Shuttle Bay Discovery — The Future Picard
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
The Enterprise pulls a derelict Federation shuttle into Shuttle Bay Two, and a second identical shuttle is revealed — the crew's initial curiosity fractures into disbelieving dread as the impossible duplicates confirm a temporal anomaly.
Riker reads the shuttle’s registration — NCC-1701-D — and locks eyes with Worf as the chilling realization dawns: the Enterprise has two of its own shuttles, identical down to the serial number, shattering the assumption of singular reality.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Urgent and cautious; she prioritizes medical safety over curiosity or command pressure.
Pulaski performs medical scans on the unconscious duplicate Picard, reports puzzling vitals (strong but off-rhythm heartbeat; brain waves 'out of phase'), refuses to attempt revival outside Sickbay, and organizes removal of the patient with her assistant.
- • Stabilize and transport the duplicate patient to Sickbay for controlled diagnostics.
- • Prevent premature or dangerous medical interventions in an anomalous case.
- • Provide clear medical information to command about the patient's condition.
- • Medical procedures must occur in controlled environments to avoid harm.
- • The patient poses unknown risks; unusual readings warrant conservative care.
- • Command must be informed, but medical protocol cannot be bypassed for expediency.
Strained and confounded; externally controlled but internally perturbed by the existential implications.
Picard arrives (after a com exchange), takes in the impossible sight of his duplicate slumped in a shuttle, listens to Pulaski's medical assessment, directs Troi and Data toward diagnostic and forensic tasks, and moves to Sickbay while delegating bridge oversight.
- • Obtain the shuttle's logs and technical data to understand causality.
- • Ensure the duplicate is handled medically and that the ship's safety is prioritized.
- • Maintain command continuity by delegating bridge duties appropriately.
- • Accurate information (logs, diagnostics) is the path to resolving anomalies.
- • He must protect the crew and the ship, even when personally affected.
- • Medical protocol must be respected despite the personal resonance of the situation.
Clinical curiosity; focused on problem-solving with no visible emotional perturbation.
Data enters the damaged shuttle, attempts to power its systems, reports that both primary and reserve power have been drained, and states he must connect the shuttle to the Enterprise to access its logs.
- • Restore power to the shuttle systems sufficiently to read onboard logs.
- • Gather objective data to explain the duplicate and its provenance.
- • Provide technical recommendations to command for handling the anomaly.
- • Empirical evidence (logs, power diagnostics) will reveal the nature of the paradox.
- • Technical solutions and controlled diagnostics are the correct path forward.
- • Maintaining procedural rigor minimizes risk in anomalous systems.
Baffled but suspicious; maintains tactical alertness while processing the implications.
Worf accompanies Riker into the bay, reports the contextual anomaly (no Federation vessels nearby), observes both shuttles and assesses physical evidence; stands ready as security and a skeptical witness to the impossible duplicate.
- • Ensure the shuttle bay and crew remain secure.
- • Establish whether this is a hostile or unknown environmental threat.
- • Support command in collecting physical evidence.
- • An unexplained object near the ship is potentially dangerous and must be contained.
- • Physical evidence and sensor reports will reveal the nature of the threat.
Shocked and concerned on the surface; quickly shifts into controlled command-mode, containing panic through procedure.
Riker escorts the shuttle as it's hauled aboard, reads the registration aloud, discovers the duplicate shuttle and duplicate Picard, coordinates responses (calls for Data, directs bridge return), and briefly remains to supervise the shuttle bay transfer before returning to the bridge.
- • Verify the shuttle's registration and the nature of the anomaly.
- • Secure the scene and coordinate technical and medical resources (summon Data, order La Forge).
- • Keep command informed and preserve ship safety by returning to the bridge with critical information.
- • Anomalies can be contained by competent procedure and chain-of-command.
- • Information and logs (shuttle registration, records) will provide the explanation needed.
- • Immediate, measured action reduces risk to the ship.
Quietly unsettled and uncertain; her empathic reading adds emotional weight to the technical mystery.
