Showing posts with label Picard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Picard. Show all posts

Monday 29 January 2024

The Redoubtable Commander Riker (Whom I Noticed, Before.)



PICARD
You're no Starfleet Admiral, Q!

Q.
Neither am I an Aldebaran serpent
Captain, but you accepted me as such.

RIKER
He's got Us there, Captain.

Q: 
Ah! The redoubtable Commander Riker
whom I noticed before
You seem to find this 
all very amusing.



PICARD
You interfered with our Farpoint mission. 
You threatened to convict us as ignorant savages, if
while dealing with a powerful and complex life form, 
we made the slightest mistake, and 
when that didn't happen --

Q
The Q became interested in You. 
Does no one here understand 
your incredible good fortune? 
'Seized my vessel'. These are the complaints of 
a closed mind too accustomed 
to military privileges. 

But you, Riker, and 
I remember you well -- 
What Do You Make 
of My Offer?

RIKER
We don't have time for these games.

Q : 
Games? Did someone say 'games'
And perchance, for interest's sake, 
a deadly Game? To The Game --


redoubtable (adj.)
late 14c., of persons, "worthy of honor, venerable" (a sense now obsolete); late 15c., "that is to be dreaded or feared, formidable, terrible," also often "valiant," from Old French redoutable (12c.), from redouter "to dread," from re-, intensive prefix, + douter "be afraid of" (see doubt (v.)).

The verb also was in Middle English, redouten, "to fear, dread; stand in awe or apprehension of; honor" (late 14c., from Old French) and was used through 19c., though OED marks it "now rhetorical."
also from late 14c.


Entries linking to redoubtable

doubt (v.)
c. 1200, douten, duten, "to dread, fear, be afraid" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French doter "doubt, be doubtful; be afraid," from Latin dubitare "to doubt, question, hesitate, waver in opinion" (related to dubius "uncertain"), from duo "two" (from PIE root *dwo- "two"), with a sense of "of two minds, undecided between two things." Compare dubious. Etymologically, "to have to choose between two things."

The sense of "fear" developed in Old French and was passed on to English. Meaning "to be uncertain, hesitate or waver in opinion" is attested in English from c. 1300. The transitive senses of "be uncertain as to the truth or fact of" and "distrust, be uncertain with regard to" are from c. 1300.

The -b- was restored 14c.-16c. in French and English by scribes in imitation of Latin. French dropped it again in 17c., but English has retained it.

It replaced Old English tweogan (noun twynung), from tweon "two," on notion of "of two minds" or the choice between two implied in Latin dubitare. Compare German Zweifel "doubt," from zwei "two."

*dwo- 
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "two."
It forms all or part of: anadiplosis; balance; barouche; between; betwixt; bezel; bi-; binary; bis-; biscuit; combination; combine; deuce; deuterium; Deuteronomy; di- (1) "two, double, twice;" dia-; dichotomy; digraph; dimity; diode; diphthong; diploid; diploma; diplomacy; diplomat; diplomatic; diplodocus; double; doublet; doubloon; doubt; dozen; dual; dubious; duet; duo; duodecimal; duplex; duplicate; duplicity; dyad; epididymis; hendiadys; pinochle; praseodymium; redoubtable; twain; twelfth; twelve; twenty; twi-; twice; twig; twilight; twill; twin; twine; twist; 'twixt; two; twofold; zwieback.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit dvau, Avestan dva, Greek duo, Latin duo, Old Welsh dou, Lithuanian dvi, Old Church Slavonic duva, Old English twa, twegen, German zwei, Gothic twai "two;" first element in Hittite ta-ugash "two years old."

redoubt (n.)
also redout, "small, enclosed military work," c. 1600, from French redoute (17c.), from Italian ridotto, earlier ridotta, "place of retreat," from Medieval Latin reductus "place of refuge, retreat," noun use of past participle of reducere "to lead or bring back" (see reduce). The unetymological -b- was added by influence of unrelated and now obsolete English verb redoubt "to dread, fear" (see redoubtable). As an adjective, Latin reductus meant "withdrawn, retired; remote, distant."



(Riker is sitting on a rock, laughing --
Q suddenly now has Three Commanders' 
pips on the collar of his fake uniform. )

Q. : 
Something amuses you? 
Perhaps you'll share 
The Joke with me?

RIKER: 
The Joke is You.

Q. : 
Strange gratitude, from one who has been granted 
a gift beyond any human dream. 
How can you not appreciate being able to 
send your friends back to their ship, or 
sending the soldiers back to the nothingness 
from which they came? 

