Catching the Emissary — Warp Nine Retrieval
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Data fixes their course near the Boradis system but outside any colony and reports no trouble, deepening the riddle. Picard and Riker press for logic and hit a wall of uncertainty.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Attentive and professionally expectant — she displays readiness rather than curiosity.
Dr. Pulaski enters the transporter room, stands by with the bridge medical scanner, prepared to assess and render immediate medical attention to the emissary as soon as the probe is opened.
- • Obtain immediate medical diagnostics when the emissary materializes.
- • Stabilize and treat any injuries or anomalies resulting from confinement or transport.
- • Medical readiness should be immediate for any unexpected arrival.
- • A sealed probe could conceal health risks requiring immediate intervention.
Concentrated and calm — mechanically competent without fanfare.
Ensign Clancey pilots the ship with millimeter accuracy, calls out course and speed confirmations, achieves a parallel intercept course and increases warp per Picard's orders to place the probe abeam.
- • Execute the intercept course exactly as ordered.
- • Keep ship stable at warp while tractor and transporter operations occur.
- • Following helm vectors precisely is essential to mission success.
- • Responsibility for ship handling requires composure under pressure.
Formally controlled and guarded — projecting institutional priority while keeping personal warmth minimal.
Admiral Gromek appears on the viewscreen to issue curt, top‑security orders: instructing Picard to intercept a special emissary from Starbase 153 while refusing to disclose details, and emphasizing the rendezvous's schedule sensitivity.
- • Ensure the emissary is delivered on schedule.
- • Maintain operational secrecy to protect mission integrity.
- • Secrecy is essential for some diplomatic or security operations.
- • Command hierarchy must be obeyed without public explanation.
Focused, efficient and quietly satisfied when the gambit succeeds.
Chief Transporter Officer O'Brien collaborates with Geordi on transporter settings, makes final panel adjustments, confirms the transporter lock over comms, energizes the beam when ordered, and reports 'Probe aboard'.
- • Achieve a stable transporter lock and safely beam the emissary aboard.
- • Execute transporter procedures to standard despite the unusual conditions (warp‑nine).
- • Strict adherence to transporter protocol ensures successful rematerialization.
- • Team coordination with engineering and bridge is essential under high‑risk conditions.
Unknown — the emissary's internal state is not revealed; vulnerability and reliance on Starfleet recovery are implied.
The Special Emissary's presence is inferred rather than seen — they occupy the sealed Class‑Eight probe dispatched from Starbase 153 and are the reason for the high‑risk retrieval; their condition and identity remain unknown in this event.
- • Be delivered safely to the Enterprise and brief command as ordered.
- • Preserve personal safety while in sealed confinement.
- • Starfleet retrieval will occur on schedule.
- • Secrecy surrounding their transport is necessary for some reason (diplomatic/security).
Frustrated by enforced secrecy but composed and decisive — irritation shifts into controlled confidence when he accepts the calculated risk.
Captain Picard receives Admiral Gromek's sealed orders, voices frustration at the lack of information, weighs Geordi's risky technical proposal, and authorizes the warp‑nine tractor/transporter gambit before directing course corrections and resuming original orders after success.
- • Secure the emissary quickly and intact.
- • Preserve crew safety while obeying Starfleet orders.
- • Minimize delay to the mission and protect nearby colonies.
- • Secrecy can hinder operational readiness but must be obeyed.
- • Technical risks are acceptable if they maximize speed and safety.
- • As captain he must balance Starfleet obedience with crew welfare.
Neutral, methodical — his dispassionate delivery amplifies the crew's emotional reactions rather than sharing them.
Data provides factual context about Boradis and Boradis Three, confirms reception of Gromek's transmission, identifies that the emissary is inside a Class‑Eight probe, and quantifies the time saved by sending a probe instead of diverting the Enterprise.
- • Provide accurate sensor and situational data to command.
- • Clarify logistical constraints (probe size, warp capability) to inform tactical choices.
