Aquiel

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Star Trek: TNG episode
"Aquiel"
Episode no.	139
Prod. code	239
Airdate	February 1, 1993
Writer(s)	Jeri Taylor Brannon Braga Ronald D. Moore
Director	Cliff Bole
Guest star(s)	Wayne Grace Reg E. Cathey Majel Barrett Renee Jones
Year	2369
Stardate	46461.3
Episode chronology
Previous	"Ship in a Bottle"
Next	"Face of the Enemy"

"Aquiel" is a sixth season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The crew of the Enterprise investigate a mysterious death on a remote station, and Geordi falls for the main suspect.

[edit] Plot

The U.S.S. Enterprise arrives at a subspace communications relay station near the Klingon border on a resupply mission. However when an away team boards the relay there is no sign of the two officers assigned there, Lieutenant Aquiel Uhnari and Lieutenant Rocha, and the stations communications systems are offline. While searching the station the away team find a stray dog which belonged to Lieutenant Uhnari. The away team also find a substance on the floor which Crusher determines is a type of cellular residue. In addition the stations shuttlecraft is missing indicating that someone left.

During the course of the investigation the crew uncover evidence that a Klingon was on the station leading Beverly and Riker to suspect that Uhnari and Rocha may have been the victims of a Klingon attack. Geordi backs up this theory when he examines Uhnari's personal logs. He finds an entry in which Aquiel relays her fears to her sister Shianna about a Klingon named Morag. Picard contacts the local Klingon govenor, Torak, and learns that Morag is commander of one of the Klingon ships that patrols that section of the Klingon border. When Picard explains about the missing shuttle, Torak is initially dismissive of the possibility that it is in Klingon space. When Picard suggests that he will take the matter up with Gowron, leader of the Klingon High Council, Torak quickly backs down and informs Picard that he will look into the matter personally. Meanwhile, Geordi continues to watch Aquiel's personal logs, and learns that Aquiel had a contentious relationship with Lieutenant Rocha. Riker then joins him in her quarters to find out what he has learned. While there Picard contacts them and lets them know that a Klingon ship carrying Governor Torak has arrived.

The senior staff meets with Torak, and much to their surprise, he produces Aquiel — alive! She explains that Rocha attacked her and that her last memory was escaping from him. She doesn't know how she ended up in the shuttle in Klingon space. This means that the remains found near the bulkhead are Rocha's, but Uhnari doesn't remember precisely what happened, possibly due to a head injury. To help clarify what really occurred, Picard requests to speak with Commander Morag, the Klingon who was allegedly harassing the station.

Attracted to this familiar stranger, Geordi befriends Aquiel, and takes her to Ten-Forward. He reveals to her that he surveyed her logs and personal correspondence as part of their investigation. He then asks her about Rocha, and she tells him that she didn't like Rocha but she didn't wish him dead. She realizes, however, that the senior staff of the Enterprise suspects her of murder.

Meanwhile, Beverly continues to examine the cellular residue found on the deckplate, while Riker and Worf, who are examining the shuttlecraft, come across a phaser, set to kill. Given this new development, Riker and Worf question Aquiel; however she still insists that she did not kill Rocha. Geordi sits in on this interrogation, and it is obvious he is sympathetic towards his new friend.

Commander Morag then arrives aboard the Enterprise and meets with the senior staff. He admits that he was present on the station, and that he took priority Starfleet messages. Geordi returns to the station and discovers that Rocha's personal log has been tampered with. He confronts Aquiel who admits deleting messages from Rocha's log, because Rocha, as the senior officer, was going to declare her insubordinate and belligerent to Starfleet. Scared that this new evidence will condemn her as Rocha's killer, she agrees to stay aboard the Enterprise because Geordi has faith in her. He and Aquiel use an ancient method of her people to bond and share their thoughts.

While Beverly examines the DNA found on the deck plate yet again, the material moves and touches her hand. It then forms a perfect replica of her hand. Due to this, she suspects that the real Rocha may have been killed by this strange coalescent organism, and a replica of him may have attacked Aquiel in search of a new body. Believing that the organism is now Aquiel, Riker and Worf race to Aquiel's quarters and stop the ritual she is conducting with Geordi, believing she was about to attack him.

With Aquiel in the brig the Enterprise proceeds to the nearest starbase to turn her over to the proper authorities. Geordi is in his quarters along with Aquiel's dog reminiscing about her. Suddenly, the dog begins to transform right in front of Geordi — the dog is really the coalescent creature. The creature blocks the doorway preventing Geordi from escaping. Instead he reaches for a phaser and fires at the creature. When his initial shot has no affect he ups the power level and fires again, this time vaporising the creature. Later Geordi explains to Aquiel, who has been released, that Rocha was replaced by the organism. When it attacked her and she managed to get away the creature turned to the only other life form on the station, her dog.

She and Geordi bid each other a fond farewell, both of them hoping they'll see each other again in the future.

[edit] Character development

Apparent throughout the series, this episode presents a clear example of the tendency of Geordi La Forge to become attracted to women with whom he has had no physical contact; forming romantic attachments based solely upon computer information, holographic representation, or even simply personal logs and correspondence. This theme shares plot elements with the 1944 film, Laura, in which an investigator falls in love with a missing woman he has never met. In both stories, the reappearance of the woman and subsequent accusation of murder are also present.