FINAL MISSION

SEASON: 4 EPISODE: 9



Picard summons Wesley Crusher to the Bridge, where he informs the youngster that he has been accepted to Starfleet Academy. He further honors Wesley by asking him to accompany him on a final mission to help mediate a dispute on Pentarus V. When the U.S.S. Enterprise is called to investigate another nearby crisis, Picard and Wesley proceed alone, traveling with a representative of the planet, Dirgo, in his dilapidated shuttle. En route, the shuttle fails, forcing an emergency landing on a desert-like moon. Upon learning Dirgo is not traveling with water, Picard positions a makeshift arrow in the sand to indicate their direction and heads toward a mountain range for shelter.

Back on board the U.S.S. Enterprise, the crew learns that the shuttle is missing, but cannot aid in the search because they are involved in an emergency mission of their own, removing an ancient waste vessel that is leaking radiation from the atmosphere of a nearby planet. Meanwhile, Picard, Wesley and Dirgo reach the mountains, where Wesley locates a water fountain inside a cavern. Upon discovering a force field that stands between them and the water, an impatient Dirgo begins firing at the force field, summoning an electrical sentry that begins moving toward them. Dirgo fires at the sentry, triggering a rock slide. As the boulders hurl toward Wesley, Picard pushes him out of the way, and is severely injured in the process.

While Picard's condition worsens, Dirgo bullies Wesley into trying to distract the sentry by setting his weapon to fire automatically, allowing Dirgo to shoot through the force field to try to reach the water. The plan seems to work, until the sentry splits itself in two, enveloping Wesley's weapon and killing Dirgo.

Riker and the crew aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise conclude their mission and join the search for the shuttle. But as the cold night falls on the desert moon where he and Wesley are trapped, Picard grows weaker. Wesley tries to keep his captain alive by expressing his affection for the dying man.

As Picard struggles to hold on, Wesley devises a plan to foil the sentry. He shoots his phaser to lure the electronic guard, then tries to disengage it with a tricorder. Eventually, the sentry passes right through him, releasing the force field and giving Wesley access to the water, which he rushes to Picard. Soon afterward, an Away Team from the U.S.S. Enterprise rescues them, and Picard credits Wesley for saving his life.



Story By: Kasey Arnold-Ince

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U.S.S. Enterprise N.C.C. - 1701 - D

FUTURE IMPERFECT

SEASON: 4 EPISODE: 8



When Data receives strange energy readings from Alpha Onias III, an uninhabited planet near the Neutral Zone, Picard suspects the Romulans and sends an Away Team led by Riker to investigate. On Alpha Onias III, communications with the U.S.S. Enterprise break down and the mission is aborted. Later, Riker awakens in sickbay to a graying Dr. Crusher, who tells him that he is recovering from a retroactive virus he contracted during the mission 16 years ago — a virus that only recently became active and destroyed all of his memory from the moment he was infected. Riker learns that he has been Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise for nine years and has a son, by a wife who has been dead for two years. But his most shocking discovery is that he is about to lead negotiations for a peace treaty between the Federation and their long-time adversaries, the Romulans.

Riker becomes suspicious when he learns that the U.S.S. Enterprise is escorting Romulan Ambassador Tomalak, whom Riker remembers as a Romulan captain and Federation enemy, to Outpost 23, the heart of Federation Defenses in the Neutral Zone. His suspicions are compounded when the ship's computer experiences an unusual time lag in responding to his questions about his missing years. While perusing his family records in search of clues to his past, he realizes the entire story about the virus is a charade when he discovers that the image of his late wife is actually a woman he once created using the equipment in the Holodeck.

Riker finds Tomalak on the Bridge and reveals his discovery of the charade, and at that moment the image of the bridge disappears, revealing a Romulan Holodeck. Tomalak explains that Riker was captured during the Away Team mission and that they created the images of the ship and crew by perusing his mind with neural scanners. Riker is then placed in a cell with a boy who appeared as his son in the charade. The boy, Ethan, explains that he was captured with his parents, who have been taken away.

