Keeping the Record — Picard's Burden of Command
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Alone, Picard quotes Shakespeare's Henry V, underscoring his burden of command as war looms.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Grave and businesslike—resigned to risk while attempting to convey command certainty and procedural order.
Admiral Haden appears on the ready room screen and delivers a terse, grave communique: informs Picard that the Monitor and the Hood are en route but will arrive too late, that warnings have gone out, and that all Federation starships are on Yellow Alert.
- • Notify Picard of the fleet's Yellow Alert status and the movements of reinforcements.
- • Encourage readiness without needlessly provoking action.
- • Maintain centralized command control and clear communication.
- • Escalation is possible and must be met with preparedness.
- • Federation protocol (alerts, warnings) will coordinate defense and deter miscalculation.
- • Command officers must be informed quickly even if reinforcements cannot immediately assist.
Burdened and solemn—externally controlled authority layered over private dread; pragmatic resolve masking the weight of potential consequences.
Picard sits in his ready room drinking tea, listens to Admiral Haden's communique, reacts with visible fatigue, orders a maximum‑scan probe, appoints Data as keeper of the ship's official record, asks after crew morale, and utters a Shakespearean line.
- • Acquire the best possible intelligence on Nelvana Three via a maximum‑scan probe.
- • Ensure an accurate, dispassionate historical record is kept of the ship's actions.
- • Gauge and sustain crew morale in the face of escalating tension.
- • Externalize moral responsibility to preserve institutional truth.
- • Actions taken now will reverberate historically and must be recorded impartially.
- • He cannot personally mingle with crew as a hidden leader (unlike King Henry), so institutional mechanisms must carry truth.
- • Preparedness and accurate data can mitigate the worst consequences of miscalculation.
Calm and unemotional on the surface; professionally focused and attentive to procedural directives.
Data enters the ready room when summoned, acknowledges the captain, accepts orders to prepare a Class One maximum‑scan probe and to keep the official record, begins calibrations, and exits when released.
- • Execute the probe calibrations and prepare maximum‑scan sensors for Nelvana Three.
- • Maintain an accurate, dispassionate official record of the Enterprise's actions.
- • Provide Picard with clear, objective information to inform command decisions.
- • Objective data and impartial record‑keeping are essential to good command and historical truth.
- • Fulfilling orders precisely is the right way to support the ship and captain.
- • Crew morale can be assessed through measured observation and reporting.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Picard's Ready Room Door Chime emits a two‑note tone that punctures the private atmosphere and signals Data's entrance; the sound shifts the scene from private reflection to procedural action and marks a moment of transition.
Picard gestures to the high‑backed captain's chair as an invitation to sit and create intimacy; later Picard himself folds into it to brood, using the chair as a physical anchor for private reflection after delegating responsibilities.
The Class One maximum‑scan probe is ordered into service by Picard—Data is directed to prepare it and start calibrations to monitor every meter of Nelvana Three, converting raw curiosity into a targeted intelligence operation.
The Monitor is invoked by Admiral Haden as a named reinforcement in transit; its mention functions as a narrative placeholder for limited external support and emphasizes the shrinking window for assistance.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Nelvana Three is the explicit target for the ordered maximum‑scan probe; its sterile, barren surface represents the strategic unknown the crew must now scrutinize, making geological silence into a tactical problem demanding forensic observation.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Picard's engagement with Shakespeare's themes of leadership and morality in both beats highlights his internal struggle with command decisions."
"Picard's engagement with Shakespeare's themes of leadership and morality in both beats highlights his internal struggle with command decisions."
Key Dialogue
"ADMIRAL HADEN: "The Monitor and the Hood are headed in your direction though they will arrive too late to be of assistance. Warnings have gone out to all outposts along the border... as well as several independent vessels in nearby sectors. No one here wants a war, Captain. But we're prepared to take them on if that's what they want. All Federation starships have been placed on Yellow Alert.""
"PICARD: "I'd like you to keep the official record of these events, so we may give history the benefit of a dispassionate view.""
"PICARD: "Now if these men do not die well, it will be a black matter for the King that led them to it.""