Rush to the Cloning Lab — Discovery of Tissue Theft
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Rage ignites; Riker bolts for the door vowing to hit the cloning lab, and Pulaski and Geordi race after him.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Pragmatically shocked — maintains clinical detachment while registering personal violation and ethical alarm.
Pulaski recounts being called to Granger's office, expresses memory gaps, unlimbers her tricorder and scans Geordi, Riker and herself; she delivers the clinical finding that she and Riker lack epithelial cells and explains why those cells are prized for cloning, then follows after Riker toward the cloning lab.
- • Diagnose and document the physiological anomaly
- • Clarify the medical implications of missing epithelial cells
- • Hold the colony accountable and prevent further abuse
- • Objective medical data is the proper basis for action
- • Nonconsensual tissue harvesting is a grave ethical breach
- • Starfleet has an obligation to intervene when bodily autonomy is violated
Collective urgency and cold pragmatism — actions motivated by existential need rather than individual malice.
The Mariposan Clones are implicated by Geordi's VISOR and Pulaski's scans as having lied about the crew's whereabouts and as the likely perpetrators of nonconsensual tissue harvesting; they operate as an unseen but active collective influence on events.
- • Acquire genetic material to sustain replicative viability
- • Conceal methods and maintain social order on Mariposa
- • Preserving the clone population justifies deceptive tactics
- • Secrecy is necessary to avoid outside intervention or condemnation
Implied defensiveness or evasiveness — his reported claim creates a contradiction that inflames the crew's mistrust.
Walter Granger is not present but is referenced by Geordi as having told investigators he had not seen Riker or Pulaski; his off‑screen statement becomes a focal datapoint that deepens suspicion about the clones' deception.
- • Preserve official appearances and manage diplomatic relations
- • Distance himself from allegations of wrongdoing
- • Maintaining institutional calm is preferable to public panic
- • Denial or limited disclosure can protect the colony's reputation
Righteously furious — anger directed at the perceived bodily violation and the colony's deception, thinly veiled by professional command impulse.
Riker sits quietly then grows visibly grim as Geordi explains the lies; upon Pulaski's tricorder confirming missing epithelial cells he abruptly bolts for the cloning lab, turning anger into immediate physical action.
- • Confront the source of the deception in person
- • Recover or stop further nonconsensual harvesting
- • Protect Pulaski and assert Starfleet authority
- • The clones' deception indicates immediate, actionable harm
- • Personal intervention is necessary when ethics are violated
- • Incompetence or delay will allow further abuse
Concerned and determined; professional curiosity quickly hardens into protective urgency when Pulaski confirms missing tissue.
Geordi enters Pulaski's office, reports inconsistent answers from clones, removes his VISOR to demonstrate physiological lie detection, listens to Pulaski's scan results and immediately follows Riker when he bolts for the cloning lab.
- • Establish whether the clones lied and why
- • Translate VISOR evidence into actionable conclusions
- • Support the crew (Riker and Pulaski) and pursue the suspected wrongdoing
- • Physiological cues reliably indicate deception in humans
- • If crew members' cells are missing, something unethical has occurred
- • Technical evidence can and should trigger immediate Starfleet action
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Pulaski unlimbers her medical tricorder and scans Geordi, Riker, and herself. The tricorder produces the decisive biometric readout: missing epithelial cells in Pulaski and Riker, converting suspicion into clinically verified evidence for nonconsensual tissue harvesting.
Geordi removes his VISOR and explains how its sensors detect physiological markers of lying (blush, pupil dilation, pulse, breath rate). The VISOR functions as both demonstrative evidence and the inciting instrument that raises suspicion about the clones' truthfulness.
Geordi's piano is invoked only as a rhetorical quip to lighten tension when Pulaski begins scanning; it functions as a brief humanizing aside that contrasts with the clinical discovery that follows.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Granger's office is referenced as the place Pulaski was summoned to and where, according to Granger's report, neither Pulaski nor Riker were seen. The office functions here as a geographic touchstone and a point of contradiction that fuels suspicion about deception.
The Mariposa cloning laboratory is not on stage but is invoked as the immediate destination: the suspected site of nonconsensual tissue harvesting and the next battleground. The revelation in Pulaski's office reframes the lab from theoretical violation to an actionable crime scene.
Pulaski's office is the confined, clinical space where the sequence unfolds: a private setting turning forensic, where medical tools and quiet conversation produce an explosive moral conclusion. The office concentrates authority and intimacy, allowing the tricorder reading and VISOR demonstration to land with maximal personal impact.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Geordi’s suspicion after Granger lies sends him to verify Riker and Pulaski’s status, initiating the investigation."
"Geordi’s VISOR-based lie detection and the inconsistencies catalyze the urgent move to the cloning lab."
"Geordi’s VISOR-based lie detection and the inconsistencies catalyze the urgent move to the cloning lab."
"Pulaski’s confirmation of stolen epithelial cells triggers Riker’s furious destruction of his developing clones."
"Pulaski’s confirmation of stolen epithelial cells triggers Riker’s furious destruction of his developing clones."
Key Dialogue
"GEORDI: "Yeah, every time I asked where you were, some clone lied to me.""
"PULASKI: "Will and I, however, are.""
"RIKER: "To that cloning lab.""