Certainly, you must understand that 
at this moment you can send yourself 
back to the ship or to Earth, or change your shape 
and become anything else you want to be.

RIKER
What do you need, Q?

Q.
Need?

RIKER: 
You want something from Us, 
desperately. What is it?

Q.
Want something from you 
foolish, fragile, non-entities? 
Oh come, Riker. You're beginning 
to sound like your Captain.

RIKER
Now that's a compliment, Q. 
But that's not An Answer.

Q. : 
Riker, we have offered you 
a gift beyond all other gifts!

RIKER
Out of the goodness of your heart.

Q. : 
After Farpoint, I returned to 
Where We Exist. The Q Continuum.

RIKER
Which means exactly what?

Q. : 
The limitless dimensions of 
The Galaxy in which we exist.

RIKER
I don't understand.

Q.
Of course you don't, and you never will 
until you become One of Us.

RIKER
Until? Would you mind going over that again?

Q.
Well if you'll stop interrupting me. 
This is hardly a time to be teaching you 
the true nature of the universe. 
However, at Farpoint we saw you as savages only. 
We discovered instead that you are 
unusual creatures in your own limited ways. 
Ways which in time will not be so limited.

RIKER
We're growing. Something about Us 
compels Us to learn, explore.

Q. : 
Yes, the human compulsion. 
And unfortunately for Us, it is a power 
which will grow stronger century 
after century, aeon after aeon.

RIKER
Aeons. Have you any idea 
how far we'll advance?

Q.
Perhaps in a future that you cannot 
yet conceive, even beyond Us
So you see, we must know more 
about this human condition. 

That's why We've selected You, Riker
to become part of The Q
so that You can bring to Us 
this human need and hunger
that We may understand it.

RIKER: 
I suppose you mean that as a compliment, Q. 
Or maybe it's my limited mind. 
But to become a part of you? 
I don't even like you.

Q. : 
(grins) ......You're going to miss Me!

Thursday 8 September 2022

Paul’s Son’s Nebula




(mute) 


RIKER
What the hell do they 
want with you? 


SHELBY
I thought they weren't interested 
in human life forms, only 
Our Technology

PICARD
Their priorities seem to have changed. Open. 


WORF
Channel Open. 


PICARD
We have developed 
new defence capabilities 
since our last meeting and 
we are prepared to use them 
if you do not withdraw 
from Federation space. 



LAFORGE [OC]
Captain.

[Engineering]

LAFORGE
The shields are being probed. 
I'm modulating nutation.

[Bridge]
WORF
Captain, The Borg are attempting 
to lock on to us with 
their tractor beam. 


PICARD
Load torpedo bays. 
Arm phasers. Lock coordinates on the source of the tractor beam. 


RIKER
Shield status? 


DATA
Holding, sir. 


SHELBY
The nutation modulation 
has them confused. 


RIKER
They have The Ability to Analyse 
and Adapt, Commander. 

(The Ship shakes)

[Engineering]

LAFORGE
Shield modulation has failed. 
They've locked on.

[Bridge]

WORF
Shields are being drained. 
Ninety percent. Eighty.

[Engineering]

LAFORGE
Trying to recalibrate nutation. 
Damn.

[Bridge]
WORF
Shields have failed. 


PICARD: 
Fire all weapons.

[Engineering]

LAFORGE: 
Their subspace field is intact. 
New phaser frequencies 
had no impact.

[Bridge]
RIKER: Reverse engines. 
LAFORGE [OC]: Full reverse.
[Engineering]
LAFORGE: We're not moving.
[Bridge]
PICARD: Fire at will. 


WORF: 
Launching torpedoes. 
Phaser spread continuing. 


DATA: 
Still no damage 
to The Borg vessel, sir. 


(The Borg weapon cuts through the Enterprise like a hot knife through butter, almost.) 


COMPUTER: 
WarningOuter hull breach.


WORF: 
They're cutting into The Hull. 
Engineering section. 


RIKER
Geordi, evacuate Engineering.
[Engineering]

LAFORGE: 
Computer. Evacuation sequence. 


COMPUTER: 
Sealing doors to core chamber. 


LAFORGE: 
Come on, move it, people! 
Let's go! Let's go! 


COMPUTER: 
Decompression danger, 
deck thirty six, section four.

[Bridge]

COMPUTER: 
Sealing Main Engineering. 


SHELBY: 
Data, fluctuate phaser 
resonance frequencies. 
Random settings. 
Keep them changing. 
Don't give them time to adapt. 


