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AIRED ON
October 22, 1990
RUNTIME
45 minutes
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147
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2024-09-11 12:51:52
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Version 1
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SUMMARY
Stardate: 44161.2. Dr. Crusher begins to question her sanity when members of the crew start disappearing one by one, and all evidence of their existence is erased.
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Science + mysticism
Written by
kimmy on 2018-07-31
★
★
★
Wesley‘s experiments with warp physics create a bubble universe of Beverly‘s making. Half the episode is spent with us wondering what the hell is going on, as we follow Dr. Crusher’s point of view and people start disappearing. In the other half the mystery is revealed and there is a race against the clock as Beverly’s universe threatens to disappear. The universe getting smaller and smaller really creates a claustrophobic atmosphere and would make you crazy if you think too much about it — what’s the in-universe purpose of a ship travelling through space in a universe slightly bigger than the ship itself? — but this serves to illustrate Beverly’s fear of aging and losing the people she loves, a nice find. What doesn’t work for me is the too technobabbly pseudospiritual séance that Wesley and the Traveler go through to bring Beverly back. Of note, the production values of the show are even higher this season, and it shows.
The quote:
Dr. Crusher: “If there’s nothing wrong with me, maybe there’s something wrong with the universe!â€
TRANSCRIPT
Chief Medical Officer's log, Stardate 44161.2. We are docking at Starbase one three three for scheduled crew rotation. I look forward to welcoming aboard my mentor, and dear friend, Doctor Dalen Quaice, who will be travelling with us to his home planet, Kenda Two.
[Transporter room]
(An older man with a silver moustache beams aboard)
CRUSHER: Dalen!
QUAICE: It's good to see you again, Beverly.
CRUSHER: You look wonderful.
QUAICE: A lie I can live with. It's kind of your captain to ferry me home.
CRUSHER: It's on our way. Thanks, O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: My pleasure, Doctor.
[Corridor]
CRUSHER: Dalen, I'm sorry to hear about Patricia.
QUAICE: She'd been ill for some time.
CRUSHER: Is her death the reason you're giving up your post here?
QUAICE: We had a lifetime together, doing all the things we'd ever dreamed, and more. But when she was gone, I couldn't continue to work in that office, sleep in that bed without her. The absence of her was too distracting. I'm not sure that I'm making any sense.
CRUSHER: Jack and I didn't have a lifetime together, only a few short years, but I understand. When you realise someone you love is lost forever
QUAICE: You know what the worst part of growing old is? So many of the people you've known all your life are gone and you realise you didn't take the time to appreciate them while you still could. Oh, I'm sorry. There was no reason to heap all this emotional baggage on you. I usually travel light.
[Engineering]
LAFORGE: Wes, time for the experiment is over. I want my warp engines back now.
WESLEY: Almost done, Commander.
LAFORGE: Almost isn't good enough. You want to be the one to explain when the Captain says 'Engage' and we just sit here?
WESLEY: I just need a couple more minutes. I'm ready to try the new warp field. Mom?
CRUSHER: Don't let me interrupt.
LAFORGE: Wesley!
WESLEY: Right! Okay!
(There's a sudden flash. Wesley looks concerned.)
LAFORGE: Computer, level two diagnostic on warp drive systems.
COMPUTER: Antimatter containment positive. Warp drive within normal parameters.
LAFORGE: Wesley, talk to me.
WESLEY: That shouldn't have happened. Why would there be any visible phenomena outside the drive?
RIKER [OC]: Prepare for umbilical disconnect.
LAFORGE: Are you done?
WESLEY: Yeah. Mom?
(But she's not there)
RIKER [OC]: Clear all moorings. Engineering, aft thrusters.
LAFORGE: Aft thrusters, aye. Impulse power to the helm.
[Corridor]
(Beverly rings the doorbell twice, then taps in an override code)
[Quaice's quarters]
CRUSHER: Dalen? Dalen, it's Beverly.
