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AIRED ON
February 19, 1990
RUNTIME
45 minutes
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159
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2024-09-11 10:16:13
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Version 1
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SUMMARY
Stardate: 43625.2. A rift in the space/time continuum brings the U.S.S. Enterprise - C forward into the 24th Century, and alters the timeline. In this future, the Federation is at war with the Klingons, Tasha Yar is on the bridge, Worf did not join the Federation, and only Guinan's unique perception of reality may restore the timeline.
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REVIEWS
A wrinkle in time
Written by
kimmy on 2018-05-09
★
★
★
★
★
An unexpected change in form: an episode told from the point of view of Tasha Yar from a different universe! The predecessor of our Enterprise gets trapped in a temporal rift and its absence in a conflict with the Romulans creates a present where the Federation is a much more military organization (great work on costumes and lighting to signify this "darker" timeline), at war also with the Klingons; the old Enterprise must be sent back to its certain death in order to restore the timeline. This is an episode that gives Denise Crosby / Tasha Yar a proper farewell after her expeditive killing in season 1's "Skin of Evil" (albeit this is temporal bubble Tasha, not "our" Tasha). Of course this episode works better if one is a bit familiar with the show and its past: the show is now old enough to create emotional responses based on the cumulative experience of watching these characters live their lives. It was a team effort: no less than five pairs of hands were involved in its writing, and on top of that written in a haste because of production reschedulings. It was also Ira Stephen Behr's first episode as a writer -- he will become the key person in the development of Deep Space 9 a few years later. An excellent episode all around, a fan-favourite and rightly so!
The quote:
Alternate Picard: "Let's make sure that history never forgets the name Enterprise. Picard out."
TRANSCRIPT
[Ten Forward]
(Guinan brings a glass to Worf's table)
GUINAN: All right. Try this.
WORF: What is it?
GUINAN: Just try it.
(He does, and his face lights up)
GUINAN: You see? It's an Earth drink. Prune juice.
WORF: A warrior's drink.
GUINAN: You know, you're always drinking alone. It wouldn't hurt you to seek out a little companionship.
WORF: I would require a Klingon woman for companionship. Earth females are too fragile.
GUINAN: Not all of them. There are a few on this ship that would find you tame.
WORF: Impossible.
GUINAN: You never know till you try.
WORF: Then I will never know.
GUINAN: Coward.
WORF: I was merely concerned for the safety of my crewmates.
GUINAN: Drink your prune juice.
(a fuzzy swirly thing appears outside the ship)
RIKER [OC]: Lieutenant Worf, report to the Bridge.
WORF: On my way.
(Worf leaves)
GUINAN: No!
[Bridge]
PICARD: Analysis, Mister Data.
DATA: Sensors are reading gravimetric fluctuations, Captain. Most unusual ones.
RIKER: Unusual in what way? Specify?
DATA: Nothing I have seen before.
PICARD: Is it a wormhole?
DATA: Yes and no. Like a time displacement, but it does not have a discernible event horizon.
WESLEY: Sir, navigational subsystems are unable to give coordinates on the object.
DATA: Confirmed. The phenomenon does not have a definable centre or outer edge.
RIKER: Are you saying it is and yet it isn't there?
DATA: I do not have sufficient information to make an analysis as yet, Commander. The dynamics of the radiation patterns
WORF: Captain! Something's happening. A new change in sensor readings.
(Picard turns to face us, blocking our view of the back of the Bridge)
PICARD: Mister Data?
DATA: Scanning sensors)
(a ship emerges from the phenomenon, and things change. Picard's uniform grows a higher collar and the Bridge becomes slightly darker. People are wearing Sam Brownes)
PICARD: Lieutenant, what are their sensor readings? Is that an enemy vessel?
TASHA: I'm getting too much interference, Captain.
[Ten Forward]
(Guinan's clothes are different, the place is noisy and very busy)
CREWMAN [OC]: Now hear this. Fleet formation briefing in main war room at fifteen hundred hours. Doctor Joshua Campbell, report to Cetacean Ops. Ensign Toms, please freport to Combat Information Centre. Ensign Thomas to CIC.