(Finally, boom and judder) 


WORF: 
The tractor beam has been released. 


PICARD: 
Warp nine. Course, one five one mark three three zero. Engage. 
(La Forge enters the Bridge)


WORF: 
They are in pursuit, Captain. 


PICARD: 
Maintain course. 


RIKER: 
Damage report, Geordi? 


LAFORGE: 
Hull rupture in main Engineering. The damage is pretty heavy. We lost a lot of good people down there. 


DATA: 
Eleven dead, eight more unaccounted for, Captain. 


RIKER: 
Repair teams to Engineering. 
Seal hull breach. 


LAFORGE: 
They didn't get to the core, 
I can control functions 
from here. 


WESLEY: 
Now approaching 
The Paulson Nebula, sir. 


PICARD
Drop to impulse. 
Take us in, Ensign. 


(Enterprise glides into the purple fog

WESLEY
The field is getting too dense, sir. 


PICARD
Steady. Analysis of the 
nebula cloud, Mister Data. 


DATA
82% DiLithium Hydroxyls. 
Magnesium, Chromium. 
It should provide an effective screen against their sensors, Captain. 


PICARD
Mister La Forge, prepare 
to reverse engines. Full Stop


(The Enterprise vanishes, 
and The Borg Cube halts) 


WORF: 
The Borg Ship is continuing scans, 
attempting to locate Us. 


PICARD
Good. As long as 
They're looking for Us
They won't Hurt 
anyone else.

Thursday 9 June 2022

Cubical



RIKER
We've picked up a vessel 
on the long range scanners, 
headed this way.

PICARD
Analysis.

DATA
The Vessel is traveling 
at Warp 7.6. 
Mass : 2.5 million metric tons. 
Configuration : Cubical.




The Exorcist :
Where’s Reagan?

Pazuzu :
In Here - with Us.














cubicle (n.)
mid-15c., "bedroom, bedchamber," from Latin cubiculum "bedroom," from cubare "to lie down," which is perhaps from a PIE *kub-, with cognates in Middle Welsh kyscu, Middle Cornish koska, Middle Breton cousquet "to sleep," but de Vaan regards the PIE origin of the Latin word as "uncertain." Compare cubit.

 
Obsolete from 16c. but revived by 1858 for "dormitory sleeping compartment," especially in an English public school. The sense of "any partitioned space" (such as a library carrel or, later, office work station) is attested by 1926. 

Related: Cubicular.

Entries linking to cubicle

cubit (n.)
ancient unit of measure (usually from 18 to 22 inches) based on the forearm from elbow to fingertip, early 14c., from Latin cubitum, cubitus "the elbow, the forearm," generally regarded as a derivative of PIE *keu(b)- "to bend," but de Vaan finds this dubious based on the sense of the proposed cognates and the sound changes involved. 

Also compare cubicle.

It seems much safer to assume that cubitus 'elbow' is a specific instance of the ppp. cubitus of the verb cubare 'to lie down'. People lie down on their elbow if they sleep on their side, and the Romans even reclined when dining. It matters little whether the original meaning was 'forearm' or 'the elbow joint'. One may even suggest that the verb cubitare 'to lie down' ... is not (only) a frequentative to cubare, but (also) arose as a denominative 'to rest on the elbow' to cubitus. [de Vaan]

Such a measure, known by a word meaning "forearm" or the like, was known to many peoples (compare Greek pekhys, Hebrew ammah, English ell).

The word also was used in English in the "forearm, part of the arm from the elbow downward" sense (early 15c.); hence cubital "as long as a cubit" (mid-15c.), also "pertaining to the forearm" (1610s).

concubine (n.)
c. 1300, "a paramour, a woman who cohabits with a man without being married to him;" also, in reference to Hebrew, Greek, Roman and other civilisations where the position was recognized by law, "a wife of inferior condition, a secondary wife," from Latin concubina (fem.), concubinus (masc.) "one who lives unmarried with a married man or woman.

Usually the concubine was of a lower social order, but the institution, though below matrimonium, was less reproachful than adulterium or stuprum. The word itself is from concumbere "to lie with, to lie together, to cohabit," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + cubare "to lie down" (see cubicle).

Such concubines were allowed by the Greek and Roman laws, and for many centuries they were more or less tolerated by the church, for both priests and laymen. The concubine of a priest was sometimes called a priestess. [Century Dictionary]

In Middle English, as in Latin, sometimes used of a man who cohabits with a woman without marriage. Related: Concubinary; concubinal.



