From Ceremony to Deployment — Assembling the Away Team
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Picard orders an away team; Troi urges caution, and Riker assembles Worf and Doctor Pulaski for an away detail in Transporter Room Three.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Not emotionally present; functions as a dispassionate referent that colors the present contact with historical weight.
Is referenced by Data as 'Captain Walter Granger' — his historical existence is invoked to provide lineage and archeological context for the Mariposa contact, though he is not present.
- • As a historical figure, to serve as a point of investigation tying past missions to present inhabitants
- • Provide potential genealogical explanation for shared names
- • Historical records and manifests can explain present cultural continuities
- • Names and recorded officers carry socio-political significance across generations
Calm, courteous exterior that immediately shifts to focused command — pragmatic and alert without overt alarm.
Stands and receives the vid-link, delivers a formal identification, politely accepts Granger's hospitality, then pivotally issues an away-team order that converts diplomacy into action.
- • Establish formal contact and reassure Mariposa of Federation presence
- • Protect the ship and crew by initiating an on-site investigation
- • Federation duty requires verification and engagement even when politically sensitive
- • Early, controlled investigation reduces later risk to crew
Alert and duty-focused; prepared to follow orders and act as the team's security anchor.
Announces the planet's signal briskly and is then named by Riker to join the away team, occupying the role of security and disciplined presence for the imminent reconnaissance.
- • Ensure the safety of the away team
- • Carry out assigned security protocols without hesitation
- • Clear command structure and readiness prevent compounding danger
- • His role is to protect others rather than to question orders
Clinically curious and slightly conjectural; attentive to data that contextualizes the contact.
Makes an analytic archival observation linking the on-screen Granger to Captain Walter Granger, providing a factual thread that frames the contact historically and raises questions of lineage and continuity.
- • Provide relevant historical context to inform command decisions
- • Surface possible genealogical or forensic leads connected to the Mariposa contact
- • Historical records are useful for interpreting contemporary anomalies
- • Linking names and manifests can reveal motive or continuity
Controlled readiness; confident and mildly impatient to translate uncertainty into tangible reconnaissance.
Responds to Troi's caution with pragmatic resolve, volunteers to lead the landing party, calls for Worf and Dr. Pulaski, and immediately names Transporter Room Three as the staging point.
- • Quickly assess the situation on Mariposa
- • Protect the Enterprise by fielding a trained away team
- • Firsthand inspection is the fastest way to resolve diplomatic ambiguity
- • A compact, well-led team minimizes exposure and maximizes control
Concerned and internally urgent — senses dissonance beneath Granger's civility and presses for restraint.
Quietly voices a psychic warning that Mister Granger is concealing something, injecting emotional skepticism and ethical caution into a primarily procedural exchange.
- • Alert command to potential hidden danger or deception
- • Prevent psychological trauma or diplomatic missteps by urging caution
- • Emotional and empathic impressions can and should inform operational decisions
- • A rushed response risks unnecessary harm to both crew and civilians
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The forward viewscreen serves as the conduit for diplomatic contact: it presents Prime Minister Granger's face, frames the exchange, and then goes blank to punctuate the transition from hospitality to command. Its visual presence anchors the emotional register of the scene and allows remote persona projection.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Enterprise main bridge is the stage where diplomacy, analysis, and command collide. Officers gather, exchange formalities, evaluate archival links, register psychic warning, and convert a welcoming vid-link into mission orders. The bridge condenses institutional responsibility into a concentrated decision-making moment.
Transporter Room Three is named as the immediate staging point for the away team; it functions as the operational hinge between ordered intent on the bridge and physical deployment to Mariposa.
The Conn station is present as the operational helm niche; a supernumerary mans it while the ship holds orbital position, contributing navigational stability that enables safe vid-link and away-team deployment.
The orbit of Mariposa is the silent external presence that gives stakes to the contact: the ringed planet fills the main viewer and functions as the destination and the source of the signal that triggers the scene's operational pivot.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Granger’s 'Not quite a descendant' remark hints at cloning, which Pulaski soon confirms explicitly."
"Granger’s 'Not quite a descendant' remark hints at cloning, which Pulaski soon confirms explicitly."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"TROI: "I would urge caution. Mister Granger is hiding something.""
"PICARD: "Number One, form an away team.""
"RIKER: "Mister Worf. Doctor Pulaski join me in Transporter Room Three for an away detail.""