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January 8, 1990
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45 minutes
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145
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2024-09-11 10:14:30
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SUMMARY
Stardate: 43489.2. A potentially new member of the Federation enlists the help of the Enterprise to track down a wanted criminal who has a reputation for his excessive violence. However, the fugitive's actions may not be of his own will.
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TRANSCRIPT
Captain's log, Stardate 43489.2. We have arrived at Angosia Three, a planet that has expressed a strong desire for membership in the Federation. Prime Minister Nayrok has taken Commander Riker and me on a tour of the capital city.
[Angosian Senate]
PICARD: Well, I'm greatly impressed with everything I've seen so far, Prime Minister.
(The PM is played by James Cromwell, the man who would become Zephram Cochrane)
NAYROK: Then I hope it will reflect favourably in your report, Captain.
RIKER: It's a tribute to your people that you were able to recover so rapidly from the Tarsian War.
NAYROK: It is indeed. We are not warriors. We believe reason can settle disputes. But not every culture agrees with our position.
PICARD: An unfortunate reality.
NAYROK: The development of the mind, the cultivation of the intellect, these are the pursuits to which the Angosians have dedicated themselves for centuries.
ZAYNAR: Prime Minister. I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have a problem. May I see you for a moment?
NAYROK: Excuse me, gentlemen. (they move away) Yes, what is it?
PICARD: Well, I think they'll make a fine addition to the Federation, Number One.
RIKER: I'm not sure I'd like to live in this place. A little stuffy for my taste.
NAYROK: A prisoner has escaped from the penal colony on Lunar Five. Two guards are dead. The prisoner has taken a transport vessel.
RIKER: Do you have means of pursuit?
NAYROK: The tracking station was sabotaged. The entire base is in chaos. We have ordered ships from the surface to follow him, but to be honest, our civilian pilots are not trained for this.
RIKER: With your permission? Mister Data, a stolen transport vessel has departed from Lunar Five.
[Bridge]
RIKER [OC]: Have you picked it up on the sensors?
DATA: Yes, Commander.
RIKER [OC]: Good.
[Angosian Senate]
RIKER: Detain the vessel and quarantine the pilot. Is he armed?
NAYROK: Yes. And extremely dangerous, Commander. Lunar Five is a maximum security facility.
RIKER: Did you read that, Data?
DATA [OC]: Yes, sir.
[Bridge]
DATA: We will use extreme caution.
RIKER [OC]: Keep us informed. Riker out.
WORF: On screen, sir.
DATA: Specifications on the vessel, Mister Worf?
WORF: No warp drive. Minimal weaponry.
DATA: Heading, Mister Crusher?
WESLEY: Three one nine mark two five oh, sir.
LAFORGE: Vessel's speed increasing to point oh two impulse. He's seen us, Data.
(The little transport slips behind an asteroid, but only part emerges on the other side)
LAFORGE: That's the ship's drive section
WESLEY: What happened to the rest of the ship?
DATA: Scan the drive section for life form readings.
WORF: None.
DATA: Bring us around to the back side of the asteroid, Mister Crusher.
LAFORGE: Sensors indicate wreckage on the asteroid's surface, Data.
WORF: No life signs.
DATA: Apparently, he did not survive.
WESLEY: Data, the drive section. Where'd it go? There's no sign of it on its previous heading. Someone must be at the helm.
RIKER [OC]: Status report, Mister Data?
DATA: I am afraid the prisoner has eluded us, sir.
[Angosian Senate]
PICARD: Eluded the Enterprise?
[Bridge]
DATA: We followed procedures precisely, Captain. Scanners indicated no life forms present in the drive section. I cannot explain how he escaped.
WORF: Incoming message from the Angosian Prime Minister.
PICARD: On screen.
NAYROK [on viewscreen]: Captain, we've identified the prisoner. His name is Roga Danar. His criminal record is too long to go into, but I must caution you that he is given to bouts of uncontrollable violence.
PICARD: I appreciate your warning, Prime Minister. We will keep you informed of our progress.
(transmission ends)
RIKER: Geordi, how far and how fast can that transport ship travel?
LAFORGE: Without warp drive, there's no way he could be out of our range by now.
WESLEY: We've been sweeping the area constantly, Commander. There's nothing within sensor range.
PICARD: A cloaking device?
WORF: Sir, the Angosians have no cloaking technology.
RIKER: Unless he's borrowing one. If he's hanging over the planet's pole, the magnetic field would confuse our sensors.