PICARD
Mister Worf, dispatch 
a subspace message 
to Admiral Hanson :
We have engaged 
The Borg. 


WORF
Captain — YOU are being hailed. 


PICARD
I am

WORF
Yes, Captain :
 By Name. 


RIKER
Data, is it the same ship 
we faced at J two five? 


DATA
Uncertain, Commander, 
but the dimensions are 
precisely the same. 


PICARD
On screen. I am Jean Luc -


(The viewscreen just shows the inside of The Cube. The voice is made up of many speaking as one) 


BORG [OC]:
 Jean Luc Picard, captain of the Starship Enterprise, registry NCC 1701D, you will lower shields and prepare to transport yourself aboard our vessel. If you do not cooperate, we will destroy your ship. 


PICARD: 
You have committed acts of aggression 
against the United Federation of Planets. 
If you do not withdraw immediately 
—

BORG: 
You will surrender yourself or we will destroy your ship. 
Your defensive capabilities are unable to withstand us. 

(mute) 


RIKER:
 What the hell do They 
want with you

SHELBY
I thought they weren't interested 
in human life forms, 
only Our Technology. 


PICARD
Their priorities seem 
to have changed

Sunday 17 October 2021

Stay Where Thou Art












Captain's log, stardate 41153.7. 
Our Destination is Planet Deneb Four, 
beyond which lies the great 
unexplored mass of The Galaxy. 

My Orders are to examine Farpoint, 
a starbase built there 
by the inhabitants of that world. 

Meanwhile, I am becoming 
better acquainted 
with my new command, this 
Galaxy Class USS Enterprise. 

I am still somewhat in awe 
of its size and complexity. 
As for my crew, 
we are short in several 
key positions, 
most notably a first officer, 
but I am informed that 
a highly experienced man, 
one Commander William Riker, 
will be waiting to join Our Ship 
at our Deneb Four destination.

[Bridge]

PICARD
You will agree, Data, that 
Starfleet's orders are... difficult

DATA: 
Difficult? Simply, 
'Solve The Mystery 
of Farpoint Station.' 

PICARD: 
As simple as that. 

TROI
Farpoint Station. Even The Name 
sounds mysterious. 

PICARD: 
It's hardly simple, Data, 
to negotiate a friendly agreement 
for Starfleet to use The Base 
while at the same time snoop around 
finding how and why the life form there built it. 

DATA: 
Inquiry. The word 'snoop?' 

PICARD: 
Data, how can you be programmed 
as a virtual encyclopedia of human information 
without knowing a simple word like 'snoop'? 

DATA: 
A Possibility : A Kind of Human Behaviour 
I was not designed to emulate. 

PICARD: 
It means 'to Spy', 'to Sneak'. 

DATA: 
Ah! To seek covertly, to go stealthily, 
to slink, slither --

PICARD: 
Exactly, yes. 

DATA: 
Glide, creep, skulk, 
pussyfoot, gumshoe. 

TROI: 
Captain, I'm sensing a powerful mind. 

(Collision alert sounds

TORRES: 
Something strange on the detector circuits. 

(A massive barrier appears in front of them in space

DATA: 
It registers as solid, Captain. 

TROI: 
Or an incredibly powerful forcefield. 
But if we collide with either it could be very -- 

PICARD: 
Shut off that damned noise. 
Go to Yellow Alert. 

WORF: 
Shields and deflectors up, sir. 

(The barrier ripples like chain mail

PICARD: 
Reverse power, full stop. 

TORRES: 
Controls to full stop, sir. 
Now reading full stop, sir. 

(There's a flash of light, and an Elizabethan era soldier appears, complete with breast plate and plumed hat

Q.: 
Thou are notified that Thy Kind 
hath infiltrated The Galaxy too far already. 
Thou art directed to return 
to Thine Own Solar System immediately

PICARD: 
That's quite a directive. 
Would you mind identifying 
What You Are? 

Q.: 
We call ourselves The Q. 
Or Thou Mayst Call Me That. 
It's all much the same thing. 

(The same force barrier stops two people exiting the turbolift

Q .: 
I Present My Self to Thee as a fellow Ship's Captain, 
that Thou Mayst better understand me.
 
Go Back whence Thou camest. 
(to Helmsman
Stay Where Thou art! 

(And the helmsman is frozen solid, phaser in hand)

PICARD
Data, call medics. 

TROI: 
He's frozen! 