GUINAN: This isn't right. It's changed.
[Bridge]
TASHA: It's clearing now, Captain. Definitely Federation starship. Accessing registry.
RIKER: Looks like they had a rough ride.
TASHA: NCC one seven oh one C. USS Enterprise.
Military log, Combat date 43625.2. While investigating an unusual radiation anomaly, the Enterprise has encountered what could almost be called a ghost from its own past, the Enterprise-C, the immediate predecessor to this battleship.
[Bridge]
(Only the Captain has a centre chair. Riker has to lean on the rail)
DATA: Sensors confirm design and specifications, Captain. Analysis of hull and engine materials conform to engineering patterns and methods of that time period.
WESLEY: (in full Starfleet uniform) But that cruiser was destroyed with all hands over twenty years ago.
DATA: Presumed destroyed. The Enterprise C was last seen near the Klingon outpost Narendra Three exactly twenty two years, three months and four days ago.
RIKER: And now they're here.
PICARD: Has it been adrift for all those years, or has it has travelled through time?
DATA: It is a possibility, Captain. If that hypothesis is correct, the phenomenon we just encountered would be a temporal rift in space.
PICARD: A rift?
DATA: Possibly the formation of a Kerr loop from superstring material. It would require high-energy interactions occurring in the vicinity for such a structure to be formed. The rift is certainly not stable, Captain. It could collapse at any time.
TASHA: Captain. I'm able to scan the interior of the ship now, sir. Heavy damage to warp field nacelles and hull bearing struts. Internal space frame is... Life-signs, Captain! Readings are sporadic. It looks like they have massive casualties, but some are still alive.
RIKER: Bridge to Sickbay. Emergency teams, stand by transporter rooms.
CRUSHER [OC]: Understood.
PICARD: Belay that order, Doctor.
RIKER: Respectfully, if I may suggest regardless of where they came from, they are here now and they need our help.
PICARD: Commander, if that ship has travelled into the future, we could be dealing with variables that will alter the flow of our history.
TASHA: Enterprise C is sending out a distress call, sir. Audio only.
GARRETT [OC]: This is Captain Garrett of the Starship Enterprise, to any Federation ship. We have been attacked by Romulan warships and require immediate assistance. We've lost warp drive. Life support is failing.
RIKER: There's no record of the Romulans ever assaulting the Enterprise C.
TASHA: Voice message has ended, Captain. I'm only receiving their automated distress signal now.
PICARD: Open a hailing frequency. This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation, of a Federation starship. Standby to receive emergency teams. Commander, we will handle this one step at a time. Stabilise their power systems and tend to their injured, and avoid all discussions of where and when they are.
RIKER: Aye, sir. Lieutenant.
WESLEY: Captain, message coming in from Starfleet monitor stations. Klingon battlecruisers headed towards this sector.
PICARD: Battle alert, Mister Crusher. Condition Yellow.
WESLEY: Aye, sir. All decks report Condition Yellow.
[1701-C Bridge]
(Flames, charred bodies across consoles wearing late TOS movie uniforms. The away team beam in.)
RIKER: Captain Garrett?
GARRETT: Yes.
RIKER: I'm Commander William Riker. Our emergency teams are on board your ship. Doctor?
CRUSHER: The rest of the bridge crew is dead. She has a bad fracture and has serious internal injuries. I'm going to have to get her back to the Enterprise.
GARRETT: To where?
RIKER: We'll explain that later.
GARRETT: You'll explain now, Commander.
RIKER: We're from a Federation starship. We answered your distress call. Your ship is in good hands, but we need to get you to our Sickbay.
GARRETT: Very well.
CRUSHER: Crusher to transporter room. Two to beam directly to Sickbay.
CREWMAN: Stand by for transport.
(Crusher and Garrett are beamed away)
LAFORGE: It's pretty bad, Commander. Looks like they were in a hell of a fight.