(The suite is empty)
CRUSHER: Computer, current location of Doctor Dalen Quaice.
COMPUTER: There is no Doctor Dalen Quaice aboard the Enterprise.
(A little later, after the opening titles, the doorbell chimes)
CRUSHER: Come.
(Worf enters)
CRUSHER: Lieutenant Worf, yesterday, before we left starbase, an old friend of mine came onboard. Doctor Dalen Quaice. I requested quarters for him. He was assigned here.
WORF: I was not aware of this passenger.
CRUSHER: I'm sorry. I thought it was standard procedure for you to be notified after Captain Picard approved passage.
WORF: It is. Please proceed.
CRUSHER: We were to meet for breakfast, but I can't seem to find him or his belongings.
WORF: Computer, where is Doctor Dalen Quaice?
COMPUTER: There is no Doctor Dalen Quaice aboard the Enterprise.
CRUSHER: Lieutenant, Doctor Quaice is very old and rather frail. If he fell somewhere, if his communicator were damaged.
WORF: I will order a search immediately.
CRUSHER: Thank you.
WORF: Even if Doctor Quaice had been injured, why would his belongings be missing?
[Ready room]
WORF: Sir, I have several teams conducting a deck by deck search. It is not yet complete.
DATA: I have scanned the entire ship, Captain. Other than the Enterprise's regular complement, I can find no one else onboard.
CRUSHER: Your sensors wouldn't detect him if he were dead.
DATA: That is correct, Doctor.
PICARD: Could your friend have returned to the starbase without telling you? An emergency of some sort?
CRUSHER: There were a lot of people going back and forth between the ship and the starbase yesterday.
DATA: We can easily check the transporter ID traces.
PICARD: By all means check the trace log. But even if the results are negative, contact Starbase Command. We should leave nothing to chance.
DATA: Aye, sir.
(Data and Worf leave)
PICARD: One moment, Doctor. I'm sure you are aware of the procedure involving passengers.
CRUSHER: Of course. I don't know why Lieutenant Worf wasn't told about Doctor Quaice.
PICARD: I was not informed either.
CRUSHER: But I sent in a request weeks ago.
PICARD: Then it must have been intercepted before it reached me.
CRUSHER: And someone else sent the approval? Why?
PICARD: Doctor Quaice had been stationed at the starbase for some time?
CRUSHER: Six years.
PICARD: Perhaps it would be prudent to find out if he'd acquired any enemies there.
[Bridge]
RIKER: Course laid in for Durenia Four, sir.
PICARD: Thank you, Number One. Mister Data?
DATA: Sir, Starbase one three three has no record at all of a Doctor Dalen Quaice.
PICARD: You said he was stationed there for six years.
DATA: Not according to their computer. I have also accessed Starfleet records. There is no doctor currently serving in Starfleet named Quaice. In fact, I can find no service record whatsoever. There are no birth records with that name. I find no
CRUSHER: Data, I interned with him on Delos Four. I've known him for fifteen years.
DATA: I do not doubt you, Doctor, but I have tried one hundred seventy three phonetic variations of the name, and I
CRUSHER: His name is Dalen Quaice. Q U A I C E. Whatever your records say, they're wrong.
PICARD: Mister Worf?
WORF: We have completed our search, Captain. We cannot locate Doctor Quaice.
RIKER: You're not alone.
CRUSHER: He was on board. I met him myself in Transporter room three.
PICARD: Then it appears, for reasons unknown, someone has gone to great pains to erase all traces of this man.
RIKER: Who was on transporter duty when he came aboard?
[Transporter room]
O'BRIEN: Doctor Quaice? Was he part of the regular crew rotation?
RIKER: No. He's a friend of Doctor Crusher's.
O'BRIEN: When did he arrive?
CRUSHER: Yesterday at sixteen hundred hours.
O'BRIEN: That was my watch. I beamed this man onboard?
CRUSHER: Yes. I was here to greet him. An elderly man, not in the best of health.