PICARD
He would not have injured You -- 
Do You recognise this, the stun setting? 

Q: 
Knowing Humans as Thou Dost, Captain, 
wouldst Thou be captured helpless by Them

Now, Go Back 
or Thou Shalt 
Most Certainly Die.

Captain's log, supplementary -- 
The frozen form of Lieutenant Torres 
has been rushed to sickbay. 

The Question, Now, is 
The Incredible Power 
of The Q.-Being. 

Do We Dare Oppose It?

[Bridge]

Q. : 
Captain, thy little centuries go by so rapidly. 
Perhaps thou will better understand this. 

(A flash of light and he is wearing a 20th century US military uniform, with a cigarette in his hand

Q.
Actually, The Issue at stake is Patriotism --
You must return to Your World 
and put an end to The Commies. 

All it takes is A Few Good Men. 

PICARD : 
What? That nonsense 
is centuries behind Us. 

Q.
But You can't deny that 
You're still a dangerous, 
Savage, Child-Race. 

PICARD: 
Most certainly I deny it. 
I agree we still were 
when humans wore costumes like
that, four hundred years ago. 

Q. : 
At which time you slaughtered millions 
in silly arguments about 
How to Divide The Resources 
of Your Little World. 

And four hundred years before that
You were murdering each other 
in quarrels over tribal God-Images. 

Since then,there are no indications 
that Humans will ever change. 


PICARD
But even when we wore costumes 
like that we'd already started 
to make rapid progress. 

Q: 
Oh yeah? You want to review your rapid progress? 

(Flash, and a change into a padded suit

Q. : 
Rapid progress, to where Humans learned 
to Control Their Military with drugs

WORF
Sir, sickbay reports 
Lieutenant Torres's 
condition is better. 

Q.
Oh, concern for one's fellow comrade --
How touching. 

WORF
And now a personal request, sir. 
Permission to clean up the bridge. 

TASHA
Lieutenant Worf is right, sir. 
As Security Chief I can't just stand here and let --

PICARD: 
Yes you can, Lieutenant Yar. 

Q. : 
(taking a snort of something
Oh, better. And later, on finally 
reaching Deep Space, 
Humans of course found Enemies 
to fight Out There, too

And to broaden those struggles 
You again found allies for still more murdering. 

The Same Old Story
all over again. 

PICARD
No. The Same Old Story is The One 
We're meeting now
Self-righteous life forms 
who are eager not to learn
but to Prosecute
to Judge anything 
They don't understand 
or can't tolerate. 

Q. : 
What an interesting idea : 
Prosecute and Judge
Suppose it turns out we understand 
You Humans only too well. 

PICARD: 
We've no fear of what the true facts about us will reveal. 

Q. : 
Facts about You? Splendid, splendid, Captain! 
You're a veritable 
Fountain of Good Ideas. 

There are preparations to make, 
but when we next meet, Captain, 
We'll proceed exactly 
as You suggest. 

(A flash and He is gone

WORF: 
Sir, respectfully submit, 
Our only Choice is to Fight. 

TASHA
Fight, or Try to Escape. 

PICARD: 
Sense anything, Commander? 

TROI: 
It's Mind is much Too Powerful. 
Recommend, We Avoid Contact. 

PICARD
From This Point, 
No Station aboard, 
repeat No Station
for any reason will 
make use of 
transmitted signals 
or intercom. 

We'll Try and Take Them 
by Surprise. 

Let's see what this 
Galaxy-class Starship can Do

(to Worf

Lieutenant, inform Engine Room 
to prepare for maximum acceleration. 

WORF
Aye, sir. 

PICARD: 
Records search, Data -- 
Results of detaching saucer-section 
at high-warp velocity. 

DATA
Inadvisable at any 
Warp Speed, sir. 

PICARD: 
Search Theoretical. 

DATA: 
It is possible, sir. 
But absolutely no 
margin for error. 

PICARD: 
Using print-out only, notify all decks 
to prepare for maximum acceleration. 

Now hear this, Maximum
You're entitled to know, 
means that We'll be 
pushing Our Engines 
well beyond safety limits. 

Our Hope is to surprise 
whatever That is Out There
try and outrun it. 

Our only other option is to 
tuck tail between our legs and 
Return to Earth as They demand. 

(Worf makes his trip to Engineering and back

WORF: 
Engine Room ready, sir. 

TROI: 
The Board shows Green, Captain. All Go. 

PICARD: 
Stand by -- Engage

(They swoop along and past The Barrier, which then turns into a ball and chases them

WORF: 
Velocity, Warp 9.2. 