RIKER: If you can't stabilise the life support, we're going to have to evacuate the ship.
LAFORGE: I think we can do it. I'll have to get to Engineering though. La Forge to damage control team alpha. Meet me on Engineering level three.
TASHA: Commander.
(A sound of coughing. They move some debris and find another survivor)
CASTILLO: Thanks.
RIKER: Commander William Riker.
CASTILLO: Lieutenant Castillo, helmsman.
[1701D Bridge]
DATA: Away team reporting in, sir.
PICARD: On screen, Mister Data. Go ahead, Commander.
RIKER [on viewscreen]: We've stabilised life support. Mister La Forge is working on restoring the main power couplings, but that'll take time. It's a real mess down here, sir.
PICARD: Survivors?
RIKER [on viewscreen]: One hundred twenty five.
PICARD: Recommendation?
RIKER: I'd hate to have to scrap her. Starfleet could certainly use another ship, even if she is old.
PICARD: Agreed. But we can't stay in this area too long. You have nine hours. If you can get her underway by then, we'll escort her back to Starbase one oh five. If not, we'll evacuate the survivors and destroy the ship.
RIKER [on viewscreen]: Understood, sir.
PICARD: Keep me posted, Picard out.
(Guinan enters, looking around a lot)
PICARD: Guinan?
GUINAN: We need to talk. Somehow this, this is all wrong. This is not the way it's supposed to be.
[Ready room]
PICARD: You must have some idea how things have changed.
GUINAN: I look at things, I look at people, and they just don't feel right.
PICARD: What things? What people?
GUINAN: You. Your uniform. The Bridge.
PICARD: What's the matter with the Bridge?
GUINAN: It's not right.
PICARD: It's the same Bridge. Nothing has changed.
GUINAN: I know that. I also know it's wrong.
PICARD: What else?
GUINAN: Families. There should be children on this ship.
PICARD: What? Children on the Enterprise? Guinan, we're at war.
GUINAN: No, we're not. At least, we're not supposed to be. This is not a ship of war. This a ship of peace.
PICARD: What you're suggesting
GUINAN: I'm not suggesting. That ship from the past is not supposed to be here. It's got to go back.
[Sickbay]
CRUSHER: Run a full electrolyte report. Boost the level of tricordrazine. Try to relax.
CREWWOMAN [OC]: Doctor Selar, report to pathology ward stat. Doctor Selar, report to pathology ward stat.
PICARD: I'm Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
GARRETT: Rachel Garrett. How's my ship?
PICARD: The support systems are being restored. We're continuing repairs.
GARRETT: Where did you come from? We weren't picking up any other Federation ships in this sector.
PICARD: What's the last thing you remember?
GARRETT: We were answering the distress signal.
PICARD: Distress signal?
GARRETT: You must have heard it. From the Klingon outpost, Narendra Three. But you didn't, did you? This Sickbay, I've never seen like it, even on a starbase. And your uniform. What ship is this, Captain?
CRUSHER: Please try to be still.
GARRETT: I must insist. What ship?
PICARD: You are aboard the Enterprise, Captain. One seven oh one D. You have come twenty two years into the future.
GARRETT: Twenty two years. Does my crew know yet?
PICARD: No.
GARRETT: I must tell them. I owe them that.
PICARD: If you wish, I can see that they're informed.
GARRETT: Is there some reason they should not be told?
PICARD: I am concerned that if you return to your own time with knowledge of the future
GARRETT: Return to the battle? We barely escaped with our lives. If we returned, we'd be destroyed.
PICARD: Have you any idea how this happened?
GARRETT: There was a fierce volley of photon torpedoes. We were hit. A bright light, and then here.
PICARD: It is possible that this exchange of fire was the catalyst for the formation of a temporal rift. History has no record of your battle with the Romulans.
GARRETT: We were responding to a distress call from the Klingon outpost on Narendra Three. The Romulans were attacking it. We engaged them, but there were four warbirds.