O'BRIEN: I'm sorry. I remember you were here for a short while, but you were alone.
CRUSHER: Was he invisible? Did I carry on a conversation with thin air?
O'BRIEN: No, Doctor. As I recall, you came in and you looked around for a few moments. I asked you if I could help you with anything. All you said was 'Thank you.' I said, 'My pleasure,' or something, and that was the end of it. There was no one else here.
[Turbolift]
CRUSHER: I can't believe that Chief O'Brien might be lying.
RIKER: He believes what he says. And there is no trace imprint for Doctor Quaice.
CRUSHER: Will, I didn't conjure up one of my best friends from a test tube.
RIKER: If the ship's records have been tampered with, then transporter records could have been changed as well.
CRUSHER: And with everybody coming and going yesterday, maybe O'Brien just doesn't remember, or
RIKER: Or?
CRUSHER: It might be a good idea to run a diagnostic on him.
RIKER: To make sure he wasn't tampered with?
CRUSHER: What do you think?
RIKER: It's worth a try. I'll check the replicator activity logs. Eighteen hours is a long time to go without food. Or without someone seeing him.
[Sickbay]
CRUSHER: Chief, this examination should only take a few minutes.
O'BRIEN: But I feel fine.
CRUSHER: Sit down.
O'BRIEN: Doctor, it's no use checking my eyesight. I didn't see your friend.
CRUSHER: I'll be a little more comprehensive than that, Chief. Doctor Crusher to Doctor Hill. Respond, please. Doctor Selar, your present location? Computer, current whereabouts of Doctors Hill and Selar.
COMPUTER: There is no Doctor Hill or Doctor Selar aboard the Enterprise.
[Ready room]
CRUSHER: Doctors Hill and Selar, and four other members of my medical staff have all vanished. All record of their ever having been on the Enterprise has been excised from the computer's memory.
PICARD: Did they come aboard with Doctor Quaice?
CRUSHER: No. They've been on board for months. But my two duty nurses don't remember them. Their families don't even remember them.
PICARD: As O'Brien didn't remember Doctor Quaice.
CRUSHER: I checked O'Brien thoroughly. I found no physiological abnormalities.
WESLEY [OC]: Crusher to Captain Picard.
PICARD: Go ahead, Ensign.
WESLEY [OC]: I'm in Engineering, sir.
[Engineering]
WESLEY: There's something down here I think you'd better see. It may be connected to Doctor Quaice's disappearance.
PICARD [OC]: On my way.
[Bridge]
PICARD: Progress, Number One?
RIKER: No one's seen him. The replicator in his quarters has not been used.
PICARD: Mister Worf, check hull and shield integrity for any sign of intruders.
WORF: Yes, sir, but I have been closely monitoring all on-board sensors. There has been no indication that any
PICARD: Then give me a Level One diagnostic of any onboard sensors, and run a manual sweep of any anomalous airborne or electromagnetic readings. I want some answers.
[Engineering]
WESLEY: I've been experimenting with Kosinski's warp field equations, trying to improve engine efficiency.
PICARD: I've read your reports.
LAFORGE: We did a test run while we were still at the starbase. Here's what the computer recorded.
WESLEY: This is the static warp field we created inside the warp drive. The experiment was designed to see if we could keep a bubble like this intact.
LAFORGE: As you'll see in a moment, we couldn't.
LAFORGE: There was a momentary flash of light. It was all over the spectrum.
CRUSHER: I remember that.
PICARD: Are you suggesting that a bubble could have made Doctor Quaice disappear?
WESLEY: If he were caught in it, yes, sir, it would seem to us like he'd disappeared.
CRUSHER: Where would he go?
LAFORGE: Who knows. He could even end up outside of our space time continuum.
PICARD: Was Doctor Quaice in Engineering during your experiment?
LAFORGE: No, sir.
PICARD: And the bubble never expanded beyond Engineering?
WESLEY: No, sir.