Troi enters the bay unbidden, senses empathically that the unconscious man is the same person as Picard at a deep level, but warns she cannot fully elaborate until the patient is conscious.
- • Provide emotional and empathic context to the medical and command teams.
- • Help determine whether the duplicate is truly the same person on an identity level.
- • Support Picard emotionally and advise medical procedures accordingly.
- • Psychic/empathic signals can reveal identity and motive where instruments cannot.
- • The patient's conscious state may change or clarify empathic impressions.
- • Emotional truth matters in decisions that will affect command and crew welfare.
Concerned but professional; focused on executing Pulaski's directives efficiently.
Pulaski's assistant supports the medical examination and the physical removal of the duplicate Picard, following Pulaski's orders and preparing the patient for transport to Sickbay.
- • Assist in accurate diagnostics and safe removal of the patient.
- • Ensure the patient reaches Sickbay without further compromise.
- • Relay medical needs to Sickbay and command as required.
- • Following medical command and procedure minimizes risk to patients.
- • Team coordination is essential under emergent medical circumstances.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The shuttle's primary and reserve power systems are diagnostic obstacles: both are drained, preventing onboard diagnostics and necessitating a ship-to-shuttle connection to access logs. Their drained state is a concrete technical clue pointing to catastrophic energy discharge (antimatter burn) and temporal disturbance.
A shuttle bay control panel is used by an unnamed crewmember to attach a secondary tractor beam which releases the first beam and transfers haul control — a procedural action that enables the shuttle's retrieval and the subsequent discovery of the duplicate shuttle and Picard.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Main Bridge is referenced as the contrast point and ultimate locus of command: Riker will return there to consolidate command; Picard delegates bridge responsibility while he pursues medical and forensic answers.
Sickbay is invoked as the necessary, controlled environment for reviving and fully diagnosing the anomalous duplicate Picard; Pulaski insists on transport there before attempting any invasive procedures.
Shuttle Bay Two is the staging ground for the revelation: doors open to admit the derelict shuttle, tractor operations are performed, medical triage and forensic inspection occur, and the duplicate shuttle is discovered across the bay. The bay compresses technical procedure and raw human reaction, making the abstract threat physical and immediate.
Shuttle Bay Two is the staging ground for the revelation: doors open to admit the derelict shuttle, tractor operations are performed, medical triage and forensic inspection occur, and the duplicate shuttle is discovered across the bay. The bay compresses technical procedure and raw human reaction, making the abstract threat physical and immediate.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Riker’s discovery of the duplicate shuttle registration (NCC-1701-D) directly causes the realization that there are two identical shuttles, which is confirmed when Picard on the bridge is contacted via com — shattering reality and triggering the temporal paradox at the core of the narrative."
"Riker’s discovery of the duplicate shuttle registration (NCC-1701-D) directly causes the realization that there are two identical shuttles, which is confirmed when Picard on the bridge is contacted via com — shattering reality and triggering the temporal paradox at the core of the narrative."
"Riker’s discovery of the duplicate shuttle registration (NCC-1701-D) directly causes the realization that there are two identical shuttles, which is confirmed when Picard on the bridge is contacted via com — shattering reality and triggering the temporal paradox at the core of the narrative."
"Riker’s discovery of the duplicate shuttle registration (NCC-1701-D) directly causes the realization that there are two identical shuttles, which is confirmed when Picard on the bridge is contacted via com — shattering reality and triggering the temporal paradox at the core of the narrative."
"The shock of discovering a duplicate shuttle echoes in Picard’s visceral confrontation with his unconscious duplicate. Both moments shatter physical and psychological certainty — one through mechanical duplication, the other through existential replication — linking the crew’s external crisis to Picard’s internal disintegration."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"NCC one-seven-zero-one-D -- USS Enterprise, shuttle number five."
"The life signs are confusing. I get a strong heartbeat, but the rhythm is off."
"Both primary and reserve power has been drained from the shuttle. I am going to have to connect to the Enterprise in order to activate the shuttle's systems."