba'ku planet cavern]
DATA: Another forty-three reported taken, sir.
(the cavern shakes violently as the Son'a shuttles target the hill above)
WORF: Captain, they're trying to drive us out so their drones can tag us.
DATA: With all the hydrothermal vents in the substrata, the structural integrity of this cavern is not going to hold for long.
PICARD: Is there any other way out of here?
ANIJ: I don't know.
DATA: Captain, tracking the watercourse may reveal another exit.
PICARD (OC): Mister Worf, come with us.
DATA: I'm reading an oxygen-nitrogen flow behind that calcite formation, Captain.
PICARD: Will this structure hold if we were to blast through?
DATA: I believe it is safe, sir.
PICARD: Fire!
(the three of them blast the calcite formation)
PICARD: Get everybody into those caves ...and set up forcefields once they're inside.
WORF: Aye sir.
[Enterprise-E bridge]
RIKER: Geordi, are those pockets of metreon gas?
[Enterprise-E engineering]
LAFORGE: Yes Commander. Highly volatile. I recommend we keep our distance.
[Enterprise-E bridge]
RIKER: Negative. I wanna use the ramscoop to collect as much of it as we can.
[Enterprise-E engineering]
LAFORGE: The purpose being?...
[Enterprise-E bridge]
RIKER: The purpose being I intend to shove it down the Son'a's throat.
DANIELS: Commander, if one of their weapons hits that gas...
RIKER: It's our only way out of here, Mister Daniels.
[Enterprise-E engineering]
LAFORGE: I wouldn't be surprised if history remembers this as the Riker Maneuver.
[Enterprise-E bridge]
RIKER: If it works. ...Computer. Access manual steering column.
(a joystick pops up out of the console)
RIKER: Transfer helm controls to manual.
LAFORGE (on intercom): Bridge. Storage cells are at maximum capacity.
PERIM: They're powering their forward weapons array, sir.
RIKER: Blow out the ramscoop. Stand by, full thrusters.
LAFORGE (on intercom): Ramscoop released!
(Riker has steered the Enterprise so the released ramscoop collides with the Son'a ship, destroying it)
[Ba'ku planet mountains]
(an assault team of Son'a soldiers is seen on a nearby ridge)
WORF: Captain!
PICARD: Data, Troi, ...keep these people moving.
DATA: Bring them out!
(Worf fires a bazooka-like weapon, an isomagnetic disintegrator, to neutralise the team)
PICARD: I expect it won't be long before the drones get here.
[Ba'ku second cavern]
TOURNEL (OC): Keep moving! ...Keep moving!
(Artim feels in his pocket and, realising he has lost something, turns back)
TOURNEL (OC): There are caves on higher ground. ...We'll be safe there.
[Ba'ku planet mountains]
(Crusher has used her medical tricorder on one of the downed So'na)
CRUSHER: Captain. Take a look at this medscan. ...His DNA profile.
PICARD: How could that be possible?
CRUSHER: Maybe we should ask them.
[Ba'ku second cavern]
(back in the now deserted cavern Artim finds what he searching for, his 'palm-pet'. Anij arrives to find him)
ANIJ: Artim, what are you doing? Come!
(Anij and Artim rush to catch up the rest)
PICARD (OC): Is this the last group?
TOURNEL: Yes.
PICARD: Get them ready to move out. ...We need to hurry.
TOURNEL: Anij went to find Artim.
(Picard goes back, takes Artim from Anij and passes him to Data)
DATA: Go with Tournel!
ARTIM: No I want to stay with you.
DATA: You'll be safer there. Go!
(suddenly there is a rock fall)
WORF: Worf to Picard!
CRUSHER: Two life signs, ...one of them is extremely faint.
TROI: There are almost four metric tons of rock blocking our way.
(she aims a phaser at the rock fall)
WORF: No! That might cause another cave-in.
(they start to dig with their hands)
PICARD: Anij. ...Anij?
WORF (on intercom): Worf to Picard.
PICARD: Yes, yes I can hear you.
WORF (on intercom): We're trying to get to you, sir.
PICARD: Anij? ...Help is on the way. ...Worf, hurry, Anij is hurt.
CRUSHER (on intercom): How bad is she, Captain?
PICARD: I'm losing her.
CRUSHER (on intercom): We're coming as fast as we can.
PICARD: Anij, ...stay with me. ...Help me find the power to keep you in this moment. ...Stay with me. ...Don't let go of this moment.
(Picard and Anij are rescued having experienced another altered reality)
CRUSHER: She's stabilising.
PICARD: Is it safe to move her?
CRUSHER: Safer than leaving her here.
ANIJ: And you thought it would take centuries to learn.