DATA: Commander, I believe I can recalibrate our sensors to read through the electromagnetic interference over the poles.
RIKER: Let's try it. Mister Crusher, realign for polar orbit.
WESLEY: Aye, sir.
DATA: There he is, Commander. You were correct.
RIKER: This guy knows all the tricks, doesn't he.
DATA: There are still no life form readings coming from the vessel.
LAFORGE: Could it be the magnetic interference, Data?
DATA: I have compensated. Still no readings.
PICARD: We'll have an answer shortly. Lock on tractor beam, Mister La Forge.
LAFORGE: Tractor beam locking on, sir.
DATA: He is coming about, sir.
RIKER: He's out of his mind!
WORF: Sensors detect a massive power build up in his aft thrusters.
PICARD: On main viewer.
LAFORGE: He's making a suicide run.
DATA: Shields have been automatically activated. Tractor beam disengaged.
WESLEY: He bounced off the shields.
RIKER: That's an interesting twist.
PICARD: Mister Crusher, fix coordinates onto that vessel. We'll just beam the whole thing to a shuttlebay if we have to.
DATA: I do not believe that will be necessary, Captain. He is no longer in the drive section.
PICARD: What?
DATA: I anticipated that diversionary tactic based on his pattern to date. We are picking up a cylindrical object approximately seven metres in length and three metres in diameter.
WORF: On screen.
PICARD: Magnify.
WESLEY: An escape pod.
LAFORGE: This guy's incredible.
DATA: Yet there are still no life form readings.
PICARD: Transporter room four, prepare to beam aboard from inside that shuttle anything large enough to be a humanoid adult.
O'BRIEN [OC]: Aye, sir.
WORF: Security team, report to transporter room four.
SECURITY [OC]: On our way, sir.
[Transporter room]
O'BRIEN: We're holding the contents in stasis pending arrival of security. An illicit weapon has been detected in the transport beam, sir.
[Bridge]
O'BRIEN: It's been rendered inoperable.
RIKER: Work, let's greet our guest.
[Transporter room]
SECURITY: Bring him in, Mister O'Brien.
(The escaped prisoner raises his weapon.)
SECURITY: Just stay where you are.
(The security guard fires, but it has almost no effect. They are jumped by the prisoner)
O'BRIEN: More security, transporter room four. More security! More security!
(O'Brien tries to help out by getting the prisoner in a head lock, but he is easily thrown off. The two guards grab the man and they tumble out into)
[Corridor]
(Where one is thrown off down a side passage and the other nearly has his arm pulled out. O'Brien shoots the prisoner in the back with a phaser, but again, it has little effect. O'Brien gets a return shot for his trouble. The turbolift doors open, and Worf pushes Riker out of the line of fire just in time. They rush to help the guard who had been thrown down the passage and finally Worf pins down their quarry)
RIKER: Get him to a detention cell. Set phasers on maximum stun.
O'BRIEN: Commander.
[Bridge]
NAYROK [on viewscreen]: We'll need a few hours to get the containment field on Lunar Five operational before we pick him up. The damage he did during his escape was considerable.
PICARD: We will await your signal.
NAYROK [on viewscreen]: I appreciate your patience. The prison psychologist recommends that you keep Danar fully sedated until he's ready for transport.
PICARD: Well, he's in our highest security detention area. There shouldn't be any more problems.
NAYROK [on viewscreen]: Do not relax your security for an instant, Captain. He is extremely violent and very cunning, as you already know. I will send a transport vessel to pick him up as soon as possible. Nayrok out.
RIKER: Have you run a diagnostic on the sensors, Data?
DATA: Yes, sir. There is nothing wrong with the ship's sensors. The reason we did not sense life signs aboard the escape vessel is because the prisoner has no life signs.
RIKER: Computer, identify the occupant of the detention cell.
COMPUTER: The detention cell is vacant at this time.
RIKER: He's in there.
PICARD: Could he be some kind of android?
DATA: Our sensors can identify artificial lifeforms, sir. Apparently, he is capable of deceiving the sensors.
[Brig]
(Roga has been having a nightmare, and Deanna sensed it while walking along a corridor. She has hurried to the Brig)
TROI: Are you all right?
ROGA: What is this ship?
TROI: You're on board the USS Enterprise.
ROGA: A war vessel?
TROI: A Federation starship.
ROGA: Federation!
