The Romulan Sting and the Photon Ruse
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Picard snaps the Enterprise into a lean attack posture, lining up on the Hathaway with minimal profile and a spread of simulated torpedoes.
A sudden Romulan contact detonates alarm: Burke reports the fast approach, Picard whirls to shields and maneuver, and Data kills the modified beams as a Romulan warship floods the viewscreen and Red Alert screams.
Picard drives for a weapons lock and hails, but Burke finds nothing there; the Hathaway rakes the Enterprise with scoring beams from astern, and Picard kills the alert as the ruse lands.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Urgent and chastened—he feels the weight of a missed or confusing sensor readout and the immediate consequences of perceived failure.
Burke sounds the initial alarm about a Romulan warship, attempts hailing and sensor confirmation, reacts with chagrin when hailing fails, and registers the tactical cost—muttering a fatalistic comment about the Hathaway as simulated hits appear.
- • Verify the contact and establish communications
- • Accurately report sensor status and support bridge commands
- • Mitigate damage by ensuring shields and defensive measures are enacted
- • Sensor readings must be trusted unless proven otherwise
- • Timely communication is vital to prevent unnecessary loss
- • Failures in detection reflect poorly on tactical readiness
Coolly impressed; intellectually engaged rather than emotionally moved.
Kolrami observes the maneuver and offers a brief evaluative assessment—'He is quite good'—registering impressed professional curiosity and lending external validation to Picard's improvisation.
- • Assess the tactical competence of commanding officers
- • Gather data for his strategic judgments and public commentary
- • Strategic gamesmanship reveals true command skill
- • Objective assessment of performance is a primary duty
Alert and focused; taking orders under pressure and executing them precisely.
The Conn operator follows Picard's order to 'bring us about' and implement maximum shields, executing helm corrections and standing as the tactile instrument of Picard's evasive maneuver.
- • Effectively change ship heading and raise shields as commanded
- • Maintain control of ship handling during tactical pivot
- • Obeying direct command maintains ship safety
- • Precise helm inputs are crucial during evasive maneuvers
Alert and determined; briefly surprised by the apparent contact but quickly masks shock to execute a calculated improvisation.
Picard shifts command posture twice in seconds: ordering shields and heading change, canceling Red Alert, directing warp three evasive maneuvers, and re-authorizing the modified beam to sustain the deception while verbally explaining tactical decisions to his officers.
- • Preserve the larger ruse protecting the mission objective and the Hathaway's sacrificial role
- • Protect the Enterprise and crew while outmaneuvering the perceived Romulan threat
- • Maintain command credibility in front of Kolrami and his observers
- • Deception is justified when it preserves more lives and the mission
- • Rapid, visible command decisions will control crew panic and shape adversary perception
- • Worf's sensor manipulation can be exploited tactically but must be managed
Calm, clinical detachment; focused on facts and system diagnostics without visible affect.
Data follows Picard's orders precisely: he calls to disengage modified beams, reports computer diagnostics showing simulated aft-deck damage and repair estimates, and receives a new code input to correct sensor illusions when asked.
- • Provide accurate systems diagnostics and implementation of commanded code changes
- • Support Picard's tactical decisions by supplying timely technical data
- • Objective system readings must guide tactical decisions
- • Obedience to command orders is essential for coordinated action
- • Technical remediation (new code) can correct deceptive sensor inputs
Committed and resolved (implied); focused on mission success even through morally ambiguous subterfuge.
Worf does not speak in this beat but is explicitly credited by Picard with overriding sensor codes and staging holographic deception—his prior covert actions surface as the cause of the false Romulan contact and simulated aft hits.
- • Create a believable threat to mask the Hathaway's vulnerability
- • Support Starfleet objectives through aggressive tactical deception
- • Ends can justify covert means in wartime tests of skill
- • Honorable service includes taking personal tactical risks
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The open hailing channel is commanded by Picard to contact the apparent Romulan ship; Burke reports that hailing returns nothing, which heightens uncertainty and helps reveal the sensor deception while snapping the bridge into focused command posture.
The Enterprise defensive shields are ordered to maximum as Picard commands; their status underscores the defensive reflex, and their modulation supports the illusion that the Hathaway is under sustained attack while also protecting the Enterprise during the blunt tactical pivot.
The Red Alert switch is actuated as the ship goes to emergency posture; Picard then cancels Red Alert as part of his tactical pivot — a visible, procedural gesture that signals both alarm and controlled command recalibration.
Enterprise aft deck diagnostics register simulated damage—Data reports 'simulated damage to several aft decks' with a repair estimate. The aft-deck readouts function as the tangible cost of the deception, giving the ruse physical stakes and technical realism.
The main observation-lounge/viewscreen displays both the Hathaway and the suddenly filling Romulan warship, making the deception visually convincing and driving bridge reactions; it externalizes tactical information and becomes the dramatic focus that forces Picard's split-second choices.
The holodeck/computer subroutine is implicated through Picard's reference to 'holographic games' and Worf's overridden sensor codes; its invisible manipulation enabled the false Romulan contact and simulated aft hits, acting as the technological mechanism of deception.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Hathaway's aft decks are the locus of the simulated damage invoked in the deception; they serve as the apparent casualty site that raises the emotional stakes and plausibly anchors the Hathaway's sacrificial posture in the tactical theater.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"BURKE: "Captain -- Romulan warship approaching fast from astern!""
"DATA: "Disengage modified beams.""
"PICARD: "Warp three, evasive! Disengage weapons, re-engage modified beam.""