[Ba'ku mountains over a lake]
(as they exit the cavern five drones hover and, although some are shot down, Picard and Anij are transported)
[Son'a ship brig]
DOUGHERTY: Order them to surrender, and I promise you won't be court-martialled.
PICARD: If a court-martial is the only way to let the people of the Federation know what is happening here, I welcome it.
RU'AFO: The Enterprise has destroyed one of my ships. The other is on fire, requesting assistance.
PICARD: The Enterprise would only fire to defend itself. Ru'afo must have ordered the attack. I can't believe he would have given that order without your consent, Admiral. ...I wonder which of us will be facing that court-martial.
DOUGHERTY: There is nothing further to be gained from this.
RU'AFO: You're right. This is going to end now. The Ba'ku who want to stay on the planet. Let them. I'm going to launch the injector.
DOUGHERTY: You're not going to launch any...
RU'AFO: In six hours, every living thing in this system will be dead or dying.
PICARD: You would kill your own people, Ru'afo? ...Your own parents, ...brothers, sisters. ...Didn't you know, Admiral? The Son'a and the Ba'ku are the same race.
SOJEF: Picard just told us. Our DNA is identical. ...Which one were you? Gal'na... Ro'tin...
RU'AFO: Those names, those children are gone forever.
DOUGHERTY: What's he talking about?
SOJEF: A century ago, a group of our young people wanted to follow the ways of the offlanders. They tried to take over the colony and when they failed...
RU'AFO: And when we failed, you exiled us to die slowly.
ANIJ: You're Ro'tin, aren't you? ...There's something in the voice. (turning to Gallatin) ...Would you be his friend Gal'na? ...I helped your mother bathe you when you were a child. She still speaks of you.
PICARD: You brought the Federation into the middle of a blood feud, Admiral. The children have returned to expel their elders, just as they were once expelled. Except that Ru'afo's need for revenge has now escalated to parricide.
DOUGHERTY: It was for the Federation. It was all for the Federation.
[Son'a ship body enhancement facility]
DOUGHERTY: We're taking this ship out of here. This mission is over.
RU'AFO: It is not over.
DOUGHERTY: It is over!
(Ru'afo strikes Dougherty and hurls him over a railing)
RU'AFO: I do not take orders from you.
(the fight continues an Ru'afo throws Dougherty onto the treatment chair)
DOUGHERTY: If you launch the injector while the planet's still populated, the Federation will pursue you until...
RU'AFO: The Federation ...will never know what happened here.
(Ru'afo lowers the head collar and switches it on. Dougherty facial skin stretches to breaking point and he eventually dies)
[Son'a ship bridge]
RU'AFO: Admiral Dougherty will not be joining us for dinner. Deploy the collector. ...Do you have a problem with that order?
GALLATIN: May I talk to you alone?
RU'AFO: Deploy the collector.
SO'NA OFFICER #1 (OC): Yes sir.
[Son'a ship ready room]
GALLATIN: Moving them is one thing. Killing them all...
RU'AFO: No one hated them more than you, Gal'na. ...We've come a long way together. This is the moment we've planned for so many years.
[Son'a ship bridge]
RU'AFO: Separate the Starfleet personnel and secure them in the aft cargo hold. ...See that Picard joins them.
GALLATIN: The shields in that section won't protect them against the thermolytic reaction.
RU'AFO: Thank-you for reminding me.
(the Son'a collector ship deploys it's sails)
[Son'a ship brig]
ANIJ: Jean-Luc!
GALLATIN: Come with me.
[Son'a ship corridor]
PICARD: It must have been strange for you when you were a hostage. Surrounded by all the friends and family you knew all those years ago. Each one looking exactly as they did then. Like ...looking through the eyes of childhood again. And here you are closing those eyes, trying not to see what bitterness has done to the Son'a. How it's turned Ru'afo into a madman. And you? ...It's turned you into a coward. ...A man who denies his own conscience.
GALLATIN: Get in! ...Get in.
[Son'a ship turbolift]
PICARD: A coward without the moral courage to prevent an atrocity. ...You offend me.
GALLATIN: Is this how a Federation officer pleads for his life?
PICARD: I'm not pleading for my life, ...I'm pleading for yours. You can still go home, Gal'na.
GALLATIN: Computer. Close turbolift doors. ...What you're asking me to do is impossible.
PICARD: Do you know how to disable the injector?
GALLATIN: But I would need to be on the bridge. The crew is loyal to Ru'afo. An assault would fail.
PICARD: Perhaps we can lure him away.
GALLATIN: It doesn't matter where he is. As soon as he realises something's happening, he'll override my commands with one word to his com-link.
PICARD: ...If he doesn't realise something's happening? Can you get me to a transmitter? I need to speak with Data and Worf down on the planet. We'll need their help.
GALLATIN: Deck twelve.