PICARD: The Narendra Three outpost was destroyed. It is regrettable that you did not succeed. A Federation starship rescuing a Klingon outpost might have averted twenty years of war.
[1701C Bridge]
CASTILLO: I just can't quite make myself believe it. Twenty two years!
TASHA: I'm reading forty percent on forward shields. What do you have on aft?
CASTILLO: Forty percent.
TASHA: That won't cut it. Commander, advise Lieutenant La Forge that shields are below minimum.
RIKER: Acknowledged.
CASTILLO: We'll never see our homes again. Our families.
TASHA: How do you know your family's not still alive?
CASTILLO: You're right, I don't. But imagine coming home after twenty-two years. Would I even recognise them?
TASHA: What are the stats on main phaser banks?
CASTILLO: Emitters available, sixty percent forward, fifty two percent aft.
TASHA: Good. Let's take a look at the torpedo launchers.
CASTILLO: I guess I'm lucky to be alive at all.
TASHA: You may not like the future. It's been a long war. The Federation has lost more than half of Starfleet to the Klingons.
CASTILLO: We were negotiating a peace treaty when I left.
TASHA: A lot of changes, Lieutenant. A lot of changes.
CASTILLO: When we get a break, maybe you could fill me in on some of them.
TASHA: Photon banks are depleted. Auxiliary fusion generators are down.
[1701D Bridge]
DATA: There is a high degree of probability that the temporal rift is symmetrical, Captain.
PICARD: Then what would happen if the Enterprise C were to fly back through it?
DATA: Back, sir? The Enterprise C would emerge in her own time period at almost the same instant she left.
PICARD: Right in the middle of the battle with the Romulans.
DATA: Yes, sir.
PICARD: Is there any possibility she could survive? DATA: None, sir.
PICARD: Then sending them back would be a death sentence.
[Corridor]
CREWWOMAN [OC]: Lieutenant Barrett to communications.
TASHA: She was the first Galaxy Class warship built by the Federation. Forty two decks. Capable of transporting over six thousand troops.
CASTILLO: How long have you been on board?
TASHA: Four years. Straight out of the Academy. I was lucky to get the Enterprise.
CASTILLO: Yeah, me too. I mean, my Enterprise.
[Sickbay]
CREWWOMAN [OC]: Triage team to main shuttlebay.
GARRETT: Lieutenant, how's the ship?
CASTILLO: We've restored minimal shields and the forward phaser banks. Still no photon launchers or warp drive.
GARRETT: Concentrate on the weapon systems. From what Captain Picard told me, the Federation can use all the help it can get.
TASHA: And soon. Our sensors have picked up Klingon warships in this sector, Captain.
GARRETT: Why wasn't I informed, Mister Castillo?
CASTILLO: Captain, you shouldn't
GARRETT: As senior officer, I want you to be my liaison to the Enterprise-D. Coordinate with Tactical.
TASHA: That's me, Captain.
CRUSHER: Where do you think you're going?
GARRETT: I'm resuming my duties, Doctor.
CRUSHER: Captain, you need at least another twenty four hours.
GARRETT: Nonsense. Doctors always over-protect their patients.
CRUSHER: And captains always push themselves too hard.
GARRETT: Doctor, my ship and crew need me now. Twenty four hours might as well be twenty four years.
[War room]
PICARD: I need more.
GUINAN: There is no more. I wish there were. I wish I could prove it. But I can't.
PICARD: Then I can't ask them to go back.
GUINAN: You've got to.
PICARD: Guinan, they will die moments after they return. How can I ask them to sacrifice themselves based solely on your intuition?
GUINAN: I don't know. But I do know that this is a mistake. Every fibre in my being says this is a mistake. I can't explain it to myself so I can't explain it to you. I only know that I'm right.
PICARD: Who is to say that this history is any less proper than the other?
GUINAN: I suppose I am.
PICARD: Not good enough, damn it. Not good enough. I will not ask them to die.
GUINAN: Forty billion people have already died. This war's not supposed to be happening. You've got to send those people back to correct this.
