Object

Unidentified Derelict ("Ghost Ship")

A cold, unresponsive starship drifting as a spectral presence on long-range sensors and viewer displays: hull plating scarred and bleached, no active comms, intermittent power flickers across dimmed sensor thumbnails, and schematic overlays showing breached compartments. Bridge officers recoil at its silent signature while the display frames it as both clue and looming threat; senior staff watch the image for signs of life, rescue opportunity, or concealed danger.

2 appearances

Purpose

A transport/merchant-class vessel now adrift and derelict; in this material it functions practically as the object of rescue or investigation—its presence provides a target for away teams, a source of sensor data, and the locus of any survivors or hazards.

Significance

Serves as the catalytic clue that reframes command choices: it converts a binary evacuation/no-evacuation decision into an urgent rescue possibility, heightens moral stakes, and drives the bridge crew to gamble against a fatal deadline; symbolically it carries loss, hope, and the ethical burden of command.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S3E6 · Booby Trap

Thirty-Minute Radiation Deadline

The Unidentified Derelict (ghost ship) is the visible source of danger and curiosity on the viewer; its silent presence motivates Picard's historical interest and stands as the proximate cause of the current radiation threat and the away team's investigation.

Before: Detected on long-range sensors and depicted on the viewer as a cold, drifting shell with intermittent power flickers.

After: Remains unresponsive and ominous on sensors; the away team's radio report suggests it may contain information or assets that could alter the bridge's strategy.

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S3E6 · Booby Trap

Riker's Lifeline: The Away Team's Promise

The ghost ship is the derelict object of study; its silent presence catalyzes medical urgency and Picard's impulse to investigate. The away team's transmission implicitly reframes the ship from threat to potential solution or source of rescueable information.

Before: Adrift and unresponsive on long-range sensors, presented as a spectral derelict with intermittent power flickers.

After: Still a derelict on sensors, but now the subject of active field investigation by the away team — its narrative role shifts toward potential source of salvation.

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