La Forge's Discovery: Devices Deliberately Planted
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Geordi reports discovering five more explosive devices identical to the one that killed Lieutenant Aster, all seemingly left to be found and defused.
Data confirms the deadly nature of the devices and notes their origin from the Koinonian Wars.
Riker questions Geordi about the discovery, prompting Geordi to reveal that the devices were deliberately left to be found.
Picard presses Geordi for more details, learning that the devices were recently pulled out of the ground and defused.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Concerned professionalism — attentive to facts with a readiness to act and protect the crew.
Riker listens and asks the tactical clarifying question about whether all devices were recovered, absorbing the forensic details and preparing to translate them into operational orders if necessary.
- • Confirm the scope of the threat (how many devices, whether any remain).
- • Prepare to implement immediate security or investigative procedures based on findings.
- • Complete information is required to mount an effective response.
- • Command must quickly pivot from mourning to securing crew and ship.
Clinically neutral with engaged intellectual interest — focused on delivering accurate provenance and capability details.
Data studies the recovered device and reports technical analysis: the trigger is a subspace proximity detonator and the technology dates to the Koinonian Wars, noting detection limitations of standard tricorders.
- • Provide an accurate technical diagnosis of the device and its detectability.
- • Inform command so they can assess historical origin and current threat level.
- • Objective technical information clarifies operational response.
- • Understanding a device's era and mechanism is critical to assessing intent and risk.
Concerned and resolute — grief tempered by duty, shifting immediately to investigation and protection of the crew.
Picard receives Geordi's report, asks pointed questions about provenance and intent, and mentally reframes the loss of Lieutenant Aster as potentially intentional; he leads the room in treating the planet as a potential hostile scene.
- • Ascertain origin and intent behind the devices.
- • Translate forensic information into command-level policy and protective measures for the ship and away teams.
- • Loss of a crew member imposes a responsibility to seek truth and prevent further harm.
- • Apparent accidents that bear signs of design must be treated as hostile acts until disproven.
Uneasy concern — professional composure overlaid with visible discomfort at the implication of deliberate malice.
Geordi reports forensic findings directly to Picard and Riker, presenting a recovered device and delivering the upsetting detail that five identical devices were found and appear intentionally left to be discovered.
- • Convey the technical facts of the recovery to command.
- • Ensure command understands the possible hostile nature of the incident and prompt an investigative response.
- • The physical evidence should drive the ship's operational response.
- • If devices were deliberately placed or exposed, crew safety and investigative protocols must change.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
A compact subspace proximity detonator — the recovered explosive is presented as physical evidence. Data analyzes it, revealing its stealth trigger and wartime provenance. Geordi explains similar devices were discovered on-site, recently unearthed and defused, making the object the pivot that transforms a tragic accident into a suspected hostile operation.
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
Key Dialogue
"GEORDI: "Five more just like it... all identical to the one that killed Lieutenant Aster...""
"DATA: "They employ a subspace proximity detonator. A normal tricorder would never detect it.""
"GEORDI: "I don't know, Captain... but it was pretty obvious that they'd been recently pulled out of the ground and defused.""