Fabula
S3E11 · The Hunted
S3E11
· The Hunted

Phaser Decoy Foiled — Danar's Misdirection Escalates

Worf and a security guard wait at a turbolift ambush and find the car empty but for an overloaded phaser shrieking on the floor. Worf improvises a field fix, silently buying the ship crucial seconds and registering professional admiration for the device's maker. The relief is brief: elsewhere Roga Danar incapacitates a guard and uses his communicator to drop the force field on Deck 36, revealing the phaser was a diversion. The beat functions as both a narrow, tactical save and a reveal of Danar's cunning, escalating the manhunt and underscoring how sophisticated—and personal—his misdirection has become.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

2

Worf and a security guard prepare to ambush Danar at the turbolift, phasers drawn, only to find the lift empty with an overloaded phaser inside.

anticipation to surprise ['turbolift corridor']

Worf prevents the phaser overload with quick adjustments, demonstrating Klingon reflexes while analyzing Danar's tactical genius.

tension to admiration

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

2

Neutral and informative; fulfills operational function without affective modulation.

Data does not appear physically but supplies the bridge/comms timing cue — a precise countdown delivery ("Four seconds to arrival") that frames Worf's window for action and the security team's expectations.

Goals in this moment
  • Provide accurate temporal information to aid the ambush/response.
  • Support ship operations by maintaining clear, timely sensor/comms feedback.
Active beliefs
  • Accurate data reduces risk and enables effective tactical response.
  • Maintaining objective, timely reporting is his primary duty in this moment.
Character traits
precise dispassionate procedural instrumental
Follow Data's journey

Focused, urgently calm — a professional concentration that masks awareness of a larger tactical threat.

Worf stands at a turbolift with a security guard, taps his insignia to signal, reacts instantly to a phaser shriek, kneels, picks up the overloaded weapon, opens and adjusts its internals to stop the overload, then inspects the device and reports the situation to the Captain.

Goals in this moment
  • Prevent the phaser overload from detaching or detonating and harming the ship or crew.
  • Maintain the security integrity of the deck by ordering immediate containment and informing command.
Active beliefs
  • Immediate, decisive action can avert catastrophic damage.
  • His training and practical skill are sufficient to neutralize an engineered threat quickly.
Character traits
disciplined technically adept decisive hands-on pragmatist
Follow Worf's journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

5
Enterprise Ship Computer Systems

The ship computer receives and executes a voice command ('Drop force field on deck thirty-six') transmitted via a personal communicator, demonstrating how centralized systems respond to authenticated vocal directives and enabling the tactical exploit.

Before: Controlling ship subsystems including force-field integrity; actively enforcing …
After: Has executed the command; Deck 36's force field …
Before: Controlling ship subsystems including force-field integrity; actively enforcing Deck 36 security protocols.
After: Has executed the command; Deck 36's force field has been removed in response to the vocal instruction.
USS Enterprise-D

The aft turbolift car functions as the physical container for the planted phaser and as the bait for the ambush; it arrives empty of passengers but with the explosive device left on its floor, turning a routine transit vehicle into a tactical staging ground.

Before: Approaching/arriving at the bridge/corridor, doors closed, containing the …
After: Doors open; car is empty except for the …
Before: Approaching/arriving at the bridge/corridor, doors closed, containing the planted phaser.
After: Doors open; car is empty except for the removed and disarmed phaser; treated as evidence and a point of tactical inspection.
Deck 36 Security Force Field

The localized Deck 36 force field is the intended security barrier preventing movement off that tier. Roga—by using a crew member's communicator—issues a voice command to the ship computer which causes this field to collapse, converting the security measure into an exploited vulnerability.

Before: Active and humming across the Deck 36 corridor …
After: Briefly shimmers and then drops/ceases, creating an opening …
Before: Active and humming across the Deck 36 corridor as an ionic lattice barrier.
After: Briefly shimmers and then drops/ceases, creating an opening exploited for escape.
Riker’s Handheld Starfleet Communicator

A personal Starfleet communicator (represented by the canonical Riker unit) is pressed against a fallen guard's communicator by Roga, using the personal device as an authentication medium to transmit a spoken command to the ship computer and trigger subsystem changes.

Before: Affixed to the security guard's uniform, idle and …
After: Used as the conduit for the voice command …
Before: Affixed to the security guard's uniform, idle and in normal operational condition.
After: Used as the conduit for the voice command to the ship computer; remains with the incapacitated guard but has been exploited to alter ship systems.
Starfleet Security Phasers (Transporter Room)

A Starfleet handheld phaser is used as an engineered decoy: planted in the arriving turbolift and deliberately set to overload to scream and distract. Its audible shriek forces an immediate security reaction and serves as the false focal point while the real breach occurs elsewhere.

Before: Inside the arriving turbolift car, set to overload …
After: Disarmed and adjusted by Worf; the shriek ends …
Before: Inside the arriving turbolift car, set to overload and emitting a high-pitched shriek.
After: Disarmed and adjusted by Worf; the shriek ends and the weapon is under inspection/possession by security.

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

3
Enterprise Turbolift

The aft turbolift car (sliding into place on the bridge corridor) is used narratively as the bait: its cramped interior hides the planted phaser which functions as a timed diversion, converting the ordinary transit space into a focal point of urgency.

Atmosphere Claustrophobic and mechanical — hissing doors, recycled air, and flashing alarms heighten the immediacy of …
Function Arrival point and tactical decoy where security teams are drawn to inspect the weapon.
Symbolism A small, controlled space turned dangerous; symbolizes how routine infrastructure can be weaponized.
Access Public to crew movement but used as a controlled channel; monitored during red-alert operations.
Sliding doors hiss open onto the corridor A high-pitched phaser shriek fills the confined space
Corridor Outside Sickbay

A nearby corridor (the one where Roga previously appeared) becomes the actual site of the human breach: a posted guard is struck down and his communicator pressed into service. The corridor functions as the place where the deception's true mechanism—physical incapacitation to gain voice access—takes place.

Atmosphere Tense and suddenly violent; the quiet of a watched post is ruptured by a swift, …
Function Battleground and tactical chokepoint where a guard is neutralized and a communicator is commandeered for …
Symbolism Represents the seam between institutional order and individual vulnerability — a human weak point in …
Access Heavily monitored and normally guarded; restricted to crew and security personnel during alert.
Strip lighting and low mechanical hum that make footsteps and sounds conspicuous Visible scuffs and evidence of recent struggle; sudden silence after the guard falls
Deck Thirty-Six

Deck Thirty-Six is the secured tier whose force-field lattice is momentarily cancelled by the spoken command; the deck's security posture is directly altered, turning a previously sealed area into a passageway for the escape.

Atmosphere Securitized and humming with layered defenses; that engineered calm is abruptly undermined when the field …
Function Barrier/preventative zone intended to contain or delay intruders; in this moment it is the target …
Symbolism Embodies institutional protection compromised by an inside-out vulnerability.
Access Normally restricted and protected by active force fields and posted guards.
Blue-white latticed force-field emitting a faint ionic crackle The metallic tang of emergency lighting and alarmed ventilation

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

"WORF: "Phaser on overload! Seal this deck --""
"WORF: "Captain, the overload's been averted.""
"ROGA: "Drop force field on deck thirty-six.""