Taggert's Revelations About Pulaski
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
CAPTAIN TAGGERT's mustachioed face fills the Ready Room viewscreen, announcing an external presence younger and more casual than Picard and shifting the scene's focus to a remote interlocutor.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Jovial exterior concealing competitive professional admiration
Taggert dominates the viewscreen with boisterous energy, shrugging off protocol to gossip frankly about Pulaski. His mustache quivers with amused exasperation as he describes her stubbornness, softening into genuine respect when praising her medical skills.
- • Justify losing Pulaski to Picard's command
- • Subtly assert his own captaincy by showcasing insider knowledge
- • Personal bonds matter as much as Starfleet protocol
- • Exceptional officers deserve accommodation (like shuttlecraft privileges)
Calculated composure masking intellectual fascination
Picard listens intently to Taggert's revelations, his body language composed but micro-expressions revealing genuine surprise—particularly at learning Pulaski admired him. His professional demeanor barely contains his intrigue as he processes these new layers to his CMO's character.
- • Understand the true nature of Pulaski's transfer to his ship
- • Assess Taggert's reliability as an informant about his crew
- • Command requires insight into subordinates' unspoken motivations
- • Personal quirks like transporter phobia reveal deeper character truths
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The viewscreen serves as the physical conduit for this private conversation between captains, framing Taggert's expressive face in the ready room's subdued lighting. Its clinical functionality contrasts with the intimate nature of the personnel insights being shared, underscoring how technology mediates human relationships in Starfleet.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The ready room becomes a confessional booth for command-level gossip, its sound-dampened walls containing Taggert's startling revelations about Pulaski. Starfleet protocol normally dictates this space's formality, disrupted momentarily by Taggert's casual demeanor and improper candor about transporter record purging.
Though physically light-years away, the Repulse's presence looms large in the conversation as the origin point of Pulaski's controversial personnel records and Taggert's professional anecdotes. The ship's operational culture—particularly its tolerance for Pulaski's eccentricities—becomes a silent counterpoint to Enterprise protocols.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Key Dialogue
"TAGGERT: Sorry, Picard. We purged Doctor Pulaski's trace right after her transfer. Not that she used the transporter much, she preferred using the shuttlecraft. I'd have given her a shuttle if it would have kept her here. Best CMO I ever served with."
"PICARD: Tell me, Taggart. If she served you as well as you say, why did you let her go?"
"TAGGERT: The moment she heard of the opening on the Enterprise, she put in a request for transfer. Knew your service record backward and forward. Apparently she's been an admirer of yours for some time."