Lonely Among Us (TNG episode)
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| Star Trek: TNG episode | |
| "Lonely Among Us" | |
 The Enterprise passes through a mysterious energy cloud in Lonely Among Us. |
|
| Episode no. | 7 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 107 |
| Airdate | November 2, 1987 |
| Writer(s) | D.C. Fontana Michael Halperin |
| Director | Cliff Bole |
| Guest star(s) | John Durbin, Colm Meaney, Kavi Raz |
| Year | 2363 |
| Stardate | 41249.3 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "Where No One Has Gone Before" |
| Next | "Justice" |
"Lonely Among Us" is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, first broadcast November 2, 1987. It is episode #7, production #107, written by D.C. Fontana, based on a story by Michael Halperin, and directed by Cliff Bole.
Overview: A lost entity takes possession of Picard's mind.
[edit] Plot
On stardate 41249. 3, the USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, picks up delegates from two warring planets in the Beta Renner system; the reptilian Selay and canine Antican respectively. The two species have been at war since they encountered one another, and disagree on almost everything, from commerce to religion. The two races also wish to join the Federation, and the Enterprise has been assigned to ferry the delegates to peace talks on the neutral world of Parliament.
Once underway, Cmdr. Data detects a strange energy cloud moving at warp speed alongside the ship. Picard orders a quick sensor pass of the cloud with no time for a thorough study of it. Down in a sensor maintenance room, Worf and La Forge conduct a routine inspection. As the Enterprise passes through the trailing edge of the cloud, Worf is zapped by an energy bolt emitted from a console and falls unconscious. Dr. Crusher revives him but when Worf comes too, he becomes violent, flailing his arms. Crusher sedates him and takes him to sickbay.
Meanwhile, Lt. Yar and Cmdr. Riker deal with Badar, the Antican chief delegate, who demands their food served "alive". He is revolted when he learns humans eat cooked, synthesized meat from a replicator. In sickbay, Dr. Crusher runs more tests on Worf. During a scan, she is zapped by an arc of energy between them. She stands dazed for a moment. Troi returns and notices Worf's readings have returned to normal. Beverly suddenly leaves when Worf comes to. She finds her son Wesley and questions him about helm control; a subject Wesley finds strange coming from her.
Back on the bridge, Data gives his sensor report on the cloud. He explains the cloud contains complex patterns of energy, but without further scans, it is impossible to determine their nature. Beverly wanders onto the bridge taking a peculiar interest in helm control, which puzzles Geordi. Picard asks of Worf's condition. She appears distant and confused, but replies that Worf has returned to normal saying he suffered a "mental aberration". She then wanders to a science station where Data observes her calling up navigational functions. He inquires what navigation has to do with medical work, but she ignores him. Data looks away for a moment missing the sight of energy arc jumping from Beverly into the console. Beverly snaps back to normal but is confused to find herself on the bridge.
Various ship systems begin to malfunction. First, Data's science terminal goes dark, then engineering report similar console lockouts. Geordi indicates the likelihood of such a widespread system failure aboard a new starship is nearly impossible. Picard assembles his staff to give assessments of the situation. Assistant Engineer Singh blames the problem on a sudden power spike in the circuits, but is at a loss to explain what caused it. Irritated, Picard presses him to find the cause before reaching Parliament.
Elsewhere, Riker and Tasha have another confrontation with Badar, reporting that two of his associates were discovered outside the Selay delegate's quarters brandishing weapons. It seems they were planning an ambush. Badar explains the so called "weapons" are cutting tools used to butcher the animals they eat, but is unable to explain what his people were doing with the blades outside of their quarters. Tasha confiscates the weapons and warns Badar that violence will not be tolerated aboard the ship. Badar assures that if violence occurs, it will not be the Anticans who start it, but hisses to himself when the officers leave that they will be the ones to finish it.
Next, the Enterprise abruptly drops from warp. Picard is agitated by the delay and has Data forward a message to Parliament. Data tries, but then informs him that the subspace radio is out. Picard takes Data and Riker to his ready room and asks for theories. Data indicates that if the Enterprise systems were this fragile to a power spike, the ship would have never left spacedock. He believes the problems are not endemic to the ship. Riker brings up a possible saboteur, but Picard doesn't believe any of the crew are involved. His suspects the alien delegates. Data confirms that the Ferengi are known to have had dealings with both the Selay and Anticans. Riker suggests a simple bribe is all it takes. In the meantime, Picard orders more security around their alien guests.
Down in engineering, Wesley and Singh locate an anomaly in a computer link. Singh goes to fix the problem by himself, while Wesley heads to school. A while later, Worf discovers Singh's lifeless body and calls for security. A murder investigation begins, during which Geordi reports warp power has restored. He makes a guess that Singh must have made the repairs before he was killed.
