Object
Crippled Shuttlecraft Containing Cryonics Capsule
A battered, short‑range shuttlecraft with a scarred hull and a frost‑rimmed access hatch; interior life‑support indicators flicker weakly behind scuffed bulkheads. One sealed cryonics capsule or a bank of crash‑shuddered storage bays occupies the passenger bay, lacquered in rime and emitting faint, irregular power signatures. Data locates and beams the occupants aboard; crewers treat the vessel as derelict evidence—Picard orders containment while Beverly and Security react to its human cargo.
3 appearances
Purpose
Serve as a small shuttlecraft for short‑range transport and emergency life‑support, here functioning specifically as the carrier for cryonically preserved occupants and their temporary storage/escape capsule.
Significance
Acts as the narrative catalyst: the shuttle’s frozen occupants force the Enterprise from salvage mode into an urgent medical, ethical, and diplomatic crisis. Its discovery propels Picard to risk entering the Neutral Zone, reframes command priorities, and converts an inert wreck into living evidence that drives plot and moral confrontation.
Appearances in the Narrative
When this object appears and how it's used