Ral Pivots — Lures Goss with Chrysalian Promise
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Devinoni pivots to manipulate Goss with promises of Chrysalian women, securing a new tactical alliance.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Surface calm and confident; behind it a flicker of wounded pride followed quickly by calculated composure and renewed predatory focus.
Devinoni approaches with a drink, parries Riker's barbs with charm, escalates to personal provocation about Deanna, then, after Riker's rebuke and exit, immediately shifts tactics to seduce and recruit Goss with promises of Chrysalia's women.
- • Undermine Riker's resolve and create leverage for negotiation
- • Position himself as intimate rival for Deanna to unsettle Starfleet officers
- • Recruit Goss as an expedient ally to influence wormhole negotiations
- • Personal charm and emotional manipulation are effective diplomatic tools
- • Allies can be bought or seduced to create leverage
- • Romantic rivalry can be weaponized to destabilize opponents
Initial irritation and disappointment shifting to greedy intrigue and eagerness when promised new spoils.
Goss attempts to pick up crewwomen, is rebuffed and disappointed, then perks up when Devinoni begins describing Chrysalia, indicating immediate commercial and carnal interest.
- • Find immediate pleasure and transactional advantage in social situations
- • Locate opportunities to profit or acquire desirable assets (including people)
- • Align with a negotiator who can deliver practical spoils
- • Sexual access and social advantage can be purchased or brokered
- • A negotiating ally with charm and information (like Ral) is valuable
- • Federation conduct is irrelevant when profit and pleasure are at stake
Righteously indignant transitioning to relieved vindication — anger tempered into moral authority.
Riker sits alone making notes, hears Devinoni's approach, confronts him with a moral challenge defending Deanna, toasts 'To the last mile,' and leaves visibly vindicated and steadied.
- • Defend Deanna's honor and emotional autonomy
- • Deny Devinoni personal leverage over crew morale and negotiations
- • Reassert Starfleet ethical standards in a social/diplomatic arena
- • Deanna's relationship should not be manipulated or commodified
- • Personal integrity and stated values matter more than winning at any cost
- • Ral's charm masks transactional emptiness that must be exposed
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Barzan probe is referenced in dialogue as the pending factual check Devinoni proposes to preempt ('before we learn the results of your probe's expedition'), functioning as the unseen evidentiary device that anchors the ethical dispute and raises stakes around premature agreements.
Riker is described making notes for his next round — the notepad grounds him in duty and routine, signaling professional composure as he faces a personal provocation and supports his verbal comeback.
Small clear tumblers mark the social context: Devinoni arrives holding a drink which reinforces his measured, convivial presence; Riker raises a glass to toast before leaving. Drinks function as social lubricants and props for mock-ceremony and moral flourish.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Chrysalia is invoked rhetorically by Devinoni as an offstage bargaining chip — an exoticized world whose rumored demographics are sold to Goss to stimulate greed and desire, turning geography into a persuasive commodity.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Devinoni's manipulative tactics in negotiations parallel his later manipulation of Goss."
"Devinoni's manipulative tactics in negotiations parallel his later manipulation of Goss."
"Riker's critique of Devinoni's values resonates later when Devinoni expresses remorse."
"Riker's critique of Devinoni's values resonates later when Devinoni expresses remorse."
"Riker's critique of Devinoni's values resonates later when Devinoni expresses remorse."
Key Dialogue
"DEVINONI: She could have been yours, Will. But you didn't do enough to keep her, and now, I'm here and I'm going to take her too."
"RIKER: If you bring happiness into Deanna's life, nothing would please me more. You're not really a bad sort, Ral, you just don't have any values... beyond the value of today's bid, that is."
"DEVINONI: On Chrysalia, the women outnumber the men four to one. They virtually throw themselves at your feet..."