The Withered Captain
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Worf stands at the ready with a phaser as Data and Riker enter; they find CAPTAIN TELAKA sprawled face-down across his desk, his hand still clutching a communications device. The hand's thin, bony, wrinkled condition turns the entry from routine alert into immediate alarm.
Riker demands Telaka's age; Data answers 'Thirty-two earth years,' and Riker, braced for the worst, gently turns Telaka's head to confirm the horror: a withered, transparent face stretched over a toothless skull. The clinical question yields a violent, physical proof of something grotesquely wrong.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Detached scientific focus
Data enters the quarters to conduct analysis, providing factual confirmation about Telaka's biological age when questioned. His dispassionate response forms a clinical counterpoint to the visceral horror of the scene.
- • Gather factual information about the situation
- • Provide accurate data to support mission assessment
- • Empirical facts are crucial for understanding phenomena
- • Biological anomalies require systematic verification
Professionally restrained with underlying tension
Worf enters the quarters with phaser drawn, maintaining security protocols in an unknown threat environment. His disciplined stance and weapon readiness demonstrate vigilance against potential danger despite finding only a corpse.
- • Secure the quarters from potential threats
- • Protect the away team during investigation
- • Unknown biological hazards require maximum security precautions
- • Starfleet protocol must be maintained even in shocking circumstances
Maintained professionalism giving way to shock
Riker examines the corpse with professional detachment until turning Telaka's head, when he cannot suppress a visible reaction to the extreme biological decay. His questioning of Data frames the scientific investigation of the phenomenon.
- • Assess the situation and identify next steps
- • Maintain command presence despite disturbing discovery
- • Visual evidence requires verification despite horror
- • Leadership requires processing shock before acting
Deceased
Captain Telaka's corpse serves as the shocking physical evidence of the temporal contagion's effects - a Starfleet officer in his prime reduced to a centuries-old husk still clutching a communicator, his face a skeletal horror when turned by Riker.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Worf's phaser remains at the ready throughout the disturbing discovery, its presence showing Starfleet's vigilance against potential threats even when confronting biological rather than military dangers. The weapon doesn't fire but symbolizes security protocols in unknown danger situations.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
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Key Dialogue
"RIKER: How old was Captain Telaka?"
"DATA: Thirty-two earth years."