Rishon Chooses Home
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Picard makes a final plea for them to leave for their safety, which Rishon refuses despite her fear.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
The group is absent but their loss looms; the referenced voice (Kevin) expresses guilt and defensiveness which echoes the group's absence and heightens moral weight.
Referenced in the conversation as the larger group of victims; in this event one member (Kevin) is verbally present, admitting non‑combatant conscience and abruptly leaving the room, creating tension and eliciting defense from Rishon.
- • Serve as moral context to highlight who did not survive.
- • Provide emotional pressure that motivates Picard's inquiry.
- • Frame the ethical stakes of evacuation and justice.
- • Their deaths matter and should prompt action.
- • Survival of a few raises questions of fairness and cause.
- • Collective loss imposes moral obligation on rescuers/investigators.
Warm and nostalgic shifting to frightened and distraught, but ending in resolute defiance about staying.
Radiant and talkative at first, telling a romantic origin story; defends Kevin when questioned, becomes frightened when the warship is discussed, and ultimately refuses evacuation, citing love and attachment to Rana.
- • Keep her husband emotionally supported and understood.
- • Preserve the life they built on Rana despite danger.
- • Humanize their survival to disarm suspicion and retain agency.
- • Love and habit anchor her identity and choices.
- • Personal attachment can justify risk-taking.
- • The ship's help is appreciated but not necessarily desirable if it means abandoning Rana.
Measured and composed at first; becomes quietly concerned and morally troubled as Kevin's admission reframes the situation.
Sits in the living room, drinks tea, keeps a calm diplomatic posture while pressing for factual answers about why the Uxbridges survived; shifts from relaxed guest to fully alert investigator and offers evacuation for their safety.
- • Determine objective reason the Uxbridges survived when others did not.
- • Ensure the physical safety of the civilians and the Enterprise crew.
- • Gather information about the attacking warship to assess threat level.
- • Duty to protect civilians and obey Starfleet protocols.
- • Truth and explanation are necessary before taking action.
- • Individual rights must be respected even when investigating possible wrongdoing.
Uncomfortable socially but alert; restrained vigilance underlies his brief comments.
Present at the tea, awkward and out of place; samples the tea with polite brevity and maintains a quiet, watchful security presence, registering the threat of the warship and Picard's concern.
- • Monitor immediate physical threat to the house and occupants.
- • Support Picard by providing a security-minded presence.
- • Assess whether the Uxbridges will accept evacuation or pose a continued risk.
- • Protective duty to the captain and civilians is paramount.
- • Clear, efficient assessment is better than speculation.
- • Physical safety can require decisive action if needed.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Kevin's threadbare suit and mismatched shoes are invoked in Rishon's anecdote as proof of his humble past and the romantic origins of their life together; they function narratively to humanize Kevin and complicate moral judgment.
The portable matter replicator is explicitly thanked by Rishon — a concrete token of Picard's aid. It functions as an offered lifeline and a symbol of Starfleet's practical assistance that complicates Picard's later request to evacuate them.
The unidentified attacking warship is the looming external threat discussed in the conversation. Its recent encounter with the Enterprise and possible return catalyze fear, force Picard's safety request, and provoke Kevin's defensive claim that the ship 'didn't hurt us before.'
A small cup of tea functions as the social pivot of the scene: characters sip it, Worf samples it awkwardly, and Picard uses the relaxed ritual to press difficult questions. The cup anchors intimacy and slows rhythm so confessions feel domestic rather than forensic.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The ship-at-sea is a remembered location invoked by Rishon as the romantic origin of the couple's bond. It functions narratively to soften the moral charge around Kevin and to humanize the couple's decision to remain — a memory that justifies emotional choices in the present.
The Delta Rana Star System is the broader forensic backdrop — the site of the colony's destruction and the Enterprise's recent tactical contact. It contextualizes the living-room conversation as part of a rescue/investigation mission and keeps strategic stakes active even during the intimate exchange.
The Uxbridge living room sits as an unblemished domestic island inside scorched earth. It is the intimate stage for the interrogation, where private history and public catastrophe intersect. The contrast between hearth and ruin sharpens moral questions and forces Picard to confront human motives in a non‑military setting.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Kevin's pacifism echoes his refusal to defend Rishon."
"Kevin's pacifism echoes his refusal to defend Rishon."
"Kevin's pacifism echoes his refusal to defend Rishon."
"Kevin's hint at his 'special conscience' foreshadows his revelation as a Douwd."
"Kevin's hint at his 'special conscience' foreshadows his revelation as a Douwd."
"Kevin's hint at his 'special conscience' foreshadows his revelation as a Douwd."
Key Dialogue
"KEVIN: I was wondering, Captain, when you and your ship would be leaving..."
"KEVIN: There was a difference... I am a man of special conscience. While the others were doing what they could, I chose not to fight."
"PICARD: Before we go I ask you one more time to come to the ship. For your own safety."
"RISHON: I'm frightened, Captain. But I can't leave Rana. Even if it means my life."