Snared Suspicion at the Uxbridge House
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Riker steps into a concealed snare, triggering chaotic movement that draws out Kevin Uxbridge armed with a phaser.
Kevin's paranoid holdout shatters when Rishon emerges, her joyful trust contrasting his suspicion.
Beverly scans the couple while Data astonishes everyone by precisely reciting their colony registry details from memory.
Riker presses Kevin about the house's inexplicable survival, planting seeds of suspicion about deliberate preservation.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Relieved and tearful, alternating between joy at rescue and terrified uncertainty at being possibly the only survivors.
Rishon appears trusting and emotional, rushes to greet rescuers, scolds Kevin for suspicion, and answers Beverly's pleas about other survivors with helplessness and fear of being alone.
- • Accept help and be reassured about safety and companionship.
- • Comfort and de-escalate Kevin's fear.
- • Find out whether any neighbors survived.
- • Rescuers are there to help and can be trusted.
- • She and Kevin are victims deserving aid, not suspicion.
- • Being found means hope for the future.
Emotionally neutral but gently curious—engaged in providing facts that carry emotional weight for others.
Data performs analysis, supplies contextual facts from memory (the colony register), and calmly translates bureaucratic data into human detail—age, professions, residency—that astonishes the Uxbridges and reorients the team's approach from rescue to investigation.
- • Provide accurate identifying information to aid medical and procedural records.
- • Reduce ambiguity by supplying provenance and demographic context.
- • Support commanders with objective data to inform decisions.
- • Complete information improves outcomes for rescue and investigation.
- • Memorized data is a useful tool in first-contact/rescue situations.
- • Objective facts can soften emotional responses and clarify motive.
Alert and ready for combat, restrained by Starfleet command protocol—impatient for decisive action but obedient.
Worf is scanning the house with his tricorder, reports two life-sign positions and a nonfunctional phaser; he offers the tactical option to incapacitate when Kevin appears, standing ready to act but deferring to command.
- • Ensure the away team and ship are protected from potential threats.
- • Provide precise sensor readings to guide the team's tactical decisions.
- • Be prepared to neutralize a hostile actor if ordered.
- • Unidentified weapons and defensive traps indicate imminent danger.
- • Direct, forceful action can prevent greater harm to the team.
- • Following the chain of command is essential even under threat.
Candid, steady leadership masking rising suspicion—briefly embarrassed, then deliberately probing and quietly accusatory.
Riker leads from the front: leaves cover to knock, is caught by the concealed snare and suspended, issues calming introductions while still trapped, then shifts into interrogation mode—framing the Uxbridges' survival as intentional.
- • Confirm the identity and condition of the occupants and safety of the house.
- • Determine whether the couple's survival was coincidental or intentional.
- • De-escalate the immediate threat while preserving investigative control.
- • Starfleet must secure survivors and gather facts before assigning blame.
- • The survival of only this house and couple is unlikely to be accidental.
- • Maintaining composure preserves authority and keeps the encounter productive.
Gently concerned and apologetic—clinically focused while emotionally attuned to Rishon's distress.
Beverly immediately performs medical scans on the couple, asks if there are other survivors, and records names—providing compassionate triage and turning the encounter into an official rescue intake.
- • Assess the physical condition of the occupants and identify further medical needs.
- • Document identities for Starfleet records and possible evacuation.
- • Reduce panic and provide comfort through protocol and presence.
- • Medical triage must begin immediately to safeguard survivors.
- • Human connection and reassurance are part of medical care.
- • Accurate records support later investigation and care.
Concerned and focused—quick to move from analysis to physical aid, nervous about crew safety but controlled.
Geordi initially detects the hazard and alerts the team; when Riker is snared he immediately abandons survey to assist physically in freeing him and support the rescue effort while monitoring for hidden dangers.
- • Assist Riker and the away team in removing the physical hazard.
- • Preserve team safety while completing preliminary sensor work.
- • Validate the scene to reduce unknown threats to the team.
- • Sensor data should guide action, but crew safety comes first.
- • Unexpected defensive measures indicate the site may be hostile or paranoid.
- • Quick, practical intervention will prevent escalation.
Alert and professional—ready to react to threats, disciplined under Riker's leadership.
The Away Team materializes in cover, conducts initial scans, moves to assist Riker when snared, and follows command direction—providing the procedural muscle that executes rescue and secures the perimeter.
- • Safely free Riker and secure the immediate area.
- • Gather initial scene data and keep civilians protected.
- • Follow orders to limit unnecessary escalation.
- • Teamwork and protocol maximize survival and mission success.
- • Unknown variables at the site necessitate caution.
- • Protecting crew and survivors is the top priority.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Worf uses his palm-sized tricorder to scan the house interior before Riker approaches, reporting two life-sign locations and a nearby nonfunctional phaser; the device frames the tactical picture and influences Worf's readiness to use force.
A camouflaged foot-snare concealed in leaf litter is triggered by Riker’s approach; it hoists him by the foot into a tree, creating the physical and dramatic pivot of the scene—exposing the away team, provoking Kevin's armed response, and revealing the house's active defensive measures.
Although not physically present, the Rana IV colony register functions as the data source Data memorized en route; his recital of those entries supplies provenance—ages, professions, residency—and converts the rescue into an evidence-driven inquiry.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The larger Federation Colony, Rana IV, is the investigation's backdrop—a devastated landscape that makes the house's survival notable and raises stakes for the away team's mission and moral obligations.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Riker's suspicions about the house's preservation foreshadow Picard's gambit."
"Riker's suspicions about the house's preservation foreshadow Picard's gambit."
"Riker's suspicions about the house's preservation foreshadow Picard's gambit."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"RIKER: Commander William Riker, USS Enterprise, and crewmembers. May I get down and approach you, sir?"
"KEVIN: You leave him right where he is."
"DATA: I memorized the colony register on the way to Rana in the event such information was needed."