Pulaski's Last Stand
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Pulaski, her face creased and hair white at the lab station, admits they've isolated the altered DNA but warns the process may be irreversible and insists she belongs in the primary lab to continue the work.
Pulaski refuses Picard's intervention, owning the error of 'leaping before looking' and forbidding him to repeat it—she steels herself, choosing responsibility and implied isolation over risking the ship.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Controlled urgency straining against paternal concern
Standing at rigid attention near the lab entrance, Picard's clipped vocal cadence betrays tension as he enforces quarantine protocol. His eyes track Pulaski's deteriorating condition while maintaining a commander's neutral expression, the contradiction visible in his whitened knuckles where they grip his uniform tunic.
- • Contain biological threat through enforced isolation
- • Prevent Pulaski's further exposure to contagion
- • Starfleet protocols exist to prevent catastrophic outcomes
- • A captain's duty supersedes personal relationships
Unflappable logic persisting through crisis (inferred)
Present through implication rather than physical presence—Pulaski's revelation about Data's imminent departure positions him as the unspoken third party in their confrontation. His absence from the lab underscores the breaking of Picard's mandated quarantine.
- • Continue research despite quarantine orders
- • Mitigate threat through direct action
- • Efficiency outweighs protocol in existential crises
- • Non-organic biology grants operational immunity
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The altered DNA sample serves as both scientific subject and silent witness to the confrontation—its containment unit reflecting pulsing red warning lights across Picard and Pulaski's faces as they debate quarantine protocols. The unstable genetic material mirrors the deteriorating professional trust between them while physically anchoring Pulaski's reason for dissenting.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The secondary lab's sterile surfaces and blinking biohazard lights heighten the scene's medical tension, with the hum of containment fields providing an uneasy soundtrack to Picard and Pulaski's confrontation. The sealed environment transforms from research space to battleground over autonomy versus protocol, its very sterility underscoring the human stakes beneath clinical procedures.
Mentioned by Pulaski as where 'the others' continue working, the primary lab represents the approved research avenue that contrasts with her rogue efforts. Its referenced existence heightens the tension by establishing what 'proper' procedure looks like versus Pulaski's quarantine-defying actions.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph
Key Dialogue
"Pulaski: Jean-Luc... I appreciate what you're trying to do. But I got into this by leaping before I looked, and I won't allow you to make the same mistake."
"PICARD: Doctor..."
"PULASKI: (shakes her head) We've isolated the altered DNA, but the process may not be reversible. The others are already at work in the primary lab -- where I should be."