TROI: We were orbiting Angosia when you escaped from Lunar Five.
ROGA: It seems that I am a victim of my own bad timing. And you are the keeper of this jail?
(he tests the forcefield)
TROI: I'm Deanna Troi, ship's Counsellor.
ROGA: Counsellor? Too bad. I'd rather you were a jailer to keep me company during my return trip. I assume we are returning to Lunar Five.
TROI: That terrifies you.
ROGA: I just killed three men to get out of there, Counsellor, and I'm fully capable of killing you as well. That's terrifying thought, isn't it? Even to me.
TROI: Do they mistreat you there?
ROGA: Not at all. I am comfortable, well fed and housed. Oh no, the Angosians take good care of their prisoners. It's simply a matter of never being able to leave. What about you, Counsellor? Do you always visit the prisoners? Are you a specialist in criminal behaviour? Or am I just an interesting specimen that landed on your ship like an insect to be studied under your microscope?
TROI: Why do you have all this anger toward me?
ROGA: A girl with long dark hair broke my heart a long time ago. Out of bitterness and resentment, I turned to crime. How about this one? My mother abandoned me when I was a little boy. I never got the guidance that a wild young man needed.
TROI: Why are you doing this?
ROGA: Playing games? Isn't that what you do, Counsellor? Isn't that what all of you mind control experts do?
TROI: I am not a mind control expert. I came here because I sensed you were in pain.
ROGA: And what do you sense now?
TROI: The pain is gone.
ROGA: It's interesting, isn't it?
[Ready room]
TROI: There's a duality in the man. It's hard to describe. He's aware of his crimes. In fact, they trouble him deeply.
PICARD: Counsellor.
TROI: He's intelligent, thoughtful, typically Angosian. I know what he's done, but when I'm with him I cannot believe he is randomly and deliberately violent. in fact, inherently, he has a non-violent personality.
PICARD: Counsellor, it took five men to restrain him and he took apart half of the Transporter Room in the process.
TROI: I'm not opening the door for him, Captain. I can only tell you that I sense something very unusual about him. Something that is not inherent to a criminal personality.
PICARD: In a few hours, I'll be turning him over to the Angosians, and I'll be happy to do it.
TROI: I understand.
[Bridge]
TROI: Data, do we have a link up to the Angosian central computer?
DATA: Yes, Counsellor. We are copying records for Federation inspection pursuant to their application for admittance.
TROI: Can I see a police record on Roga Danar?
(search negative)
DATA: There is no police record.
TROI: That's impossible. He's been in prison.
DATA: Lunar Five is a military prison facility.
TROI: Military? He's a soldier ?
DATA: That may provide an explanation for the tactics he was able to use against us when we tried to capture him.
TROI: It doesn't say here what he was arrested for. Call up his military record.
DATA: He served in many campaigns during the Tarsian War, received two promotions, to the rank of Subhadar. A very honourable tour of duty
TROI: What was this man's crime?
[Brig]
TROI: I've learned you are a soldier.
ROGA: I was a soldier.
TROI: Why were you put in prison?
ROGA: Obviously, because I am a threat to society.
TROI: There's no police record. What did you do?
ROGA: Everything they asked me to do. That's why I became such a threat.
TROI: I don't understand.
ROGA: Why are you bothering to try, Counsellor?
TROI: Because I want to help, if I can.
ROGA: Unlock the door.
TROI: You are a non-violent man, yet you committed acts of excessive violence.
ROGA: You can learn to do it if you have to.
TROI: Did you have to?
ROGA: It was war.
TROI: So it started with the war?
ROGA: It started the day I volunteered, Counsellor. The day I began training. The day I met my first instructor. And he also called himself a counsellor.
[Observation lounge]
TROI: Roga Danar was an idealistic young man who answered his people's call to service. He joined the military to fight for the Angosian way of life. What he didn't realise was that by doing so he would have to give up that way of life for ever. He's not the same man who left home to go to war. He's been through intense psychological manipulation and biochemical modifications.
CRUSHER: At Troi's request I examined him. His cell structure has been significantly altered. They used a combination of cryptobiolin, triclenidil, macrospentol and a few things I can't even recognise.
RIKER: Was he a prisoner of war? Who did this to him?
TROI: His own government. He's been programmed to be the perfect soldier. He can be absolutely normal, but when a danger is perceived, the programming clicks in and takes over. Memory, strength, intelligence, reflexes, all become enhanced. He's conditioned to survive at any cost.
