Turbolift Reroute — Picard's Tactical Gambit
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Data detects unauthorized turbolift activity, signaling Danar's attempted escape.
Riker confirms Danar is engaging with their trap.
Picard orders a tactical override to redirect Danar toward Worf.
Data executes Picard's command, initiating the tactical response.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Calm, resolute — outwardly controlled but carrying the gravity of a morally fraught tactical choice.
Picard absorbs the sensor report and Riker's comment, then issues a cold, calculated order to reroute the turbolift toward Worf — converting containment strategy into an active ambush while masking any emotional agitation.
- • Mitigate threat posed by the escapee while minimizing broader political consequences
- • Use ship resources strategically to ensure crew safety and enforce Starfleet duty
- • Protecting the Enterprise and crew is paramount, even if measures are politically delicate
- • Tactical cunning can limit violence and capture the fugitive without escalating the diplomatic crisis
Focused, dispassionate efficiency — professional compliance without visible affect, though curious about tactical implications.
Data reports an unauthorized turbolift dive and, at Picard's order, manipulates his bridge console to override the turbolift's programmed destination, executing a subtle systems reroute without comment.
- • Execute Captain's order to override and reroute the turbolift accurately and quickly
- • Maintain system integrity and avoid unintended collateral effects when manipulating ship controls
- • Starfleet orders and protocols should be followed when issued by command
- • Shipboard systems can be precisely controlled to achieve tactical outcomes without unnecessary risk
Poised and alert — prepared to intercept and engage if the turbolift delivers the suspect nearby.
Lieutenant Worf is referenced as the proximal security presence to which the rerouted turbolift will be diverted; his readiness and tactical positioning are assumed in Picard's order though he is not quoted in this moment.
- • Intercept and neutralize the escapee if he appears near Worf's location
- • Protect ship and senior officers from direct threat
- • Security must be immediate and uncompromising when danger appears
- • Following command-directed placements increases the chance of a controlled apprehension
Alert, confidently terse — ready to translate command decisions into immediate security action.
Riker listens to Data's sensor report and offers a terse tactical observation — 'He took the bait' — signaling recognition that the planned lure worked and that the crew must act.
- • Confirm that the bait has been accepted by the fugitive
- • Support command decisions to intercept the escapee and protect the ship
- • Quick, decisive tactical moves reduce risk to crew
- • The engineered fugitive will follow predictable bait patterns if channeled
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The turbolift carriage becomes the central instrument of the plan: its unauthorized descent signals the fugitive's movement, and Picard orders it rerouted to place the carriage (and thus the escapee) near Worf for interception. The lift's path is manipulated to convert a lure into a tactical trap.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Deck Thirty-Four is the physical locus of the turbolift's unauthorized dive and the intended site of interception. The deck's corridors and shaft geometry shape the tactical choice to reroute the lift and funnel the suspect toward a prepared security posture.
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
"DATA: Sir, unauthorized access of turbolift dive on deck thirty-four."
"RIKER: He took the bait."
"PICARD: Data -- override its destination and divert that turbolift to a position near Lieutenant Worf's current location."