Viewscreen Alarm — Damaged Enterprise‑C Identified
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Captain Picard urgently questions Data about the mysterious ship appearing in the temporal rift, signaling the onset of an unknown crisis.
Picard, now in a more authoritative tone, directly asks Tasha to identify the ship, hinting at heightened tensions and potential threats.
Tasha Yar, now inexplicably present at Tactical, reports interference, unable to identify the ship—deepening the mystery of the temporal rift's impact.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Concentrated and professional with an undercurrent of surprise — composed while registering an unexpected, grave identification.
Tasha (Yar) crisply runs the expanded Tactical station, reports interference, pushes diagnostics, and reads the registry aloud in mounting surprise as the letters and numbers resolve into 'NCC‑1701‑C.' Her delivery is efficient but carries stunned recognition.
- • Clear interference to obtain an authoritative ID
- • Relay accurate tactical and registry information to command
- • Maintain situational awareness and shield readiness
- • Sensor data and registry reads are decisive in threat classification
- • Tactical clarity prevents unnecessary escalation
- • An identified Federation vessel changes the ethical calculus of response
Focused and solemn — professionally alert while internally aware of the gravity of the sudden discovery.
Wesley occupies a bridge station in a standard Ensign's uniform, executing duties with quiet diligence and assisting sensor/tactical efforts while absorbing the seriousness of the moment.
- • Support senior officers by executing assigned technical tasks
- • Ensure sensor data and readouts are relayed accurately
- • Learn from the unfolding high-stakes situation
- • Following orders and technical protocol yields the best outcomes
- • Accurate sensor work is vital in anomalies
- • Senior officers will make the final strategic call
Urgent and controlled — outwardly authoritative while internally troubled by the implications of a Federation ship appearing in a temporal rift.
Picard immediately seizes command of the moment: he orders identification, frames the threat, and physically and verbally snaps the crew to attention, registering both operational danger and existential concern.
- • Determine whether the ship is friend or foe
- • Protect the crew and ship from immediate threat
- • Gather facts that will inform a larger moral/strategic decision about the rift
- • Command responsibility requires rapid, accurate assessment
- • Anomalous temporal events must be treated with both tactical and ethical seriousness
- • Preserving crew safety is primary, but history and Federation integrity matter
Calmly attentive — outwardly unemotional while processing complex sensor and registry data.
Data is the named focus of Picard's call — the bridge looks to his analytic capacity even though he speaks no explicit lines here; he is implicitly responsible for resolving sensor ambiguity and aiding identification.
- • Provide accurate identification and sensor interpretation
- • Reduce interference and clarify readings for command
- • Support Picard with objective, actionable data
- • Objective data is the proper basis for command decisions
- • Sensor and registry systems can resolve ambiguity if correctly interrogated
- • Duty requires immediate, reliable assistance to command
Calmly alert — noting facts and keeping emotional display minimal to support command cohesion.
Riker contributes a terse, off‑screen observation about the battered appearance of the other ship, signaling practical assessment without melodrama and anchoring the bridge's reaction in battlefield reality.
- • Assess tactical implications of the other ship's condition
- • Support Picard by offering concise situational observations
- • Keep the bridge focused on immediate operational needs
- • Damage suggests recent combat or trauma and requires careful handling
- • Clear, succinct reports help command make quicker decisions
- • Maintaining crew composure is essential in crises
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Bridge Computer Graphic for temporal rift visualization provides analytic overlays and sensor metrics that officers consult while Tactical works through interference; it is the unemotional face of the anomaly, translating interference into readable data.
Bridge sidearms are worn visibly by posted security near turbolifts, reinforcing the militarized tenor of the altered bridge; their presence hardens posture and suggests an elevated readiness against potential boarding or violence.
The militarized variant of Enterprise‑D bridge uniforms is an immediate visual cue that history has shifted; altered cuts and darker tones harden posture and mark a bridge culture more oriented toward hierarchy and combat readiness.
The Main Bridge Viewscreen projects the battered Enterprise‑C in full scale, providing the visual evidence that forces immediate tactical and ethical decisions; faces and consoles are lit by its cold, revealing light as officers interpret damage and registry data.
The U.S.S. Enterprise‑C appears through the temporal rift, battered and scarred; its presence converts abstract anomaly into a human and historical problem because it is recognized as a Federation vessel, escalating ethical stakes.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Main Bridge functions as a battlestation and moral stage: the altered décor, enlarged captain's chair, posted security, and repurposed stations compress the crew into a hardened, military mode while they confront the temporal anomaly and the appearance of a lost Enterprise.
The Main Viewer (forward viewscreen) projects the battered Enterprise‑C and sensor overlays, serving as the immediate locus of proof and urgency that converts the rift from abstract danger into a visible, human problem requiring command action.
The Temporal Rift is the narrative catalyst: a jagged tear in spacetime that both conceals and reveals, creating interference that complicates sensor reads and providing the corridor through which the Enterprise‑C appears, forcing ethically laden tactical choices.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The identification of the Enterprise-C as lost in the past leads Picard to inform Garrett of their temporal displacement."
"The identification of the Enterprise-C as lost in the past leads Picard to inform Garrett of their temporal displacement."
"The bridge's militarized transformation in the altered timeline is reversed when history is restored."
"The bridge's militarized transformation in the altered timeline is reversed when history is restored."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"PICARD: "Mister Data?""
"PICARD: "Can you identify the ship, Lieutenant? Is it an enemy vessel?""
"TASHA: "I'm getting too much interference, Captain.""
"TASHA: "It's clearing, Captain. Definitely a Federation starship... accessing registry...""
"RIKER: "Looks like they had a rough ride.""