PICARD: Then how could it have trapped Doctor Quaice or the others?
LAFORGE: There are others missing?
CRUSHER: Yes, and they weren't anywhere near Engineering.
WESLEY: It doesn't make sense.
PICARD: I doubt the warp bubble could alter computer records, or erase memories. Keep at it, Ensign, Mister La Forge. It's our only working theory for now.
[Bridge]
PICARD: Has something else happened?
CRUSHER: Sickbay is totally empty. Apparently I no longer have any staff.
RIKER: And that surprises you, Doctor?
CRUSHER: Surprises me? I'll say it surprises me. There should be at least four members of my staff on duty at all times.
DATA: I am afraid ship's records do not concur. Doctor.
CRUSHER: What are you talking about?
DATA: You do not have a staff.
CRUSHER: You're telling me I'm the sole medical officer on a ship with over a thousand people on board?
DATA: Excuse me, Doctor, but the entire ship's complement is two hundred and thirty.
CRUSHER: What?
PICARD: Doctor, may I see you in my Ready room?
[Ready room]
PICARD: Would you care for something? So, Beverly. Tea, Earl Grey, hot. You're saying this ship has lost nearly eight hundred of its personnel?
CRUSHER: I know how it sounds.
PICARD: None of the scans show any anomalies. No signs of an intruder. Wesley's experiment clearly did not have the scope to affect an entire starship.
CRUSHER: Captain, the Enterprise is in serious danger. You must believe me.
PICARD: I have no choice but to believe you. The safety of my entire crew is at stake, but I must be sure.
CRUSHER: That I haven't lost my mind? I just examined myself. And being the only doctor on board, I had to do it myself. There were no signs of dysfunction. Yes, there was an increased elevation of adrenalin, but I think is understandable.
PICARD: Did you find anything that might suggest why you're apparently the only one among us unaffected by this, this phenomenon?
CRUSHER: No. I'll talk to Troi.
PICARD: It wouldn't do any harm.
CRUSHER: Captain, please. Return this ship to Starbase one three three for a full diagnostic. I realise you have my word only to convince you.
PICARD: Mister Riker?
RIKER [OC]: Captain?
PICARD: Set a course for a return to Starbase one three three immediately.
RIKER [OC]: Aye, sir.
PICARD: Your word has always been good enough for me.
[Sickbay]
(There's a flashing light, then a strong wind starts sucking Beverly towards a funnel. She holds onto a doorway arch as bits of paper go flying past. Then it all stops)
[Observation lounge]
LAFORGE: I've had a team in Sickbay for two hours. We've run the mass spectrometer on all particulates. We've scanned the EM spectrum in case there was a wave guide somehow leaking radiation. We've even crawled in the life support ductwork. Captain, I don't know what this vortex was that Doctor Crusher saw.
CRUSHER: I didn't just see it. I felt it. I barely escaped from it.
LAFORGE: Well, there's nothing there now. And no sign there ever was.
PICARD: Is there any possible connection with Mister Crusher's experiment? Could this warp bubble be floating around the ship perhaps?
LAFORGE: No, sir. That bubble was definitely contained in Engineering. There's no way it could possibly have affected anything up on deck twelve.
(Data enters)
DATA: Sir, I have completed level one computer diagnostics. There are no malfunctions.
RIKER: Any other ships respond to our queries, Data?
DATA: The Wellington is the only Federation vessel in this sector. It reports normal operations. A Ferengi ship within communications range also reports nothing unusual.
CRUSHER: Are all members of the crew accounted for?
DATA: Yes, Doctor.
CRUSHER: How many are there?
DATA: There are one hundred and fourteen people on the Enterprise.
CRUSHER: What?
DATA: That is the exact number there should be.
CRUSHER: There are now over nine hundred missing. Deck after deck of this ship is deserted now. How do you account for all the empty rooms? If there are supposed to be only a hundred and fourteen people on board, why all the extra space?
DATA: Transportation of colonists, diplomatic missions, emergency evacuations.