[Son'a ship bridge]
RU'AFO: Initiate separation protocols.
TARLAC OFFICER: Activating injector assembly.
ELLORAN OFFICER #1: Separation in three minutes.
SO'NA OFFICER #2: A small craft is coming up from the surface. It's powering up its weapons.
RU'AFO: On screen.
SO'NA OFFICER #1 (OC): One person aboard. It's the android.
RU'AFO: He's no threat.
[Captain's yacht]
DATA: Data to Picard.
[Son'a ship conduit]
PICARD: Go ahead, Data.
[Captain's yacht]
DATA: Captain, they're ignoring my attack.
[Son'a ship conduit]
PICARD: Keep firing tachyon bursts into their shield grid. Is Worf in position?
[Captain's yacht]
DATA: Yes sir. He is ready for simultaneous transport.
PICARD (on intercom): We're approaching the bridge. Picard out.
[Son'a ship bridge]
ELLORAN OFFICER #1: Separation in one minute.
SO'NA OFFICER #1: Sir, the Federation ship is creating a disruption in our shields.
SO'NA OFFICER #2: If they go out of phase, it will increase our exposure to the thermolytic reaction.
RU'AFO: Very well. Destroy that ship Reset our shield harmonics. Do not delay the countdown.
[Captain's yacht]
DATA: Data to Picard. They are rotating the shield harmonics. I am attempting to return to the surface, sir.
[Son'a ship bridge]
TARLAC OFFICER: The Federation ship has been disabled.
ELLORAN OFFICER #1: Separation in twenty seconds.
(the Son'a bridge suddenly lights up very brightly for three seconds)
RU'AFO: What is that?
TARLAC OFFICER: I don't know.
SO'NA OFFICER #1: The systems don't seem affected.
ELLORAN OFFICER #1: Separation in fifteen seconds. ...Five seconds.
TARLAC OFFICER: The injector assembly has separated.
RU'AFO: Exactly as the simulations predicted.
SO'NA OFFICER #2: I'm not showing any change in metaphasic flux levels.
RU'AFO: Your scanners must be malfunctioning.
SO'NA OFFICER #2: All ship functions are off-line.
RU'AFO: How can there be no ship functions if the viewscreen is working. ...Artificial gravity is stable. ...Life support is...
RU'AFO: A holodeck!
(he fires his disruptor at the walls and ceiling revealing a holodeck grid)
[Holoship cockpit]
RU'AFO: We were transported to the holo-ship when we reset our shields. Everything we saw was an illusion. ...Ru'afo, authorisation delta two one, ...override all interlink commands to injector assembly one.
SO'NA COMPUTER VOICE: Unable to comply. Injector assembly one has been de-activated.
RU'AFO: Aarrgh!
[Son'a ship bridge]
WORF: All injector sub-systems aboard the collector are confirmed off-line.
PICARD: Decloak the holo-ship and engage a tractor beam.
WORF: Aye sir.
[Holoship cockpit]
SO'NA OFFICER #3: The crew knows something's happened I've secured the bridge.
RU'AFO: This ship is equipped with fourteen long-range transporters. Are they all useless?
TARLAC OFFICER: They must have been locked and secured after we were beamed here.
RU'AFO: Isolate one and re-route its command sequence through the auxiliary processor.
SO'NA OFFICER #3: Sir, there's nothing we can do... they already have control of our ship.
RU'AFO: I don't plan on going back to our ship.
[Son'a ship bridge]
PICARD: Mister Worf, destroy that thing.
WORF: Aye sir. ...Weapons systems have been taken off-line.
GALLATIN: The crew is rerouting bridge controls.
WORF: Captain, there is a problem aboard the collector. The launch sequence has resumed.
GALLATIN: The collector shields have been raised. Someone's on board. ...It's Ru'afo!
PICARD: Can you override the launch sequence from here?
GALLATIN: Not without his access codes.
PICARD: Is there a self-destruct?
GALLATIN: Yes, but without the code it would have to be activated at the upper control matrix on the collector.
PICARD: Mister Worf, try to find some way to beam through those shields.
GALLATIN: It has to be detonated manually. There'll only be a two second delay.
WORF: We may be able to transport between the shield generators if we are within one hundred metres.
PICARD: Take us into position. ...Remain at your post, Commander. I need you to beam me back.
(Picard takes a phaser rifle from Worf)
GALLATIN (OC): We're approaching the collector.
GALLATIN: One minute before the separation you'll see the cryogenic tanks venting. Weapons fire may ignite the exhaust.
[Son'a collector ship]
SO'NA COMPUTER VOICE: Separation in two minutes and fifteen seconds.
(Ru'afo is working at the upper control matrix console in a high gallery showing countdown 2:09)
SO'NA COMPUTER VOICE: Intruder alert.