PICARD: And what is to guarantee that if they go back they will succeed? Every instinct tells me this is wrong, it is dangerous, it is futile.
GUINAN: We've known each other a long time. You have never known me to impose myself on anyone or take a stance based on trivial or whimsical perceptions. This time line must not be allowed to continue. Now, I've told you what you must do. You have only your trust in me to help you decide to do it.
[Ten Forward]
(Guinan enters)
TASHA: Deflector shield technology has advanced considerably during the war. Our heat dissipation rates are probably double those of the Enterprise-C, which means we can hang in a firefight a lot longer. Guinan?
GUINAN: Have you ordered yet, Tasha?
TASHA: No, not yet. Is anything wrong?
GUINAN: Not a thing. What can I get for you?
TASHA: Just a couple of TKLs. We're in a hurry. Oh, this is, Lieutenant Castillo.
(Guinan moves slowly away)
TASHA: First time for everything.
CASTILLO: First time?
TASHA: It's just that I've never seen anything bother her before.
CASTILLO: What's a TKL?
TASHA: Standard rations. Food replicators are on minimum power, so everything else is diverted to defensive systems. So where was I?
CASTILLO: You've told me more about tactical in an hour than I learned my last year in the Academy.
TASHA: You're going to need it, Lieutenant.
CASTILLO: Hey, I've known you a whole day now, Lieutenant. I won't salute if you won't. What did she call you? Tasha?
TASHA: Yeah.
CASTILLO: Most everybody just calls me Castillo. My mother calls me Richard.
TASHA: Okay, Castillo.
CASTILLO: No, I think maybe I'd like it better if you called me Richard.
TASHA: Richard.
PICARD [OC]: This is the Captain. Senior officers will report to my Ready room immediately.
TASHA: So much for lunch.
[Ready room]
CRUSHER: Captain, are you suggesting that we let them return and attempt to complete their mission?
PICARD: I am, Doctor.
CRUSHER: Based on Guinan's intuition?
RIKER: That won't accomplish anything, sir. There's no way they can save Narendra Three.
TASHA: Captain Garrett says there were four Romulan warbirds. The Enterprise-C would be outmanned and outgunned.
LAFORGE: Unless we were to re-arm them with modern
PICARD: We can't do that. If we send that ship back with new technology we will be altering the past.
RIKER: But that's what you're talking about anyway, isn't it? Altering the past.
PICARD: We're talking about restoring the past.
LAFORGE: How could Guinan know that history has been altered if she's been altered along with the rest of us?
DATA: Perhaps her species has a perception that goes beyond linear time.
PICARD: There are many things about her species we can't easily explained. Yet it is very possible she is correct. A ship from the past has travelled through time. How can we know what effect those events will have on the present. Indeed, we shall never know for certain, if Guinan is correct. But I have decided the consequences of that possibility are too grave to ignore. Dismissed.
RIKER: Sir, if you'd like my opinion
PICARD: I think I'm aware of your opinion, Commander. This is a briefing. I'm not seeking your consent.
RIKER: With all due respect, sir, you'd be asking one hundred and twenty five people to die a meaningless death.
DATA: Not necessarily meaningless, Commander. The Klingons regard honour above all else. If the crew of the Enterprise-C had died fighting for the survival of a Klingon outpost, it would be considered a meaningful act of honour by the Klingon Empire.
PICARD: Even their deaths might have prevented this war. If the Enterprise-C returns to the battle and its mission is a success, history will be irrevocably changed. This time line will cease to exist and a new future will have been created. I've considered the alternatives. I'll go with Guinan's recommendation. Dismissed.
[Bridge]
CRUSHER: If she's right, we may not even be in an alternate time line.
LAFORGE: Yeah, who knows if we're dead or alive.
[Turbolift]
DATA: Engineering. Is Engineering your destination as well?
TASHA: What? Oh, deck six. Sorry.
DATA: If I interpret your facial expressions correctly, you are preoccupied with something unpleasant.
