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.
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