Star Trek The Next Generation
Object

Dr. Beverly Crusher's Communicator

A palm-sized Starfleet personal communicator with a dark polymer shell, recessed tactile activation pad, faint bezel glow and a small speaker grille. In the laboratory it carries Beverly’s voice into the room — characters listen, react to the transmission, and treat the device as the source of an authoritative external presence during Lal’s awakening.
3 appearances

Purpose

Enable short-range shipboard voice communications and relay a crew member’s voice to nearby personnel.

Significance

Provides an audible link to adult authority and the wider ship community at a pivotal moment; Beverly’s transmitted voice frames Lal’s emergence and ties the nascent sentience to caregiving and institutional stakes.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

3 moments
S3E12 · The High Ground
Untraceable Vanishing and the Point of Commitment

Crusher's personal communicator is the expected locator; Data reports its signal is undetectable, turning an assumed tracking tool into a missing piece of evidence and suggesting deactivation or shielding.

Before: Carried by Beverly and functioning as her standard personal locator/communicator.
After: Signal not detected by ship sensors; presumed deactivated, destroyed, or being shielded by captors.
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S3E12 · The High Ground
When Mission Becomes Personal

Beverly's personal communicator is referenced as a failed locator: no signal has been detected, suggesting deactivation or shielding. Its silence converts a routine tracking tool into a dramatic absence that escalates alarm and implies deliberate concealment.

Before: Carried by Beverly and expected to emit a traceable signal; presumed active and usable for localization.
After: Signal undetectable; either deactivated, removed, or blocked by shielding — now a missing/neutralized piece of evidence complicating the search.
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S3E12 · The High Ground
La Forge Removes the Limpet Charge on the Warp Chamber

Geordi rips his personal communicator from his uniform and clamps it to the severed satchel charge so Transporter Room can lock on his signal despite sensor scrambling; the communicator functions as an improvised targeting beacon enabling the successful remote transport of the explosive.

Before: On Geordi's person as his standard-issue communicator, active and able to transmit a local signal.
After: Affixed temporarily to the explosive to provide a lock; thereafter presumably recovered by Geordi after transport completion.
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