PICARD: Thank you, Mister Data. Have security confine all nonessential personnel to their quarters. Computer, go to Red Alert.
(Riker leaves)
CRUSHER: I'd like Lieutenant Worf to programme onboard sensors to monitor all personnel. If we can catch the exact moment someone disappears
PICARD: I'm sorry, whom did you say?
CRUSHER: Worf. Chief of Security. The big guy who never smiles? The Klingon!
[Corridor]
CRUSHER: Deanna. I need you to tell me if I've gone completely mad.
TROI: If you can ask the question, I'd say no.
CRUSHER: Don't evade the question.
TROI: Then ask me one I can answer.
CRUSHER: Deanna, I've delivered babies that no longer exist. No one else remembers them. Yet I can close my eyes, and see their faces as clearly as I see yours now. What if it's not some huge conspiracy? What if it is just me?
TROI: What if it is just you?
CRUSHER: Then I've delayed a mission, frightened a lot of people including myself.
TROI: So what? You've acted in the best interest of your ship and crew. What more could you ask of yourself? If it turns out to be a mistake, then we'll be a little late arriving at Durenia Four. That's all.
CRUSHER: It's not a mistake. I wish it were.
TROI: When we reach Starbase, I'll order a complete workup, both physical and psychological.
CRUSHER: If we reach Starbase. Wesley. Where's Wesley?
[Engineering]
CRUSHER: Wesley?
WESLEY: Mom? Are you all right?
CRUSHER: No. We may have very little time left. You don't believe me.
WESLEY: Look, Mom, I don't know.
CRUSHER: I don't have time to convince you. Hundreds of people are missing and your experiment is the only possible explanation we have that we can work on right now.
WESLEY: Well, there it is. I don't know what else to do with it.
CRUSHER: Then find someone who does, someone who knows something about warp bubbles.
WESLEY: I've already talked to Kosinski on subspace, and he can't explain it either. And this is based on his equations. There is someone who may be able to help, but I can't reach him.
CRUSHER: Who?
WESLEY: He was Kosinski's assistant. He was an alien from Tau Alpha C. He said he was some kind of Traveller. Somehow he combined warp technology and the energy from his own thoughts.
CRUSHER: Yes, I remember. Wesley, do you think it's possible that you've accidentally recreated something that he did? Something that could alter reality?
WESLEY: I don't see how. He's the only one who could explain it to us. I sent a message to Tau Alpha C, but it's so far away, it could take days to get there.
CRUSHER: Maybe the Captain can help us. We've got to find him. Come on.
WESLEY: I don't even know if he's still alive. He was very sick.
CRUSHER: Well, we can't stand around here doing nothing.
(They walk out of Engineering)
[Corridor]
CRUSHER: It's a chance. We have to try to...
(She looks around, She's alone)
CRUSHER: Wesley.
[Engineering]
CRUSHER: Wesley?
[Bridge]
(There's only Picard on the Bridge. All the stations are empty. Beverly even checks the Observation lounge - door labeled Conference - and looks stunned)
CRUSHER: They're all gone? Riker, Troi, Data? Wait a minute, let me guess. You never heard of any of them.
PICARD: You know, Doctor, I have been more than fair. I have done everything I can to substantiate your, your perceptions of a
CRUSHER: Will Riker! Your First Officer. He's very good at playing poker, loves to cook, he listens to jazz music, plays the trombone.
PICARD: I cannot find any evidence of a Will Riker.
CRUSHER: Commander Data, the android who sits at Ops, dreams of being human, never gets the punch line of a joke.
PICARD: Doctor, we'll be arriving at Starbase one three three in a few hours.
CRUSHER: Deanna Troi, you ship's counsellor, half Betazoid, loves chocolate. The arrival of her mother makes you shudder. O'Brien, Geordi, Worf, Wesley, my son. They all have been the living, breathing heart of this crew for over three years. They deserve more than to be shrugged off, brushed aside, just pinched out of existence like that. They all do. They deserve so much more.