CRUSHER: One of the new substances in his cellular structure even shields electrical impulses.
DATA: Perhaps that would explain why our sensors did not detect him.
PICARD: Why was he assigned to the Lunar Five facility?
TROI: He committed no crime. He says he was ordered there with others like him. When the first soldiers returned to Angosia, they had trouble. The rules changed too quickly. A lost temper could result in murder.
DATA: Counsellor, did no one try to adjust their programming?
TROI: They were just exiled to Lunar Five.
PICARD: Lunar Five, an orbiting gulag.
[Brig]
ROGA: What do you want?
DATA: Am I disturbing you?
ROGA: Yes.
DATA: Then I will leave.
ROGA: NO. Wait, wait. I'd rather talk to someone. Why do you have yellow eyes?
DATA: I am an android. I believe you and I have something in common.
ROGA: We do?
DATA: Yes. We have both been programmed.
ROGA: Ah, yes, yes. You've been talking to Counsellor Troi. It is not at all the same, android.
DATA: I do not mean to belittle your condition. I understand your dilemma. But I am curious. My programme can be altered. Yours cannot?
ROGA: The man I was is still inside me, but this conditioning has been imposed. Woven together with my thoughts and my feelings and my responses. How do you separate the programme from the man?
DATA: Without further analysis of your condition from Counsellor Troi or Doctor Crusher, I cannot say. But I believe it is possible.
ROGA: Yeah, doctors! The Angosian doctors did this to me. If it could be undone, wouldn't they undo it?
DATA: I cannot answer that.
ROGA: Nor can I, yet I ask myself that question every moment of every day.
[Ready room]
NAYROK [on monitor]: Captain, what this man has been telling you is full of half-truths. He's a prisoner. What do you expect him to say about us?
PICARD: Well, perhaps you would clarify it for me.
NAYROK [on monitor]: The soldiers were resettled on Lunar Five. It was to be their colony.
PICARD: Was it a resettlement of their choosing?
NAYROK [on monitor]: It was for their own protection as well as that of others. Most of them were quite happy there. We went to great lengths to give them a fine quality of life.
PICARD: Prime Minister, even the most comfortable prison is a prison.
NAYROK [on monitor]: Unfortunately, a few agitators like Danar forced us to add security.
PICARD: My medical team suggests there may be alternative treatment.
NAYROK [on monitor]: Captain, I assure you that every alternative has been explored. And this discussion is now treading upon matters of internal security, which is not your concern. I have dispatched a ship to rendezvous with you to transport the prisoner back to Lunar Five. On behalf of Angosia, I thank the Federation for its assistance in retrieving our citizen.
(Transmission ends)
PICARD: Matter of internal security. The age-old cry of the oppressor.
[Brig]
ROGA: Were you built for combat, android?
DATA: No. But my programme does include military strategy. That is how I was able to anticipate your final tactic and capture you.
ROGA: You did that? Perhaps you would be better at combat than you think.
DATA: Except that I am not programmed to kill.
ROGA: My improved reflexes have allowed me to kill eighty four times. And my improved memory lets me remember each of those eighty four faces. Can you understand how that feels?
DATA: I am incapable of any feeling.
ROGA: Why, then I envy you.
(Picard and Troi enter)
TROI: Roga, this is Captain Picard.
ROGA: Captain.
PICARD: Mister Danar, I'm transferring you to Angosian security. They're en route. They will arrive shortly. I wanted to tell you I have no choice. The Prime Minister insisted and we have no right to refuse.
ROGA: You would be foolish to consider it otherwise, Captain, for they are very correct. I am dangerous. There is no place for me in a civilised society.
TROI: I do not believe that.
DATA: Nor do I.
PICARD: I respect my officers' judgements. I wish I could help further. If a way appears to me, I will.
ROGA: I appreciate your telling me that face to face.
PICARD: I thought you deserved that much.
ROGA: And you deserve to know that I must use whatever means I can to escape.
WORF [OC]: Captain, the Angosian transport vessel has arrived.
PICARD: Inform them the transfer will take place shortly. Picard out. Mister Data, to the Bridge please.
(Picard leaves)
ROGA: Take care of yourself, android. I enjoyed our talk.
DATA: I too.
(Data leaves)
TROI: Perhaps when this planet becomes a member of the Federation, we'll be able
ROGA: I will not be there to see it, Counsellor. Because even with this overwhelming demand to survive that they've built into my soul, I would rather die than return to Lunar Five.
