Course Set — Aid With Conditions
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Picard sits in his command chair and orders Wesley to set coordinates for Starbase Lya Three.
Wesley confirms the coordinates are set, and Picard commands the Enterprise to engage, signaling the end of the mission.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Focused and professional — no visible hesitation, executing orders with quiet competence.
Wesley Crusher, at the Conn, promptly implements Picard's navigation order: he enters and confirms coordinates for the starbase at Lya Three and reports back that the coordinates are set.
- • Accurately set and confirm the navigation coordinates ordered by the captain.
- • Enable a prompt, safe departure to the starbase.
- • Support the bridge crew by ensuring technical tasks are completed.
- • Maintain operational readiness during the ship's transition.
- • Bridge orders should be executed without delay and with precision.
- • Accurate navigation is essential to maintain command decisions and safety.
- • Following the captain's instructions preserves order and completes the mission.
- • Technical competence on the Conn underpins larger diplomatic and tactical outcomes.
Calm, controlled, morally resolute — composed on surface while delivering a clear, consequential judgment.
Captain Picard authoritatively converts tactical closure into a diplomatic record: he instructs Riker to record conditional Federation aid, predicts Angosia's survival, sits in the command chair, issues navigation orders to Lya Three, and gives the final "Engage.
- • Document a conditional Federation policy that ties aid to political responsibility.
- • Secure a safe, orderly departure to the starbase (Lya Three) and close the mission.
- • Preserve leverage over Angosia by making aid contingent on accountability.
- • Protect the Enterprise crew and the Federation's diplomatic standing.
- • The Federation should help victims only if the responsible government is accountable.
- • Formalizing policy in the ship's report creates enforceable political leverage.
- • Angosia's government is likely to choose survival and accept responsibility.
- • Orderly procedure and symbolic acts (sitting, issuing 'Engage') matter for morale and authority.
Practical concern and curiosity — probing for consequences rather than emotional reaction; professionally alert to diplomatic fallout.
Commander Riker seeks operational and political clarity: he asks whether the mission was a success and pushes the question about consequences if Angosia's government falls, prompting Picard to articulate the conditional aid policy.
- • Confirm immediate tactical success and the status of the mission.
- • Clarify diplomatic and political ramifications for the crew and Federation.
- • Ensure the captain's intentions are recorded and actionable.
- • Keep the chain of command informed and the mission closed cleanly.
- • Outcomes on the ground (government survival) will determine political consequences.
- • Clear orders and written records are necessary to convert intent into policy.
- • The captain's judgment will shape how Starfleet and the Federation respond.
- • Pragmatic questions help ground strategic choices in operational reality.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
A compact set of navigational coordinates and authorization data (the 'coordinates' concept) is called into service when Picard orders a course for Lya Three; the data bundle is entered and acknowledged, sealing the ship's immediate destination and marking the mission's operational end.
Riker's Mission Report functions as the repository for Picard's conditional diplomatic directive: Picard commands that the note be made in the report tying Federation rehabilitative aid to Angosia's survival and acceptance of responsibility, transforming a verbal judgment into an official record.
The Captain's Chair provides a visual and procedural punctuation: Picard sits to signal formal command, settle responsibility, and issue final orders. The act of sitting codifies the transition from field operation to command judgment and departure.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Main Bridge Conn serves as the operational hub where tactical closure becomes bureaucratic and navigational action: Wesley at the Conn inputs the captain's coordinates, Riker and Picard exchange policy, and the bridge's consoles translate the moral decision into a plotted course and executed command.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Picard's strategic withdrawal from the Angosian capitol naturally leads to his subsequent instructions to Riker regarding the Federation's offer of assistance."
"Picard's strategic withdrawal from the Angosian capitol naturally leads to his subsequent instructions to Riker regarding the Federation's offer of assistance."
"Picard's strategic withdrawal from the Angosian capitol naturally leads to his subsequent instructions to Riker regarding the Federation's offer of assistance."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"PICARD: "Number One, note in your report that if the government of Angosia survives the night, we will offer Federation assistance in the efforts to reprogram their veterans.""
"RIKER: "And if the government doesn't survive?" PICARD: "I have a feeling they will choose to.""
"PICARD: "Mister Crusher, set coordinates for the starbase at Lya Three." WESLEY: "Coordinates set, Captain." PICARD: "Engage.""