Star Trek The Next Generation
Object

Captain Picard's Communicator

A Starfleet communicator belonging to Captain Jean-Luc Picard, discovered in two distinct contexts aboard the Borg ship: 1. **Active Signal Context**: Worf's tricorder detects the device emitting a faint active signal amid the Borg ship's eerie silence. The away team (Shelby, Data, Worf, and Beverly) tracks it to a power distribution node. Beverly attempts to hail Picard directly ('Crusher to Picard, can you hear me, Captain?'), but receives no response. The device's persistent signal marks Picard's location and guides the team through Borg stasis pods. 2. **Assimilation Context**: The communicator is found in pristine condition beside Picard's folded uniform and empty boots inside a heavy drawer on the Borg ship. Data retrieves it, exposing the items to Worf and Shelby. Shelby reports the discovery to Riker via radio, her voice cracking with urgency. The device's untouched state underscores the Borg's precise removal of Picard's personal gear during assimilation. **Narrative Role**: The communicator serves as a critical plot device, symbolizing Picard's presence (or absence) and driving the away team's search. Its dual discovery—first as an active signal, later as a recovered artifact—highlights the tension between hope (Picard may still be alive) and reality (his assimilation by the Borg).
4 appearances

Purpose

Personal communication device for hailing individuals across distances on alien vessels

Significance

Its active signal shifts the away team's mission from sabotaging Borg power systems to rescuing Captain Picard, turning tactical desperation into targeted hope amid the collective's distraction.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

4 moments
S3E26 · The Best of Both Worlds, Part I
The Mosquito’s Sting: Hope in the Borg’s Silence

Picard’s communicator, still active, serves as a lifeline and a beacon for the away team. Its faint signal is detected by Worf’s tricorder, revealing Picard’s location aboard the Borg ship. Beverly’s emotional hail—‘Crusher to Picard, can you hear me, Captain?’—goes unanswered, but the signal’s persistence confirms his presence and shifts the team’s mission from sabotage to rescue. The communicator symbolizes Picard’s defiance and humanity, a sliver of resistance in the Borg’s mechanical world. Its activation becomes the catalyst for the team’s pivot to a rescue operation.

Before: Active but undetected, hidden among the Borg’s machinery.
After: Detected and tracked by the away team, guiding them toward Picard’s location.
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S3E26 · The Best of Both Worlds, Part I
The Silent Signal: A Fragile Hope in the Borg’s Heart

Picard's communicator is a lifeline and a beacon of hope for the away team. Its still-active signal, detected by Worf's tricorder, cuts through the Borg's silence and provides a critical lead in their search. Beverly's desperate hail—'Crusher to Picard, can you hear me, Captain?'—goes unanswered, but the communicator's persistence marks Picard's location and draws the team forward. The object symbolizes Picard's resistance and the team's emotional connection to him, serving as both a tactical tool and an emotional anchor.

Before: Active and emitting a faint signal, buried somewhere within the Borg ship.
After: Located and guiding the team toward Picard's presumed location, though still unanswered.
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S3E26 · The Best of Both Worlds, Part I
The Uniform’s Silent Scream: Proof of Locutus’ Birth

Picard’s communicator, still active and emitting a signal, is the away team’s beacon of hope—and their ultimate undoing. Its presence in the drawer, nestled beside his uniform, confirms that Picard was here, that he resisted long enough to leave a trace of himself behind. The communicator’s faint beep, detected by Worf’s tricorder, draws the team to the drawer, where they find it pristine, untouched by the Borg’s usual brutality. Its symbolism is devastating: a relic of Picard’s humanity, now a macabre trophy of his assimilation. Shelby’s voice cracks as she reports its discovery to Riker, the weight of its implications hanging in the air.

Before: Active, emitting a faint signal detectable by tricorders. Located in the Borg ship’s drawer, buried beneath Picard’s uniform and boots.
After: Retrieved by the away team (likely by Shelby or Data) and carried back to the Enterprise as evidence. Its signal is now silent, its purpose fulfilled in leading the team to this grim discovery.
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S3E26 · The Best of Both Worlds, Part I
The Uniform’s Silent Testimony: Picard’s Fate Confirmed

Picard’s communicator is discovered inside the drawer, lying beside his folded uniform and empty boots. Its active signal, detected by the tricorder, initially gives the team a flicker of hope—that Picard might still be alive and recoverable. However, the communicator’s presence in the drawer, separated from its owner, serves as a cruel irony: it is a relic of Picard’s past, now useless as a tool for communication or rescue. The communicator’s pristine condition underscores the Borg’s methodical erasure of identity, turning a symbol of Starfleet unity into a memento of loss.

Before: Active, emitting a signal detected by the tricorder, leading the team to the drawer.
After: Inactive and symbolic, now a physical reminder of Picard’s assimilation, carried back to the Enterprise as evidence of the Borg’s victory.
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