Picard's command dilemma (protocol vs. compassion/rights): Captain Picard must balance Starfleet protocol, diplomatic optics, and crew safety against the ethical imperative to protect sentient rights (Salia/Anya) and avoid setting damaging precedents.

A distorted carrier breaks through the static and an imperious voice — Anya — bluntly demands that Salia be beamed aboard. Picard immediately reframes the encounter as a matter of …

In Sickbay the creature abruptly reverts to Anya, exposing a terrifying truth: Starfleet faces not a mindless monster but a sovereign, shape‑shifting protector whose priorities clash with medical ethics. Dr. …

Wesley bursts into Transporter Room Three with a dish of Thalian chocolate mousse, interrupting a formal send-off to offer Salia a final, sensory memory. Their quiet, charged exchange—an embrace, a …