TASHA: No, I was just thinking about a lot of things. I've been working with one of the officers on the Enterprise-C. He's nice. I like him. I'm worried about what's going to happen to him.
DATA: We may never know what happens. If they succeed, we will not even realise that these events occurred.
[1701-C Bridge]
CASTILLO: Shields are up to seventy two percent. That's better.
TASHA: Good.
GARRETT: Do you believe this Guinan?
PICARD: I discovered long ago that she has a special wisdom. I've learned to trust it. I could arrange for you to speak with her if you wish.
GARRETT: Captain, I would be lying to you if I told you there was a chance in hell of coming out of this alive. Why doesn't your ship come back with us? The Romulans would be no match for your weaponry.
PICARD: I can't do that.
GARRETT: No, I suppose not. You don't belong in our time any more than we belong in yours. To be honest, Picard, a significant number of my crewmembers have expressed a desire to return, even knowing the odds. Some because they can't bear to live without their loved ones, some because they don't like the idea of slipping out in the middle of a fight. But I have told them that in the here and now, the Federation needs another ship against the Klingons. And we'd better get used to being in the here and now.
PICARD: But if you go back, it could be a great deal more helpful. The war is going very badly for the Federation, far worse than is generally known. Starfleet Command believes defeat is inevitable. Within six months we may have no choice but to surrender.
GARRETT: And you're saying all this may be a result of our arrival here?
PICARD: One more ship will make no difference in the here and now. But twenty two years ago, one ship could have stopped this war before it started.
GARRETT: Mister Castillo.
CASTILLO: Yes, Captain?
GARRETT: Inform the crew we're going back.
CASTILLO: Yes, Captain.
GARRETT: The Romulans will get a good fight. We'll make it one for the history books.
PICARD: I know you will, Captain. Lieutenant Yar?
TASHA: Permission to remain for a moment, sir.
PICARD: Granted.
GARRETT: Transporter room, Captain Picard is ready to return to his ship.
CREWMAN [OC]: Aye, Captain.
TASHA: I just wanted to say good luck.
CASTILLO: I'll try to put some of your tactical briefing to good use when we get back.
TASHA: Your ship has much more manoeuvrability than the Romulan counterparts of that era. Actually, if you could just isolate... You'll do fine.
CASTILLO: If you get back to Earth and you see a man, say, in his late fifties taking a hard look across a crowded room. Hey, you never know.
TASHA: Goodbye, Lieutenant.
(weapons impact. Tasha dives to the ops console and starts working)
GARRETT: Red Alert! Full power to shields.
TASHA: Shields are up. Functioning.
CASTILLO: Initiating evasive manoeuvres. Gamma sequence.
GARRETT: Ready phasers. Enterprise-D
[1701D Bridge]
GARRETT [OC]: Has your captain returned safely?
RIKER: Acknowledged. Captain Picard is safely aboard. Fire phasers.
DATA: Firing phasers.
PICARD: Report.
RIKER: One Klingon bird of prey off the starboard bow.
[1701C Bridge]
TASHA: Firing phasers.
GARRETT: Load torpedo bays.
(There's a big explosion. Garrett is hit)
[1701D Bridge]
DATA: The Klingon vessel has recloaked, sir. I have no readings.
PICARD: Captain Garrett, damage report.
[1701C Bridge]
PICARD [OC]: Captain Garrett.
TASHA [OC]: This is Lieutenant Yar, sir. Captain Garrett is dead.
[War room]
CASTILLO: I'm prepared to lead the Enterprise back myself, Captain Picard.
RIKER: Sir, Lieutenant Castillo is the last surviving senior officer. He will have limited support from Ops, no Tactical, reduced staff in Engineering.
CASTILLO: I have good people willing to do their best.
RIKER: Certainly, history never meant for this ship to go into battle without her captain.
CASTILLO: I can't speak to that point, sir, but I can get us back to where we're supposed to be. I believe that's what Captain Garrett would want me to do.
DATA [OC]: Commander Data to Captain Picard.
PICARD: Go ahead.