[Bridge]
WAGNOR [on viewscreen]: Captain Picard, we're ready to receive the prisoner. Now transmitting the coordinates of our holding cell.
DATA: Coordinates received, sir.
PICARD: Stand by for transport. Picard out. Mister Worf, have all security precautions been taken?
WORF: Release of the force field and activation of the transporter will be virtually simultaneous. There will only be a point one second difference between them.
RIKER: Even Danar can't move that fast.
WORF: There will be a full security contingent present.
PICARD: Proceed.
[Transporter room]
O'BRIEN: Transporter room one to Lieutenant Worf. We're ready, sir.
[Brig]
O'BRIEN [OC]: Energising.
(But Danar tries to break out of the transporter beam)
WORF: O'Brien, increase transporter power.
(Danar gets a hand out of the beam)
[Transporter room]
O'BRIEN: I'm losing him.
[Brig]
(Both arms are out)
TROI: Roga, don't! You'll be killed!
(The security guards draw their phasers, there's a big flash)
[Transporter room]
O'BRIEN: What the hell?
(The brig is empty. Roga Danar has gone)
[Bridge]
RIKER: Security personnel, full alert. Shut down all shuttlebays, transporters, and turbolifts.
WORF [OC]: Captain, a phaser is missing.
[Brig]
WORF: We must assume that he is armed.
[Bridge]
PICARD: Sound general quarters. Clear corridors of all non-essential personnel. I don't want him taking any hostages.
DATA: General quarters sounded, sir.
PICARD: Raise security containment fields immediately on decks thirty four, thirty five, and thirty six.
SECURITY [OC]: Aye, sir.
RIKER: Data, put the turbolifts back online. If Danar sees they're operating, he may try to use them. Soon as he does, we have him.
[Corridor]
(Danar sees a guard around the next corner. He ducks into a turbolift - 12 on the door)
[Bridge]
DATA: Sir, unauthorised access of turbolift five on deck thirty four.
RIKER: He took the bait.
PICARD: Data, override its destination. Divert that turbolift to a position near Lieutenant Worf's present location.
DATA: Four seconds to arrival, sir.
[Corridor]
WORF: We're in position.
(The turbolift door opens and there a high-pitched whining, but no person)
WORF: Phaser on overload! Seal this deck.
(Worf steps into the lift to deactivate the phaser)
[Bridge]
WORF [OC]: Captain, the overload has been averted.
[Corridor]
(Back where Danar first spotted the guard, he now knocks the man out and uses his comm. badge)
ROGA: Drop force field on deck thirty six.
[Bridge]
DATA: Sir, containment field down on deck thirty six.
RIKER: How the hell did he manage that?
PICARD: He's headed for Engineering.
RIKER: Riker to La Forge. Engineering, respond.
[Engineering]
(Everyone is out cold)
RIKER [OC]: Engineering!. Engineering, come in! Geordi, are you okay?
(No, he's slumped against a bulkhead with his Visor lying on the floor, as Danar starts rearranging isolinear chips in a panel)
[Bridge]
DATA: Captain, someone in Engineering is attempting to override the security system lockout.
RIKER: Riker to Worf, he's in Engineering.
[Corridor]
WORF: Acknowledged, Commander. We're on our way.
[Bridge]
PICARD: Data, I want you to stall Danar. Allow him to think he's succeeding.
DATA: As he bypasses each subsystem, I can re-route it without his knowledge.
PICARD: Make it so.
DATA: Danar is extremely adept, sir. I am not certain which security measure he is attempting to circumvent. Sir, Danar has succeeded in restoring power to shuttlebay two.
(Danar has climbed the ladder to the upper core level)
DATA: I have overridden Danar's bypass. Shuttlebay two is once again inactive.
PICARD: Very good, Mister Data. Now we know where he's headed.
(Danar strides down a Jefferies tube taller than a man)
[Engineering]
WORF: Geordi!
LAFORGE: I'm all right. He took us by surprise. He came out of nowhere. I didn't think anyone could move that fast.
DATA [OC]: Lieutenant, I am reading an open panel. K twelve, J nine, deck thirty.
WORF: Acknowledged.
LAFORGE: Danar must have climbed up the reactor core and got into a Jefferies tube. He could be anywhere.
WORF: We believe he is attempting to reach shuttlebay two.
LAFORGE: That's twenty five decks up from here. Quite a climb, but I wouldn't put it past him.