(Picard is beamed in and a firefight develops between him and Ru'afo around the galleries)
[Son'a ship bridge]
(the Son'a ship's crew break into the bridge and overpower Worf and Gallatin)
WORF: Captain!
[Son'a collector ship]
PICARD: Worf?
[Enterprise-E bridge]
DANIELS: I'm picking up Captain Picard's bio-signature aboard the collector.
RIKER: Enterprise to Picard.
[Son'a collector ship]
PICARD: Number One.
RIKER (on intercom): We're approaching your position. Do you need assistance?
PICARD: I may need a lift in a minute or so!
[Enterprise-E bridge]
RIKER: We're on our way.
[Son'a collector ship]
SO'NA COMPUTER VOICE: Separation in one minute.
(Picard rides a hoist out to the upper control matrix console where the countdown time is 0:58 and he begins to work on it)
[Enterprise-E bridge]
(a blast hits the ship)
RIKER: Report!
DANIELS: It's Ru'afo's ship.
RIKER: On screen.
PERIM: Sensors are reading over a hundred Ba'ku on board ...and one Klingon.
RIKER: Target their ventral engines and life support. Set a collision course.
[Son'a collector ship]
RU'AFO: Stop!
(Ru'afo is pointing his disruptor at Picard)
PICARD: Ru'afo, we're getting too old for this.
RU'AFO: After today ...that won't be a problem ...for either of us.
SO'NA COMPUTER VOICE: Separation in thirty seconds.
PICARD: You're really going to risk igniting the exhaust? ...All right I will!
(Picard fires his phaser rifle)
RU'AFO: No!
(the shock caused leaves Ru'afo swinging from a girder)
[Enterprise-E bridge]
DANIELS: Shields at sixty percent!
RIKER: Hold your course.
[Son'a ship bridge]
GALLATIN: He wouldn't?
(he sees Enterprise on the viewscreen on a collision course)
WORF: Yes, he would.
[Enterprise-E bridge]
RIKER: Now!
(the Enterprise veers away at the last second getting off two shots at the Son'a ship)
[Son'a collector ship]
(the countdown reaches 0:09)
RIKER (on intercom): Stand by, Captain. We're right around the corner.
PICARD: Sorry, time's up.
(Picard inserts the final key in the upper control matrix console and fire begins to spread through the collector. As the Enterprise flies past and Picard is beamed out, Ru'afo is engulfed in the flames before the collector explodes)
[Enterprise-E bridge]
PICARD: What kept you, Number One?
RIKER: The Federation Council has asked me to inform you that the Ba'ku relocation will be halted, while they conduct a top-level review.
DANIELS: Sir, Ru'afo's ship is hailing us.
PICARD/RIKER: On screen.
WORF (on viewscreen): Captain, the Son'a crew would like to negotiate a cease-fire. It may have something to do with the fact that we have three minutes of air left.
PICARD: We have plenty over here, Mister Worf. Prepare to beam aboard.
[Ba'ku planet foothills]
(Troi, among the returning Ba'ku, waves up to Riker who waves in return)
RIKER: Do you think when we get away from this metaphasic radiation it'll change the way we feel?
WORF: Your feelings about her have not changed since the day I met you, Commander. This place just let them out for a little fresh air.
[Ba'ku village - day]
SOJEF: I wish there were a way to bring them back home.
PICARD: Ask them.
SOJEF: I'm afraid there's too much bitterness on both sides.
(in the distance Crusher brings Gallatin to a 'young' Ba'ku woman)
ANIJ: Mother and son. ...You arranged this?
PICARD: I thought it might begin the healing process.
ANIJ: What am I going to do without you?
PICARD: I wish I could stay. ...But these are ...perilous times for the Federation. I can't abandon it to people who would threaten everything that I've spent my lifetime defending. I have to go back, if only to ...slow things down at the Federation Council. ...But I have three hundred and eighteen days of shore leave coming and ...I intend to use them.
[Ba'ku village hayfield]
(Data and Artim are each in a pile of hay)
CRUSHER: Data? It's time to go.
DATA: I have to go home now.
ARTIM: Bye.
DATA: Bye.
SOJEF: Mister Data, I hope we'll see you again.
ARTIM: Data! ...Don't forget. You have to have a little fun every day.
RIKER: Good advice.
(Data touches Riker on the chest and when he looks down, Data flips him on the nose)
PICARD: Picard to Enterprise. Seven to beam up. ...Energise.
END CREDITS
HISTORY
2024-09-28 21:26:43 -
Pike:
Added a banner.
2024-09-23 18:06:32 -
Pike:
Added the writers and director.
2024-09-12 00:56:31 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
2024-08-22 18:12:55 -
Pike:
Updated the summary.