PICARD: Beverly, perhaps it would be best if you were to confine yourself to Sickbay until we arrive.
CRUSHER: It's all perfectly logical to you, isn't it? The two of us roaming about the galaxy in the flagship of the Federation. No crew at all.
PICARD: We've never needed a crew before.
CRUSHER: I don't suppose you remember an alien from Tau Alpha C who was on board once? He called himself a Traveller. Jean-Luc, I don't know how, but you and I have got to find this Traveller, or another from his race. If anyone can help us
PICARD: I give you my word. When we arrive at the Starbase, I will make every effort to find him.
CRUSHER: It's not a delusion. It is not a dream. There is a physical, measurable phenomenon at work here. Perhaps you could help me to identify it.
PICARD: How?
CRUSHER: I'd like to use the ship's computer to monitor your life functions.
PICARD: Until I disappear.
CRUSHER: It will happen.
PICARD: All right. Computer, continuous scan, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, vital signs. Audible readout. Begin now.
COMPUTER: Body temperature thirty seven point two degrees, (continues in background)
CRUSHER: I promise you I will continue to do whatever I can to find out what's happening, and to bring you all back. I'm sorry I lost my temper. You do remember that?
PICARD: Vividly. But if I have forgotten my closest friends and comrades, as you say, I deserved every word.
CRUSHER: For quite some time I've been meaning to say something to you. I might not have another chance. (she looks away for a moment) Jean Luc, you and I
(The computer has gone silent. He is not there)
CRUSHER: I won't forget. I won't forget any of you.
(A vortex forms by the viewscreen and she is dragged towards it. She grabs hold of Data's chair as the force of the vacuum has her hanging parallel to the floor for a few moments until the intensity drops)
GEORDI [OC]: Wesley, have you got it? What's happening?
WESLEY [OC]: I'm losing it!
[Engineering]
WESLEY: The link isn't holding, Commander.
LAFORGE: I'll go to the secondary equations.
WESLEY: No. Look. (the vortex dissipates) I've lost it.
LAFORGE: Damn. I'm sorry, Wesley.
WESLEY: It's over. There's no way we'll get her back now.
TRAVELLER: (phasing in) It's not over, Wesley. There's still a way.
Captain's log, stardate 44162.5. Two attempts to retrieve Doctor Crusher have failed. And now, the Traveller, a mysterious visitor from our past, has reappeared.
[Observation lounge]
PICARD: Is she alive?
TRAVELLER: As long as she thinks she is alive, she is alive.
RIKER: What the hell does that mean?
TRAVELLER: Your species have very narrow perceptions of time and space and thought. When Beverly Crusher was caught in the static warp bubble, she created her own reality. Her thoughts at the precise moment she was trapped determined its shape and form.
TROI: Can you go in and get her back?
TRAVELLER: No, it is her reality. I cannot enter it any more than I can enter her thoughts.
WESLEY: But you said there's still a way.
TRAVELLER: I can help, but I can't do it myself. Wesley, there is a power within each of us that most people haven't begun to realise, but you have begun, or else I would not have known to come here now. Together we may be able to open a gateway for her. But she must choose to walk through it.
[Sickbay]
CRUSHER: Computer, we are going to apply precise diagnostic methodology. Once we've cataloged the symptoms, we will proceed to determine the illness, and find the cure. We will start with the assumption that I am not crazy. If I am, it won't matter one way or the other. Computer, read the entire crew roster for the Enterprise.
COMPUTER: Doctor Beverly Crusher.
CRUSHER: Have I always been the only member of the crew of the Starship Enterprise?
COMPUTER: Affirmative.
CRUSHER: If this was a bad dream, would you tell me?
COMPUTER: That is not a valid question.
CRUSHER: Like hell it's not.
[Corridor]
(checking all the rooms she passes)
CRUSHER: What date did I report on board?
COMPUTER: Stardate 41154. Fourteen hundred hours, three minutes.