When Tomalak returns to the cell and demands to be told the location of Outpost 23, Riker escapes with the help of Ethan. While they are in hiding, Ethan accidentally refers to Tomalak as an ambassador, when in reality he is a commander and was only an ambassador in the aborted Romulan charade. Riker catches the boy and calls his bluff, realizing that the boy is not an innocent hostage. At that moment, the scene around him fades to reveal the cavern on Alpha Onias III where the original Away Team mission was aborted.

Ethan discloses that when his people were invaded, his mother brought him to the planet for safety, leaving him with a scanner to protect him and give him everything he wanted. He lured the U.S.S. Enterprise to Alpha Onias III and kept Riker to have a companion. Riker then invites the boy to return with him to the U.S.S. Enterprise. The boy reveals his true form, as an alien named Barash, and the two transport hand-in-hand back to the starship.




Written By: J. Larry Carroll & David Bennett Carren

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Paramount Pictures
U.S.S. Enterprise N.C.C. - 1701 - D

REUNION

SEASON: 4 EPISODE: 7



K'Ehleyr, a half-human, half-Klingon ambassador, requests permission to come aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise to speak with Picard. Worf is noticeably agitated when the woman, his former mate, materializes accompanied by a young Klingon boy. K'Ehleyr tells Worf that the boy, Alexander, is their son. The Ambassador then informs Picard that she has come because K'Mpec, the dying Klingon leader, wishes to speak with him. Picard boards the Klingon ship, and K'Mpec requests his help in arbitrating the power struggle between his two potential successors. One of the contestants has been secretly poisoning him, and Picard must determine who is the murderer and prevent him from assuming K'Mpec's post. K'Mpec tells Picard that one of the contestants is Duras, whose deceit caused Worf's discommendation from the Klingon High Council.

Meanwhile, K'Mpec has died, and the rivals for the leadership of the High Council, Duras and Gowron, join Picard at his wake. There, Duras urges Picard to complete the rite of succession when suddenly, an explosion rocks the room.

Back on the U.S.S. Enterprise, Worf and K'Ehleyr share a tender moment, and Worf agrees to befriend Alexander. Meanwhile, Picard stalls for time by subjecting Duras and Gowron to an ancient ritual where they must prove their worthiness. Gowron later offers K'Ehleyr a bribe to influence Picard's decision, but she refuses.

The discovery that the bomb in the explosion was of Romulan origin leads the crew to suspect that one of the Klingon rivals plans to form an alliance with this Federation enemy. K'Ehleyr suspects Gowron because of the attempted bribe, but her suspicions turn to Duras when she finds evidence that proves Duras was involved in the conspiracy that led to Worf's discommendation, and that he somehow forced Worf to take the blame.

Dr. Crusher discovers that the bomb was implanted in the arm of one of Duras' men, while Duras attacks K'Ehleyr in her quarters. Worf rushes in, and K'Ehleyr gives him Duras' name before dying in his arms. An outraged Worf transports to Duras' ship. He attacks Duras, who reminds Worf that he is the only one who can clear his name. Worf kills him anyway, accepting his fate for the sake of vengeance. Returning to the starship, Worf informs Alexander that he will be cared for by Worf's adoptive human parents, and answering the boy's query, embraces him as his son.



Story By: Drew Deighan, Thomas Perry and Jo Perry

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Paramount Pictures
U.S.S. Enterprise N.C.C. - 1701 - D

LEGACY

SEASON: 4 EPISODE: 6



The crew responds to a distress call from a stricken Federation freighter that is orbiting the planet Turkana IV, birthplace of their late comrade, Tasha Yar. The freighter explodes, but Data detects an escape pod heading toward the planet. Picard dispatches an Away Team to rescue the crashed crew members. Upon reaching the planet's surface, Riker and his team meet Hayne, leader of the Coalition - one of the planet's two warring factions. When Data reveals that a former crewmember was born on Turkana IV, Hayne offers to aid in the search with the help of one of his comrades, Ishara Yar — Tasha's sister.

Although Picard doesn't completely trust Hayne, he accepts his offer of help, and Ishara is transported aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise. A conference to discuss their options for a rescue is interrupted by a transmission from one of the missing crew members. They are being held hostage by the Alliance, the faction opposing the Coalition, and their lives are in danger. Ishara tells Riker and the crew where the escape pod is being held and volunteers to help. She reveals that as part of a peacekeeping agreement, the members of the Alliance and the Coalition have been implanted with detectors which set off alarms when they cross into their opposing factions' territory. Riker allows Ishara to transport into Alliance territory and act as a diversion. During the mission, she is wounded by the Alliance and is saved by Riker and transported back to the U.S.S. Enterprise.