In the meantime, Tasha questions the Antican delegates about their activities during the murder. Tasha returns to the bridge and reports that the Antican's statements seem suspicious. She indicates crew locators recorded the aliens moving about the ship during the hours they say they were in their quarters. Data, imitating the investigative wisdom of Sherlock Holmes; states the aliens acquired medical supplies for wounds endured while eating, and believes they are more inclined to kill the Selay than ship's crew. It's all elementary. Elsewhere, Troi puts Worf and Dr. Crusher under hypnosis to gain insight into their unexplained blackouts. Under hypnosis, the two felt something invade their minds, but offer little else.
Wesley and Geordi keep looking for the cause of the malfunctions. Wesley is certain Singh didn't have time to fix the computer, and whatever it was, just fixed itself. Suddenly, the helm controls go down, and again the ship falls to sublight speed. Picard leans over to check the conn himself, and suddenly, he is zapped by the arc of energy. He is dazed for a moment, and Geordi, having witnessed the power surge, asks if he is all right. Picard seems distant, but then he asks why the ship is at sublight speed. Geordi indicates the helm is not responding, but Picard is sure that it is fine and tells him to look again. To Geordi's amazement the systems are operating fine.
Delighted that everything is fixed, Picard orders a new heading that will double back along their route. Puzzled, Riker questions the course change, where Picard claims the energy cloud deserves another look. Riker reminds his captain that they are behind schedule and desires further explanation. Strangely, Picard claims an important scientific discovery awaits them there.
The senior officers have a private meeting to discuss the Captain's sudden change in behavior. Troi and Beverly insist the captain is acting irregularly, although Riker notes the Captain has made strange orders before. Riker reluctantly agrees to have Picard escorted to sickbay just to be sure. Alongside Dr. Crusher, he confronts the Captain, telling him there is evidence to believe the Captain is under "alien control", and insisting he goes to sickbay for analysis. Picard turns tables on them, thinking they are both overworked and delusional. He states the primary mission of the Enterprise is to seek knowledge of the unknown, and that is the mission he is carrying out. He then orders that they undergo the medical examinations, and demands to see the results afterward.
With their hands tied by regulations, there is little left for either officer to do. Later, Beverly returns to Picard's ready room, offering the results of the medical exams (which she never carried out). Picard tosses them aside, and goes back to his desk terminal. Crusher gains courage and pleads to the entity in control of Picard to come straight and explain its purpose for taking over the Captain. Picard's expression turns cold, and he hesitates. Finally he says "it" and Jean-Luc have joined, and soon the two will be "home".
The Enterprise finally reaches the cloud. Picard comes out and makes an announcement to the bridge crew. He explains that as the Enterprise passed through the cloud, it acquired a sentient presence, just one of countless minds within the cloud. The presence first felt fear when a strange force (the ship) suddenly scooped it up inside its energy pathways. When it found its way into Worf it became frightened, unsure what to do. It plead for help, but was unable to get the crew's attention until it found the more relaxing environment, the main computer. There, it tried to seize direct control of the ship to make its way back home. It expresses regret for having killed the engineer once the technician found its hiding place, but explains it had no choice but to protect itself.
Having found Picard, the entity saw that it, and the Captain, share a common wonder about the universe. It had only joined the Captain so it could directly command the ship's movements, but now it shows desire for Picard's mind and itself to remain together indefinitely. It will allow Picard to explore the universe in ways he could never achieve in his physical form. Picard announces he has filed his official resignation with Starfleet, and he and the entity will beam to the cloud together as patterns of pure energy.
Riker has heard enough of this nonsense and orders Picard to stand down. He relieves him of duty, claiming he is unfit for command. Picard reacts, casting out arcs of energy across the bridge that hold everyone back. He then leaves the bridge with the crew helpless to stop him. He arrives in the transporter room, enters settings on the control panel, and beams himself away as a pattern of energy.
The Enterprise lingers near the cloud desperately searching for the Captain. After hours of scanning the cloud, Riker, now in command, orders a halt to the search, and sets course for Parliament. At last second, Troi feels the Captain's presence lingering somewhere, apparently abandoned by the entity. She feels the combination wasn't successful, and the Captain is trying to return to the ship. Suddenly a "P" appears on Geordi's console, "P for Picard". He is now in the ships systems, and everyone tries to pinpoint his location.
Thinking it impossible to restore the Captain's physical body, Data finds his pattern still held in the transporter buffer. Acting on a wild theory, he tries to send Picard's essence from the computer circuitry into a reconstruction of Picard's body. The attempt is successful and Picard returns to normal, however he doesn't remember what happened.
Their celebration is interrupted when Tasha announces a Selay delegate is missing, followed by a cook's report that the Anticans requested he boil up some reptile for them.
[edit] External links
- Lonely Among Us article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
| Preceded by: "Where No One Has Gone Before" |
Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes | Followed by: "Justice" |