CRUSHER: That sounds about right. Computer, is there more than one USS Enterprise?
COMPUTER: This vessel is the fifth starship to bear the name USS Enterprise. It is currently the only one in service.
CRUSHER: What is the primary mission of the Starship Enterprise?
COMPUTER: To explore the galaxy.
CRUSHER: Do I have the necessary skills to complete that mission alone?
COMPUTER: Negative.
CRUSHER: Then why am I the only crew member? Aha, got you there.
COMPUTER: That information is not available.
[Bridge]
CRUSHER: Computer, are you familiar with the inhabitants of Tau Alpha C?
COMPUTER: Affirmative.
CRUSHER: Are any presently located on any starbase or vessel within communication distance?
COMPUTER: Negative.
CRUSHER: Estimated time to Tau Alpha C at warp nine point five.
COMPUTER: One hundred twenty three days.
CRUSHER: Lay in a new course for Tau Alpha C. And send a subspace message advising them of our arrival.
COMPUTER: Acknowledged.
CRUSHER: Engage. (nothing happens) Computer, did you change course?
COMPUTER: State new destination or coordinates.
CRUSHER: I stated it, damn it. Tau Alpha C.
COMPUTER: There is no Tau Alpha C listed on current star maps.
Captain's log, stardate 44162.8. At the direction of the Traveller, the Enterprise is returning to Starbase one three three and the precise position where the subspace bubble was formed.
[Engineering]
TRAVELLER: Our goal will be to create a stable gateway between our reality and your mother's reality.
WESLEY: We've tried. We can't stabilise the link.
TRAVELLER: Of course not. The equations are only the first step. We will be going beyond mathematics.
WESLEY: Just tell me what I have to do.
TRAVELLER: Begin by letting go of your guilt, Wesley.
WESLEY: It's my fault. I shouldn't have tried
TRAVELLER: Focus on the present. You will have to be here completely to help her back. You must open yourself to time and space and the intricate threads that bind them. Begin entering your warp field equations. Now close your eyes. See past the numbers. Trust yourself.
WESLEY: I can't. I can't do it.
TRAVELLER: When the time comes, you will, Wesley. You will.
[Bridge]
CRUSHER: Starbase one three three, this is the Enterprise. Starbase one three three, this is the Enterprise. Please acknowledge. Viewscreen on.
(no stars, just blue)
CRUSHER: It's not just people. Everything is disappearing! Computer, what is that mist I'm seeing?
COMPUTER: Sensors indicate it to be a mass energy field seven hundred and five metres in diameter.
CRUSHER: It surrounds the ship?
COMPUTER: Affirmative.
CRUSHER: If there's nothing wrong with me, maybe there's something wrong with the universe. Computer, what is beyond the mass energy field?
COMPUTER: Sensors cannot penetrate the field.
CRUSHER: Here's a question you shouldn't be able to answer. What is the nature of the universe?
COMPUTER: The universe is a spheroid region seven hundred and five metres in diameter.
[Bridge]
DATA: Captain, approaching Starbase one three three.
PICARD: Slow to ten metres per second.
RIKER: Mister La Forge, prepare for precision
[Engineering]
RIKER [OC]: Station keeping.
LAFORGE: Acknowledged. Readying thrusters.
TRAVELLER: There. There it is. We're moving into phase now. There's your warp bubble, Wesley.
(Wesley opens his eyes again and looks at the monitor)
WESLEY: What? What's wrong.
TRAVELLER: It is collapsing.
[Bridge]
CRUSHER: Computer, give me a graphic representation of the universe.
(at a rear science station)
CRUSHER: I've seen this before. Wesley's experiment! The bubble. Of course. But that would mean that I'm the one trapped in the bubble.
(The ship shakes)
CRUSHER: Computer, what's happening?
COMPUTER: Explosive decompression decks five through fourteen. Sealing off forward sections.
CRUSHER: Cause?