DATA [OC]: Sir, sensors are showing additional instability in the time rift. Possibly the result of the battle with the Klingons.
PICARD: Any signs of other Klingon vessels?
DATA [OC]: No, sir.
TASHA: Our coordinates have been transmitted to the Klingon command, sir. We mustn't remain here.
CASTILLO: Sir, it is my intention to return, unless you order me not to.
PICARD: How soon can your ship be ready?
CASTILLO: We sustained moderate damage in the attack. I think we can get underway in a few hours.
PICARD: Make it so. We'll give you cover.
[Transporter room]
CASTILLO: One to beam to the Enterprise-C. We keep saying goodbye, don't we?
TASHA: I wish there was more time.
CASTILLO: More time. I think we have all the time we can handle as it is.
(They have a passionate kiss)
CASTILLO: Lieutenant.
[Ten Forward]
GUINAN: Can I get you something, Tasha?
TASHA: Guinan, I have to know something. What happens to me in the other time line?
GUINAN: I don't have alternate biographies of the crew. As I said to the captain, it's just a feeling.
TASHA: But there's something more when you look at me, isn't there? I can see it in your eyes, Guinan. We've known each other too long.
GUINAN: We weren't meant to know each other at all. At least, that's what I sense when I look at you. Tasha, you're not supposed to be here.
TASHA: Where am I supposed to be?
GUINAN: Dead.
TASHA: Do you know how?
GUINAN: No. But I do know it was an empty death. A death without purpose.
[Ready room]
PICARD: Come. Yes, Lieutenant?
TASHA: Captain, I request a transfer to the Enterprise-C.
PICARD: For what reason?
TASHA: They need someone at Tactical.
PICARD: We need you here.
TASHA: I'm not supposed to be here, sir.
PICARD: Sit down, Lieutenant. What did she say to you?
TASHA: I don't belong here, sir. I'm supposed to be dead.
PICARD: She felt it necessary to reveal that to you?
TASHA: I felt it was necessary.
PICARD: I see. You realise that it is very possible the Enterprise-C will fail. We will continue in this time line in which case your life, hopefully, will continue for a long while.
TASHA: I know how important it is that they don't fail, Captain. That's why I'm requesting this transfer.
PICARD: You don't belong on that ship, Lieutenant.
TASHA: No, Captain Garrett belongs on that ship. But she's dead. And I think there's a certain logic in this request.
PICARD: There's no logic in this at all. Whether they succeed or not, the Enterprise-C will be destroyed.
TASHA: But Captain, at least with someone at Tactical, they will have a chance to defend themselves well. It may be a matter of seconds or minutes, but those could be the minutes that change history. Guinan says I died a senseless death in the other time line. I didn't like the sound of that, Captain. I've always known the risks that come with a Starfleet uniform. If I'm to die in one, I'd like my death to count for something.
PICARD: Lieutenant. Permission granted.
TASHA: Thank you, sir.
[1701C Bridge]
CASTILLO: I'm showing phaser banks up to seventy percent efficiency. We've got an hour left. Let's see if we can get them up to ninety.
CREWMAN [OC]: Aye, sir.
CASTILLO: Parker, you've got Ops. Fredericks, take the conn.
TASHA: I'll handle Tactical. Lieutenant Tasha Yar reporting for duty, sir.
CASTILLO: You're not part of my crew.
TASHA: I am now. Captain Picard approved my request for transfer.
CASTILLO: This isn't a joke, Tasha. We're going back in the rift, into battle. We're not coming back.
TASHA: I know the mission. These are my orders, Lieutenant.
CASTILLO: But I don't want you here.
TASHA: You need me here. Show me someone on your crew who can do the job better than I can.
CASTILLO: Welcome aboard. Take your station, Lieutenant.
TASHA: Aye, sir.
Military log, supplemental. Lieutenant Tasha Yar has transferred to the Enterprise-C, where she has taken over tactical duties. Meanwhile, our long range scanners have picked up Klingon battle cruisers on an intercept course.
