Riker Forsakes the Search, Orders Warp Eight Toward Parliament
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Riker faces the painful reality that the captain's transporter coordinates are unknown and the captain remains lost somewhere in space. Despite the crew's protests, Riker orders the Enterprise to set course for Parliament at warp eight, effectively deciding to leave Picard behind.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Concerned and upset, balancing frustration with professional urgency to inform command of the dire situation.
Tasha Yar enters the bridge visibly distressed and urgently communicates the Transporter Chief’s failure to retrieve any coordinates for Picard’s return, signaling a critical dead end.
- • Inform command of the transporter dilemma
- • Support the crew’s efforts to recover Captain Picard
- • Without transporter coordinates, traditional rescue is impossible
- • The captain’s situation is increasingly desperate
Emotionally neutral but intellectually engaged, providing clarity without false hope.
Data delivers a calm but bleak report confirming no sensor readings of Picard and logically hypothesizes that Picard’s consciousness might attempt re-entry via the ship’s circuitry, contributing critical analytical insight.
- • Provide accurate sensor and system analysis
- • Suggest plausible rescue mechanisms based on data
- • Captain Picard’s energy form is currently undetectable by sensors
- • The ship’s circuitry might be a viable conduit for his return
Resigned yet determined, masking deep anguish behind a veneer of command authority, wrestling with the cruel necessity to prioritize mission over personal loyalty.
Commander Riker sits firmly in the command chair, weighing the unbearable dilemma of leaving Captain Picard behind. He listens to reports, struggles visibly with resignation, then decisively orders the ship to warp toward the Parliament, embodying stoic leadership amid crisis.
- • Preserve the diplomatic mission’s success by setting course for Parliament
- • Maximize chances of Captain Picard’s survival by moving ship closer to aid
- • Captain Picard's consciousness is irretrievably dispersed as energy
- • The mission’s importance demands moving forward despite personal loss
Empathically urgent and anxious, driven by emotional connection and hope for Picard’s survival.
Counselor Troi focuses her empathic abilities, sensing Picard’s isolated presence and urgently conveying the captain’s vulnerable state, pressing for a rescue despite the seemingly impossible odds.
- • Confirm the captain’s presence through empathic sensing
- • Persuade command to attempt a rescue
- • Picard’s consciousness remains present but isolated
- • Immediate action could prevent permanent loss
Worried but focused, driven by technical expertise and hope to facilitate any chance of Picard’s return.
Geordi La Forge questions the uncertainty of Picard’s whereabouts but promptly acts on Riker’s order to bring the Enterprise closer to the energy cloud, demonstrating technical resolve and concern.
- • Move the ship closer to the captain’s last known location
- • Provide tactical support for potential rescue attempts
- • Proximity to the energy pattern could aid Picard's recovery
- • Speed and precision in maneuvering are critical now
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The ship's circuitry is identified by Data as the critical medium that previously captured the entity and might serve as a conduit for Captain Picard’s dispersed energy form to return, representing a fragile hope embedded within the ship’s systems.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Main Bridge serves as the nerve center where the crew grapples with the dual crises of a lost captain and a critical mission. It is the command hub where decisions with profound emotional and operational consequences unfold.
The Parliament Conference Planet represents the diplomatic mission’s destination, symbolizing fragile peace amidst hostility. Riker’s order to set course there underscores the tension between the crew’s duty to political stability and the personal crisis aboard.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Following Picard’s disappearance (beat_fd08d2a0bbb6481a), Troi’s sensing of his trapped presence outside the ship (beat_c8717b1075d25bf3) provides a hopeful lead for his rescue, connecting the physical loss to psychic perception."
"Following Picard’s disappearance (beat_fd08d2a0bbb6481a), Troi’s sensing of his trapped presence outside the ship (beat_c8717b1075d25bf3) provides a hopeful lead for his rescue, connecting the physical loss to psychic perception."
"Following Picard’s disappearance (beat_fd08d2a0bbb6481a), Troi’s sensing of his trapped presence outside the ship (beat_c8717b1075d25bf3) provides a hopeful lead for his rescue, connecting the physical loss to psychic perception."
"Troi’s psychic detection of Picard's presence as energy (beat_c8717b1075d25bf3) parallels Data’s theory of using the transporter buffer to rematerialize Picard (beat_d8cdfe6b5ac169fe), both exploring different facets of bridging consciousness and corporeality."
"Troi’s psychic detection of Picard's presence as energy (beat_c8717b1075d25bf3) parallels Data’s theory of using the transporter buffer to rematerialize Picard (beat_d8cdfe6b5ac169fe), both exploring different facets of bridging consciousness and corporeality."
"Data's transporter theory (beat_d8cdfe6b5ac169fe) leads directly to the transporter confirming Picard's pattern remains in the buffer (beat_9fb6097e6ac94cc8), enabling the rescue attempt."
"Data's transporter theory (beat_d8cdfe6b5ac169fe) leads directly to the transporter confirming Picard's pattern remains in the buffer (beat_9fb6097e6ac94cc8), enabling the rescue attempt."
"Data's transporter theory (beat_d8cdfe6b5ac169fe) leads directly to the transporter confirming Picard's pattern remains in the buffer (beat_9fb6097e6ac94cc8), enabling the rescue attempt."
"Troi’s psychic detection of Picard's presence as energy (beat_c8717b1075d25bf3) parallels Data’s theory of using the transporter buffer to rematerialize Picard (beat_d8cdfe6b5ac169fe), both exploring different facets of bridging consciousness and corporeality."
"Troi’s psychic detection of Picard's presence as energy (beat_c8717b1075d25bf3) parallels Data’s theory of using the transporter buffer to rematerialize Picard (beat_d8cdfe6b5ac169fe), both exploring different facets of bridging consciousness and corporeality."
Key Dialogue
"TASHA: The Transporter Chief has no idea of what the coordinates were, sir."
"RIKER: Give me a choice, then."
"TROI: The captain only. He's out there alone!"
"RIKER: Beam him back as what? He's nothing but energy now."
"DATA: Sir, the entity was caught by the ship's circuitry -- the captain might try to get in the same way if he's in trouble!"
"RIKER: Move the ship in closer!"