Transporters Offline, Forcefields Contain the Illusion
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The red alert sounds as Troi urgently warns Picard that the alien image (Marla) is attempting to take Jeremy off the ship again.
Picard and Geordi coordinate shutting down transporter power to prevent the entity from taking Jeremy, demonstrating immediate action against the threat.
Data confirms transporters are down and force fields are engaged, highlighting the crew's efforts to contain the entity.
Riker and Geordi anticipate the entity's next move to reinstate transporter power, showing the crew's tactical foresight.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Alert and precautionary—he anticipates possible countermeasures and urges vigilance.
Riker monitors the bridge situation, warns La Forge that the intruder may attempt to reinstate transporter power, and helps maintain tactical oversight during the emergency.
- • Prevent the intruder from regaining transporter access.
- • Coordinate bridge responses to protect the ship and crew.
- • The intruder will attempt to exploit any technical lapse.
- • Bridge leadership must anticipate and preempt such attempts.
Startled but operationally steady—physically shaken by the energy's incursion yet functionally intact.
O'Brien is present in Transporter Room Three amid damaged coils and flickering consoles; Worf checks him and reports him okay—O'Brien is the professional focal point of the disrupted transporter operations.
- • Ensure transporter systems are secure and report any anomalies.
- • Assist security and engineering in damage assessment.
- • The transporter systems have been tampered with and need immediate attention.
- • He must remain available to support engineering and security actions.
Fearful and conflicted—seeking safety but also drawn into the comforting posture of the apparition posing as his mother.
Jeremy is led from Aster's quarters by the apparition; he answers Picard with guarded honesty, appears small and a little frightened, and is physically clutched by the phantom who resists Troi's attempt to take him away.
- • Seek reassurance and safety from adults around him.
- • Stay near the familiar (the image of his mother), despite underlying apprehension.
- • Adults in authority (Picard, Troi) will protect him.
- • The image of his mother feels emotionally real and comforting, even if confusing.
Protective resolve masking a growing urgency—practical and morally focused, yet concerned about Jeremy's emotional safety.
Picard immediately moves from command to hands‑on protector: ordering deck seals, directing force‑field release at a corridor, addressing Jeremy with calm authority, and attempting to move the boy to his quarters with Troi.
- • Prevent Jeremy from being abducted or harmed.
- • Contain the intruder physically and secure the boy in a safe environment (his quarters).
- • Starfleet command responsibility includes protecting dependents aboard ship.
- • Technical containment can buy necessary time but someone must provide emotional protection to the child.
Clinically focused curiosity blended with procedural calm; his contribution is informational rather than emotional.
Data, on the Main Bridge console, confirms force fields are engaged and announces that transporters are down—providing the factual backbone to command decisions and verifying that technical measures are in place.
- • Provide accurate system status to command.
- • Ensure the bridge has the data needed to coordinate containment.
- • Accurate sensor and system reports allow for better command decisions.
- • Technical containment is the first necessary step in neutralizing the threat.
Concerned and vigilant, carrying an undertone of personal responsibility for the away team's casualty and for Jeremy's safety.
Worf moves to Transporter Room Three, inspects the disturbed apparatus, checks O'Brien and security personnel, reports the energy's departure, and issues an all‑decks security alert—balancing tactical observation with protective response.
- • Assess the immediate tactical situation in Transporter Room Three.
- • Ensure crew safety and escalate shipwide security alerts as needed.
- • Security protocols and immediate inspection can limit further harm.
- • He is accountable for security failures on his watch and must respond decisively.
Urgent empathy—she wants to remove Jeremy from harm while reading his fear and resisting the illusion's pull.
Troi warns via com about the image's return, watches at Aster's door, attempts to physically guide Jeremy toward Picard's quarters for safety, but is rebuffed when the apparition places a possessive arm around the boy.
- • Remove Jeremy from the influence of the apparition and get him to a secure, comforting adult.
- • Provide immediate psychological stabilization for the child.
- • Emotional intervention is as necessary as technical containment.
- • Jeremy is not ready to be soothed by a false maternal figure; he needs real human support.
Focused, professional urgency—aware of the stakes and intent on preventing a technical exploitation.
Geordi issues the critical technical order over com to shut down all transporters and confirms he is moving to oversee implementation—translating threat analysis into immediate engineering action.
- • Cut transporter power to deny the intruder its primary method of removal.
- • Maintain engineering control and be present to respond if transporters are overridden.
- • The intruder depends on transporter systems to abduct the target.
- • Engineering must act quickly and decisively to protect shipboard personnel.
Predatory calm—it seeks connection through imitation and possession rather than open aggression.
The Intruder manifests as Marla, leads Jeremy into the corridor, places a possessive arm around him, resists Troi's intervention, and probes the ship's physical boundaries—it is both predator and seducer, exploiting intimacy instead of brute force.
- • Maintain psychological and physical hold over Jeremy.
- • Evade or outwait technical containment until another method of removal or control is possible.
- • The most effective control is emotional attachment rather than pure force.
- • Technical containment slows but does not nullify its ability to manipulate the target.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Worf (or a senior officer) taps the Starfleet insignia to signal and open voice channels; the badge functions as an operational token permitting immediate bridge commands and the selective release of a security force field at a corridor.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Main Bridge coordinates the ship's defensive posture: Data engages force fields, Riker and Geordi discuss countermeasures, and Picard sends sealing and security orders—the bridge is the institutional brain implementing containment.
The turbolift is the scene's launching pad: Picard, Geordi and Worf split and issue orders; it compresses private command decisions into immediate action and propels officers into their operational roles.
Transporter Room Three is the primary site of the Intruder's physical incursion—energy darts among coils, O'Brien and security are checked, and Worf inspects the disturbed hardware; it's the tactical hotspot that forced the transporters offline.
Aster's Quarters is the intimate focal point where Marla manifests and physically holds Jeremy; the quarters become an emotional trap rather than a refuge, turning private space into a locus of manipulation.
Deck Eight's Corridors A and B act as tactical chokepoints: force fields snap into place sealing off movement and physically trapping Marla and Jeremy while Picard negotiates the release of one field to approach.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"TROI (com): "Captain, the image is back -- she's trying to take Jeremy off the ship again.""
"DATA: "Engaging force fields, Captain. Transporters are down.""
"PICARD: "How are you, Jeremy? Are you frightened?" / JEREMY: "-- no. A little, sir.""