[1701D Bridge]
RIKER: Number and type of ships, Mister Crusher?
WESLEY: Three K'vort class battlecruisers, sir.
PICARD: They're not even troubling to cloak themselves.
RIKER: They shouldn't be so confident after the pasting we gave them on Archer Four.
PICARD: Attention all hands. As you know, we could outrun the Klingon vessels, but we must protect the Enterprise-C until she enters the temporal rift. And we must succeed. Let's make sure history never forgets the name Enterprise. Picard out.
(The Klingons fire their disruptors)
PICARD: Mister Data?
DATA: Shields are holding, sir.
PICARD: Hold fire. Mister Crusher, come about to course one four eight zero zero three.
WESLEY: Aye, sir.
RIKER: Photon torpedoes ready.
PICARD: Dispersal pattern, sierra. And fire!
DATA: One enemy target hit, sir. Moderate damage to their forward shields. Our shields are still holding. Minor damage to secondary hull.
PICARD: Course one four eight. Correction, course one seven zero mark zero one four.
WESLEY: Sir, one of the ships is breaking off and going towards the Enterprise-C.
PICARD: Mister Crusher, keep us within two hundred kilometres of the Enterprise-C.
WESLEY: Coming to two one seven mark one one five. Increasing to two thirds impulse.
(Enterprise D exchanges fire with the Klingons)
RIKER: Damage control teams, deck fourteen.
[Engineering]
LAFORGE: Engineering to bridge. Starboard power coupling is down. Containment field generator three is damaged. Attempting to bypass.
[Bridge]
RIKER: If we lose antimatter containment
PICARD: Acknowledged, La Forge.
WESLEY: Sir, the Klingons are flanking us, attempting to draw us away from the Enterprise-C.
PICARD: Hold course, Mister Crusher. Continual fire, all phasers.
(KaBoom!)
DATA: One enemy target destroyed, sir.
(A crewman is killed)
PICARD: Damage report.
RIKER: Heavy casualties in the secondary hull. Navigational sensor array inoperative.
[Engineering]
LAFORGE: Antimatter containment fields are failing. If I can't stabilise them, I'll have to dump the reactor core or she'll blow!
[Bridge]
DATA: Shields buckling, Captain. They will not
LAFORGE [OC]: La Forge to Bridge.
[Engineering]
LAFORGE: I can't hold the antimatter containment fields. Initiating emergency shutdown!
(Something else goes bang)
LAFORGE: Coolant leak! Bridge, we have a coolant leak in the engine core! I can't shut it down. I estimate two minutes to a warp core breach!
(Crew start to evacuate Engineering)
LAFORGE: Go! Go! Go!
[1701D Bridge]
PICARD: How long until the Enterprise-C enters the rift?
DATA: Fifty two seconds, sir.
PICARD: All remaining power to the defence systems.
DATA: Power couplings severed in forward phaser banks. Attempting to bypass. Controls not responding.
(Riker gets killed)
KLINGON [OC]: Federation ship Enterprise. Surrender and prepare to be boarded.
PICARD: That will be the day.
(Picard jumps the rail and takes over tactical. Flames grow around him as we cut to a shot of the Enterprise being pounded by disruptor fire as C glides back into the rift. Then we're back on the Bridge, and Picard is in his 'peace-time' uniform)
PICARD: Report, Lieutenant.
WORF: Readings fluctuated momentarily. It appeared to be a ship, but then it vanished.
DATA: The phenomenon is closing in on itself, Captain.
PICARD: Very well. Prepare a class one sensor probe. We'll leave it behind to monitor the final closure. Mister Crusher, lay in a course for Archer Four.
GUINAN [OC]: Captain, this is Guinan. Is everything all right up there?
PICARD: Guinan? Yes everything's fine. Is something wrong?
[Ten Forward]
GUINAN: No. No, everything's fine. Sorry to bother you.
(She sits down opposite La Forge)
GUINAN: Geordi, tell me about Tasha Yar.
2024-09-11 10:16:13 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