COMPUTER: A flaw in the ship's design.
CRUSHER: Show me. Analysis.
COMPUTER: No ship's structures exist forward of bulkhead three four two.
CRUSHER: Superimpose previous image over this one, same scale, and continue to monitor.
(The ship shakes again)
CRUSHER: It's collapsing!
COMPUTER: Hull integrity now compromised on decks three through fifteen.
CRUSHER: Computer, how long can life support be maintained?
COMPUTER: Four minutes, seventeen seconds.
[Bridge]
DATA: Captain, we have re-established exact coordinates and attitude.
RIKER: Geordi, we're in position. Your status?
LAFORGE [OC]: The warp bubble is contracting at a rate of
[Engineering]
LAFORGE: Fifteen metres per second. We're going to lose it in about four minutes.
TRAVELLER: It is time, Wesley.
(eyes closed, Wesley enters commands on the big table)
LAFORGE: We're ready, Commander.
RIKER [OC]: Proceed.
[Bridge]
PICARD: I'll be in Engineering.
[Engineering]
TRAVELLER: Let it go, Wesley. Let go of the anticipation, the expectations, the demands upon yourself. Let it all go. Leave it behind. Yes. The ability is there inside of you. You do not need to look for it.
[Bridge]
COMPUTER: Three minutes thirty seconds to life support failure.
CRUSHER: The Traveller used his thoughts to alter warp fields. Thoughts became reality. Now I'm in a warp field. Could my thoughts have changed this reality? Come on, Beverly! What's the next step? What was I thinking at the moment Wesley's bubble formed? Dalen Quaice. He said all the people he'd known were gone. I thought of Jack, I went to see Wesley, the flash in Engineering. That's when it started. That's when I started losing everybody. My thoughts created this universe. Can they get me out of it again?
COMPUTER: That information is not available.
CRUSHER: I'm not talking to you. Click my heels together three times and I'm back in Kansas. Can it be that simple?
(Picard arrives in Engineering to watch the Traveller do his phasing thing)
COMPUTER: Two minutes, thirty seconds to life support failure.
CRUSHER: Computer, hypothetical situation. A person is trapped inside of a static warp bubble. Determine a means of escape.
COMPUTER: Escape would theoretically depend on establishing a stable threshold between the warp field and the outer environment.
CRUSHER: Describe this threshold.
COMPUTER: Negative. There are no known practical applications of this theory.
CRUSHER: Extrapolate from theoretical database. How would it manifest itself?
COMPUTER: A dynamic atmospheric disturbance of great intensity.
CRUSHER: Disturbance? The vortex. They must have been trying to reach me! But how do I find it? Wesley, where do I go? Help me.
CRUSHER: Stable threshold. They've been trying to create a stable threshold. Where are they trying to do it? Where did they do it the first time? Engineering!
COMPUTER: One minute, thirty seconds to life support failure.
[Turbolift]
CRUSHER: Engineering.
COMPUTER: Failure in turboshaft four. Unable to proceed to main Engineering.
CRUSHER: Just take me anywhere on deck thirty six!
[Engineering]
(Now Wesley begins to phase in and out too)
(Beverly gets out of the turbolift just as it starts to disappear and runs along the corridor with her universe shrinking behind her)
LAFORGE: We're losing the bubble!
(Beverly pauses, then launches herself through the middle of the vortex, landing with a grunt on the hard, real floor. Wesley collapses as the vortex does)
PICARD: Beverly!
CRUSHER: Jean-Luc. (they embrace, then she sees the Traveller) You. Do I have you to thank for getting me back?
TRAVELLER: No.
(Wesley hauls himself up from the floor for a big hug)
CRUSHER: Jean-Luc, if I might ask, how many people are there on board?
PICARD: One thousand and fourteen, including your guest, Doctor Quaice.
LAFORGE: Is there something wrong with that count, Doctor?
CRUSHER: No. That's the exact number there should be.
2024-09-11 12:51:52 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