DATA: 
Heading 351 mark 11, sir. 

PICARD: 
Steady on that. 

TASHA: 
The Hostile is now Giving Chase, sir. 
Accelerating fast. 

WORF
We're now at Warp 9.3, sir, 
which Takes Us past 
The Red Line, sir. 

PICARD: 
Continue accelerating. 
Counsellor, at This Point, 
I'm open to guesses about 
What We've just met. 

TROI: 
It it felt Like Something Beyond 
what We'd consider A Life Form. 

PICARD: 
Beyond? 

TROI: 
Very, very advanced, sir
or certainly very, very different

WORF: 
We're at 9.4, sir. 

TASHA: 
Hostile is now beginning 
to overtake Us, sir. 

PICARD: 
Are You Sure? 

DATA
Hostile's velocity is already 
Warp 9.6, sir. 
Shall I put Them on the main viewer? 

PICARD: 
Reverse angle. 

DATA: 
Magnifying viewer image. 

TASHA
Hostile's velocity is 9.7, sir. 

PICARD: 
Worf, inform The Engine Room 
We need more

DATA: 
Engine Room attempting 
to comply, sir, 
but They caution Us... 

PICARD
Go to Yellow Alert. 
Arm aft photon torpedoes. 
Place them on ready status. 

TASHA: 
Torpedoes to ready, sir. 

TASHA: 
Hostile now at Warp 9.8, sir. 

WORF
Our Velocity is only 9.5, sir. 

DATA
Projection, sir -- We may be able 
to match Hostile's 9.8, sir. 
But at extreme risk

TASHA: 
Now reading The Hostile 
at Warp 9.9, sir. 

PICARD: 
Now hear this. 
Print-out message, urgent, 
all stations on all decks. 
Prepare for emergency saucer sever. 
You will command the saucer section, Lieutenant. 

WORF
I am a Klingon, sir. 
For me to seek escape when 
My Captain goes into battle —

PICARD
You are a Starfleet officer, Lieutenant. 

WORF
Aye, sir. 

PICARD
Make The Mark, Data. 
Note in Ship's log 
that at this StarTime, 
I'm Transferring Command to 
The Battle Bridge. 

(Picard, Data, Yar and Troi 
leave the Bridge to unnamed crew)


Captain's log, StarDate 41153.7
Preparing to detach saucer section. so that families and the majority of the ship's company can seek relative safety while the vessel's stardrive, containing The Battle Bridge and main armaments
will turn back and confront the mystery that is threatening us.

[Battle Bridge]
(Families of various races make their way along corridors as the bridge crew settle into a more compact Bridge)

PICARD: 
Lieutenant, Your Torpedoes must detonate 
close enough to the hostile 
to blind it at the moment we separate. 

TASHA: 
Understood, sir. 

TROI: 
All decks acknowledging, sir. 
PICARD: 
Worf, this is the Captain.

[Bridge]

PICARD : 
At the moment of separation, 
we will reverse power just enough 
to get your saucer section out ahead and clear of us. 

WORF: 
Understood, Captain.

[Battle Bridge]

TASHA
Torpedoes away, sir. 

(Eight red dots shoot out from the stern

PICARD: 
Begin Countdown. Mark. 

DATA: 
Starship separation in six, five, 
four, three, two, one. 

(Gracefully, the huge saucer lifts away from the body of the ship

DATA: 
Separation is Successful, sir. 


(The main body does a hand-brake turn and heads back to their pursuer. The torpedoes detonate.

TASHA
Torpedoes have detonated, sir. 

PICARD: 
Let's come to a stop. 
Reverse power. 

DATA: 
Reverse power. 
Decelerating. 

PICARD: 
Dead Stop. 
We'll hold this position 
and wait for Them. 

TROI: 
That will bring them here in just minutes, sir. 

TASHA
Will we make A Fight of it, Captain? 
If We can at least damage Their Ship 
we'll have a chance 

PICARD
Lieutenant, are You recommending 
we fight a life form that can do 
all those things? 

I'd Like to Hear Your Advice. 

TASHA : 
I Spoke before I Thought, sir. 
We should look for some way 
to distract Them from 
going after The Saucer. 

O'BRIEN
All forward motion stopped, sir. 

PICARD
Thank you, Conn. 
Commander, Signal The Following, 
in All Languages 
and on All Frequencies. 

We Surrender

State that We are not asking 
for any terms or conditions. 

TROI: 
Aye, sir. 
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