- • Objective data should drive decision making.
- • Precise measurements and facts reduce operational uncertainty.
Focused and alert — his professional composure underscores the tactical stakes and the need for precision.
Worf detects Starfleet hail, performs continuous scans to acquire the probe, reports precise bearings, ranges, and velocity, and confirms when the probe stands abeam and the tractor is ready.
- • Maintain accurate sensor lock on the probe.
- • Ensure tactical systems are ready to engage the tractor and protect the ship.
- • Duty and readiness must override curiosity.
- • Precision in tactical reporting reduces the risk of operational failure.
Skeptical and mildly perturbed about the method, yet cooperative and duty‑focused when action is required.
Riker reacts to the ethical oddity of sealing a dignitary in a probe, articulates tactical implications, supports Picard's decisions, and departs immediately to personally welcome the retrieved visitor once the probe is aboard.
- • Ensure the emissary is treated appropriately upon retrieval.
- • Support command decisions and act as the face of the ship for reception.
- • Starfleet should maintain decorum and dignity even under pressure.
- • Operational success requires swift, practical responses to unusual orders.
Confident and solution‑oriented — upbeat about the feasibility while candid about the odds.
Geordi proposes the engineering/tranporter workaround, outlines technical mechanics for a warp‑nine tractor/transporter capture, checks engineering readouts from his station, and confirms transporter/engineering readiness prior to the operation.
- • Implement a technical solution to save critical time.
- • Ensure the transporter is phased and tractor coupling is stable for a successful recovery.
- • Engineering ingenuity can safely expand operational options.
- • Calculated technical risks are acceptable when time is of the essence.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Bridge Medical Scanner is held by Dr. Pulaski in the transporter room as a ready diagnostic: poised to sweep the emissary or probe casing to deliver immediate vital signs and health readouts once the subject is accessible.
The Class‑Eight Silver Emissary Probe Casing is the physical container of the emissary: it is trailed, grabbed by the tractor beam, and then dematerialized onto the transporter pad where it clicks and presents a sealed hatch for the crew to open and examine.
The Enterprise Personnel Transporter System is phased and tuned by Geordi and O'Brien to accept a focused lock while at warp; it receives targeting data aided by the tractor beam and completes the rematerialization, producing the silver probe casing on the transporter pad.
The bridge‑mounted Enterprise Tractor Beam projects a faint energy tether outward, locks onto the two‑meter Class‑Eight probe while both objects move at warp nine, and holds it perfectly abeam to create a stable geometry for the transporter to lock.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Main Bridge is the operational nerve center where Admiral Gromek's sealed orders are received, tactical options are debated, Geordi presents the warp‑nine plan, and Picard authorizes the risky maneuver — the bridge coordinates the intercept and watches the tractor/transport sequence unfold on displays.
The Boradis system is the contextual rendezvous reference — the intercept coordinates are near this sector, which contains colonies and outposts whose presence heightens the stakes and explains Starfleet's urgency.
The Transporter Room is the physical site where the Class‑Eight probe materializes: engineering and transporter technicians knead controls, the transporter pad hums, Pulaski readies medical gear, and the rematerialization is observed and processed into a tangible object for immediate inspection.
Space alongside the Enterprise at warp functions as the kinetic stage where the probe is trailed, intercepted and physically captured: stars streak past, tractor beam ripples manifest, and precise relative velocities are managed to bring the probe abeam for the transporter lock.
Starbase 153 is the logistical origin of the sealed Class‑Eight probe; its inability to provide a starship and its use of a probe emphasize constrained resources and the bureaucratic/urgent nature of the dispatch.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The successful warp-speed capture of the probe delivers K'Ehleyr onto the Enterprise."
"The successful warp-speed capture of the probe delivers K'Ehleyr onto the Enterprise."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"ADMIRAL GROMEK: "Negative.""
"DATA: "The emissary is aboard a class eight probe.""
"PICARD: "Make it so.""