WORF: There is a full contingent of security at all shuttlebays.
LAFORGE: You want my advice? Double it!
[Bridge]
DATA: Captain, reading another open access panel.
PICARD: Security team to Jefferies tube J four, deck fifteen.
SECURITY [OC]: Security acknowledged.
(Danar puts an overloading phaser into the access panel)
RIKER: Deck fifteen, a few decks below the shuttlebay.
DATA: Sir, I find it highly unlikely that Danar would be attempting to reach shuttlebay two.
PICARD: Explain.
DATA: In our previous encounter, Danar employed a strategy of misdirection in an attempt to gain his objective.
PICARD: And you believe he's using the same tactic now.
DATA: He is aware that our sensors are unable to track him, yet he seems to be purposely leaving a trail for us to follow.
RIKER: Where do you think he's headed?
DATA: I am afraid his true destination remains a mystery. Readings now indicate an open access panel in Jeffries tube N eleven, deck thirty eight.
PICARD: He's doubled back on us.
RIKER: The cargo bays.
PICARD: Advise all personnel on deck thirty eight to stay out of the cargo bays.
(Danar tries to activate a cargo transporter, then opens up the back of the mechanism)
PICARD: Status, Mister Data?
DATA: They appear to be empty, sir.
PICARD: Good. I want you to flood them with anestazine.
DATA: Aye, sir.
(Danar spots the gas, and gets a suit from one of the containers nearby)
DATA: Sensors show anestazine concentration seventy parts per million within the cargo bays.
RIKER: That should have put our boy to sleep.
PICARD: Return environmental conditions to normal, Mister Data. Move in your security teams, Mister Worf.
WORF [OC]: Acknowledged.
[Cargo bay]
WORF: Worf to Bridge. We have found no sign of the intruder. But there is a missing pressure suit
[Bridge]
WORF [OC]: From cargo bay three.
PICARD: Pressure suit?
RIKER: Could be he's planning to enter shuttlebay two from outside the Enterprise, bypassing the security guards.
PICARD: Mister Worf, post security guards at all emergency airlocks on decks
[Cargo bay]
PICARD [OC]: Thirty seven through thirty nine.
WORF: Aye, sir. I'll also cover the photon torpedo launchers. Danar may attempt to leave the ship that way. Worf out.
(But Danar is hiding behind some cargo, not wearing the pressure suit. When he hears the doors closing, he comes out and doesn't see Worf hiding)
WORF: Danar! You are cunning. You must have Klingon blood. But the battle is over.
ROGA: My battle is never over.
WORF: Worf to Bridge. I have Danar.
(The hidden phaser explodes, the lights go out, and Danar jumps Worf)
[Bridge]
DATA: Explosion in Jefferies tube section T nine five. All external sensors inoperative.
RIKER: Go to backup systems.
DATA: Unable to transfer control, sir.
[Cargo bay]
(Danar finally defeats Worf by toppling a lot of cargo boxes on top of him. Then he beams himself onto the transport ship)
[Transport ship]
ROGA: Sit down, gentlemen.
[Cargo bay]
WORF: Worf to Bridge.
PICARD [OC]: Go ahead.
WORF: Danar has escaped.
[Bridge]
WORF [OC]: He used a phaser to power the cargo transporter. Coordinates indicate he beamed aboard the Angosian transport ship.
PICARD: Data, can you verify that?
DATA: Negative, sir. All external sensors still nonfunctioning.
PICARD: Then we have no way to track him.
RIKER: That was his plan all along.
First officer's log, supplemental. We are continuing to repair damage to the ship's sensors following the escape of the Angosian prisoner, Danar. He is still at large.
[Bridge]
RIKER: Engineering, I'm getting readings on Tactical. Are we back up?
LAFORGE [OC]: That's affirmative, Commander.
PICARD: Mister Worf, sweep the area.
DATA: Captain, the Prime Minister is hailing us. Priority one.
PICARD: On screen.
WORF: Priority channel cleared.
PICARD: Yes, Prime Minister?
NAYROK [on viewscreen]: Captain, I've just been informed that Roga Danar has attacked the penal colony on Lunar Five.
PICARD: Attacked it ?
NAYROK [on viewscreen]: In our own police shuttle. Several of my people have been wounded. Hundreds of prisoners are rioting. Some of them have escaped with Danar and at last report are headed to the capital city. Captain, we are not suited to handle situations like this. That's what we created them for.
