Fabula
S2E11 · Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
S2E11
· Contagion (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Engineering: Probe-Linked Contagion

In Main Engineering Geordi La Forge frantically triages cascading, apparently random system failures while Picard's voiceover reframes the malfunctions as possibly the same affliction that destroyed the Yamato. Geordi isolates a critical lead: an alien probe in the Yamato logs. He admits he cannot yet explain the mechanism and demands physical access to the probe to prove the connection. His plea — and warning that the infection could spread shipwide — crystallizes the probe as an immediate existential threat and forces command to weigh urgent containment against the limited time they have. This scene functions as a turning point: it converts technical glitches into a focused, contagious danger and escalates command tension between measured investigation and desperate action.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

4

Geordi hustles between stations, scribbling on a PADD as systems teeter; a com sounds and he lunges to answer, his movement compressing routine troubleshooting into urgent triage.

focused to anxious ['Main Engineering']

Geordi tells command he can rule out a design flaw and connects the Yamato's destruction to an alien probe, but demands to see the probe itself to prove the link.

analytical to urgent

Picard presses for an explanation of the Enterprise's failures; Geordi admits he cannot yet account for how the probe would affect their ship, leaving the threat ambiguous and unresolved.

inquisitive to unsettled

Geordi warns the problems may escalate to Yamato-level severity and pleads for time to investigate; Picard snaps back that time is their scarcest resource, compressing the window for action and raising the stakes.

hopeful pleading to dire urgency

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

2
Jean-Luc Picard
Captain
 primary

Calmly authoritative but quietly anxious — professional composure that carries an undercurrent of mounting alarm.

Provides the scene's connective tissue through a captain's log voiceover and direct com queries; presses Geordi for progress and frames the engineering failures against the Yamato precedent, imposing urgency and command perspective.

Goals in this moment
  • • Ascertain whether the Enterprise's failures match the Yamato's catastrophe.
  • • Obtain actionable information quickly to guide containment and command decisions.
Active beliefs
  • • The Yamato's fate is the most relevant precedent and may inform their response.
  • • Time is scarce; slow investigation risks repeating catastrophe.
Character traits
authoritative measured concerned procedural
Follow Jean-Luc Picard's journey
Geordi La Forge
Chief Engineer
 primary

Driven and anxious — confident in his analytical lead yet unsettled by the unknown mechanism and the potential speed of spread.

Frantic, focused: hurries between consoles with a PADD, annotating and cross‑checking the Yamato's log, deduces a probable link to an alien probe, admits he cannot yet explain the mechanism, and urgently requests physical access to the probe to prove the connection.

Goals in this moment
  • • Validate the hypothesis by examining the physical probe to convert inference into proof.
  • • Gain enough time and access to develop a defensive or corrective engineering response.
Active beliefs
  • • The Yamato's log contains the critical evidence linking the failures to a foreign device.
  • • The system failures are not random design flaws but symptomatic of a contagion-like influence that could escalate rapidly.
Character traits
analytical evidence-driven urgent direct
Follow Geordi La …'s journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

1
Geordi La Forge's Engineering PADD (Engineering Systems Data)

Geordi holds and actively consults this PADD, which displays and annotates the Yamato's diagnostic logs; it functions as the tangible evidence that converts abstract system glitches into a traceable data trail implicating an alien probe.

Before: In Geordi's possession at an engineering station, displaying …
After: Remains in Geordi's hands as flagged, critical evidence …
Before: In Geordi's possession at an engineering station, displaying Yamato diagnostic entries and open for annotation.
After: Remains in Geordi's hands as flagged, critical evidence — a focal point for requesting physical probe access and further forensic work.

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

2
Iconia (Iconian Homeworld)

The Iconian Homeworld is referenced as the Enterprise's destination, providing geopolitical and narrative stakes; its mention frames the probe's possible origin and the larger risk if advanced Iconian tech is involved.

Atmosphere Ominous and distant — an offstage presence that raises the stakes and lends urgency to …
Function Narrative target/destination that contextualizes the importance of solving the onboard crisis before arrival.
Symbolism Symbolizes dangerous, ancient technology and the possibility that unseen, superior systems could wreak catastrophic damage.
The ship is 'en route to Iconia' — the destination is invoked rather than pictured Iconia connotes relic engineering and strategic consequence
Main Engineering

Main Engineering is the operational crucible for this discovery: technicians bustle, consoles are active, and Geordi moves between stations to synthesize ship data with the Yamato's logs, turning scattered failures into a single, actionable lead.

Atmosphere Busy and anxious — purposeful motion under strain, a tension between calm procedure and rising …
Function Operational hub and battleground where technical diagnosis becomes strategic intelligence.
Symbolism Represents the thin line between institutional competence and systemic collapse; engineering is where knowledge either …
Access Practically restricted to engineering personnel and senior officers during crisis operations.
Geordi moving between stations and clutching a PADD Five other crewmembers hurrying about Ship com sounding and punctuating activity

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

"PICARD ((V.O.)): Captain's log, supplemental. As happened with her sister, the Enterprise is being plagued by a series of system failures. So far they are random, but perhaps early symptoms of what happened to the Yamato."
"GEORDI: A solution, no sir, but I can eliminate one worry. It is not a design flaw. I've been reviewing the Yamato's log, and I think maybe that alien probe had something to do with her problems."
"PICARD'S COM VOICE: Lieutenant, time is the one thing which we do not have in abundance."