While she recovers, lshara and Data grow closer. Meanwhile, Geordi determines that the crewmen from the pod are located near Alliance headquarters. lshara tells the crew that she knows the area and could guide them, but her detector implant would alert the Alliance of her presence — and removal of the implant would trigger a micro explosive in the device. Data suggests a way that Dr. Crusher could safely remove the implant and lshara, after considering her options, agrees to the operation. She tells Data that she might like to leave the Coalition and apply to Starfleet Academy after the mission. Picard and Troi question Ishara's motives, but Data urges them to give her a chance.

After the operation, Ishara and the Away Team transport into Alliance territory. After leading the team to the missing crewmen, lshara sneaks away. Noticing that she is missing, Riker and Data set out to find her. Data locates lshara as she attempts to overload the Alliance's defensive systems. She admits that her help on the rescue mission has been a covert attempt to defeat the Alliance. When Data tries to stop her, she fires her phaser at him, barely missing him. Riker diverts Ishara's attention, enabling Data to fire at her. Data then rearms the Alliance defensive systems. Later, Picard returns Ishara to the Coalition, and Riker explains to a disturbed Data that in every trust lies the possibility of betrayal.



Written By: Joe Menosky

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Paramount Pictures
U.S.S. Enterprise N.C.C. - 1701 - D

REMEMBER ME

SEASON: 4 EPISODE: 5



When Wesley's experiment with a warp field goes awry, Dr. Crusher is unknowingly catapulted into a universe created by her own mind.

After escorting her friend Dr. Dalen Quaice aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, Beverly is deeply moved by his sadness over losing his wife and other people he has loved. She seeks out her son Wesley, and finds him in engineering, working with a warp bubble on a computer screen. While she watches, his experiment inadvertently causes a strange flash of light. Soon afterward, Dr. Crusher is unable to locate Dr. Quaice. The ship's computer reports that he has never been on board, and Picard and Worf inform her that they had no knowledge of his presence on the ship. Additionally, O'Brien does not recall transporting Quaice aboard, and Starfleet has no record of the doctor's existence.

Beverly's bewilderment turns to concern when members of the crew, including her entire medical staff, begin to disappear. Neither their relatives, other crew members, or the ship's computer remember their ever having existed. Picard, Riker, and the crew are supportive and helpful, but since none of them remember the missing people, or feel like anything is wrong, Beverly wonders if she is suffering from delusions. She heads to Troi's office for analysis, and is confronted by a strange, swirling vortex which knocks her to the ground.

The crew discounts the possibility that Wesley's experiment caused the vortex. Beverly then asks if all crew members are accounted for. Data replies that no crew members are missing, and tells her there are 114 people aboard the starship.

Beverly panics, knowing the U.S.S. Enterprise population should be well over 1000. She requests that Worf monitor all remaining personnel, and is met with silence. No one has ever heard of Worf. She rushes to Wesley to try to link her predicament to his experiment, but Wesley soon disappears too. Beverly returns to the Bridge to find everyone but Picard vanished. Then the captain disappears, and the vortex reappears on the Bridge. While she struggles with it, Wesley works on the computer, despondent that he has lost his mother. At that moment, an alien called the Traveler phases in.

The Traveler explains that Wesley somehow summoned him, and tells the boy that at the moment the light flashed during his experiment with warp fields, Beverly was caught in a warp bubble and created her own reality based on what she was thinking at that precise moment — the tragedy of losing close friends. He begins working with the boy to try to recreate the bubble and bring his mother back. Meanwhile, Beverly uses the computer to determine that she is trapped in the bubble, and that it, along with her self-created universe, is collapsing. While the crew tries to maneuver the ship back to the exact spot where Wesley's bubble was created, Beverly runs to engineering, where she first saw the flash of light, as the ship begins to collapse around her. She locates the vortex with only seconds to spare, leaps through it, and suddenly appears back in the engineering room, surrounded by the crew and her very relieved son.



Written By: Lee Sheldon

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U.S.S. Enterprise N.C.C. - 1701 - D