PICARD: I'll send an away team, Prime Minister. Picard out. Counsellor Troi, Commander Data, Mister Worf, you will accompany me to the planet.
[Corridor]
PICARD: And my understanding is these men are programmed to survive. Is that correct?
TROI: Yes, Captain.
PICARD: And that they will not kill unless their survival is at stake?
DATA: It is against their nature to do so, Captain.
PICARD: Then let us hope they do not believe their survival is at stake.
RIKER: Mister Worf, you are personally responsible for the Captain's safety.
WORF: I understand, Commander.
[Angosian Senate]
(Weapons are being handed out in a hurry)
NAYROK: I don't expect them to listen to reason. I loathe the idea of a violent confrontation, but we must be prepared.
(The away team beam in)
NAYROK: This is all you've brought? Where are your security men?
PICARD: We're not here to fight your wars for you.
NAYROK: They have been seen moving toward the center of the city. People are scared. Don't you understand, Captain? They're dangerous.
PICARD: You are dangerous. They're only victims. You made them what they are. You asked them to defend your way of life and then you discarded them.
ZAYNAR: They were not happy here.
TROI: They were not welcome here.
ZAYNAR: It was the will of the people to resettle them.
NAYROK: No one was pleased with the solution, but we had to act for the greater good.
DATA: Prime Minister, if you have the skills to create a master soldier, can you not contradict the effect?
NAYROK: The chemicals can be removed from their systems, but we're not convinced that the psychological conditioning can ever be entirely reversed.
DATA: Have you tried, sir?
NAYROK: We studied it thoroughly. Even before the training began, we knew there would be problems reversing it. It was a risk we had to take.
WORF: Did you reveal that risk to the men who volunteered for service?
NAYROK: We were helping them to survive the war, you understand? They needed these skills.
PICARD: They're your brothers, your sons, and you turned your backs on them.
TROI: There are methods of treatment. Until you try them, how can you know they won't work? Even a partial recovery could give them some peace.
ZAYNAR: It was the will of the people.
TROI: To allow them to suffer?
NAYROK: There was a referendum. The people weighed the costs involved. They chose the resettlement solution.
ZAYNAR: Besides, we may need to use them again some day.
PICARD: Have you understood one word that we've said?
(The rogue soldiers arrive)
ROGA: Freeze! Nobody move!
PICARD: No, Worf! All of you. Don't respond. Don't provoke them further. Keep those weapons down unless you wish to be killed.
NAYROK: Do as he says.
ROGA: No! Don't. Shoot us. Destroy us. Do what you have to do. But you will not ignore us. Go on, do it!
(He shoots a hole in the wall next to Nayrok)
ROGA: Cowards.
PICARD: Yes, and you are not programmed to murder cowards. So if they will not fight back, what will you do?
ROGA: We will not go back.
NAYROK: You are programmed to survive. You can survive at the Lunar Five settlement.
ROGA: To survive is not enough. To simply exist is not enough.
TROI: Roga, tell them what you want.
ROGA: We want our lives back. We want to come home.
NAYROK: I am not prepared to negotiate under threat, Danar, but if you will put down your weapons and return peaceably to Lunar Five, I would be willing.
ROGA: Mister Prime Minister, with all due respect, you will have to force us. Or at least try.
NAYROK: Captain, you must do something. Call your ship.
PICARD: Quite right, Prime Minister. Enterprise, prepare to beam the away team back.
RIKER [OC]: At your command, Captain.
NAYROK: Picard, you can't leave us like this.
PICARD: I have all the information I need for our report. Your prisoner has been returned to you and you have a decision to make. Whether to try to force them back or welcome them home. In your own words, this is not our affair. We cannot interfere in the natural course of your society's development, and I'd say it's likely to develop significantly in the next several minutes. It's been an interesting visit. When you're ready for membership, the Federation will be pleased to reconsider your application. Mister Riker, four to beam up.
RIKER [OC]: Aye, sir.
[Bridge]
RIKER: Success, Captain?
PICARD: Number One, will you note in our report that if the government of Angosia survives the night, we will offer them Federation assistance in their efforts to reprogram their veterans.
RIKER: And if the government doesn't survive?
PICARD: I have a feeling they will choose to. Mister Crusher, set coordinates for Starbase Lya Three.
WESLEY: Coordinates set, Captain.
PICARD: Engage.
2024-09-11 10:14:30 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
