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Placing beam-out marker.
Return transport,
Is your view any better, Geordi?
Not too bad.
A lot
of charged-particle precipitation.
- I can compensate.
- Communicators are dysfunctional.
Tricorders?
Readings only valid
within five metres.
Good thing we didn't bring Data.
We'd be unscrambling his circuits.
Commander!
Picking up something
on the positron scan.
Over here!
Some electrically conductive objects.
Recognise those markings, Worf?
Yes, sir.
Romulan.
What the hell are they doing
in a Federation sector?
Picking up
traces of ultritium residue.
An explosive device
must have destroyed the craft
after it crashed.
Let's spread out.
25-metre radius.
Our window back closes in 1 2 minutes.
Commander!
Cmdr Riker!
- Four minutes to beam-up.
- Where is he?
Wait here.
Worf!
Cmdr Riker!
Geordi!
Worf! Cmdr Riker!
Hold your position, Mr Worf.
Worf!
Space, the final frontier.
These are the voyages
of the Starship Enterprise.
Its continuing mission,
to explore strange new worlds
to seek out new life
and new civilisations
to boldly go
where no one has gone before.
Captain's log, stardate 43349.
2.
An unidentified distress signal has
uncovered a crashed Romulan vessel
on the surface of Galorndon Core,
a Federation planet.
They have recovered one survivor.
But Lt Cmdr La Forge did not
report back with the away team
and is still missing.
- Get him to sickbay.
- Post a guard at all times.
He's not going anywhere, Lieutenant.
Sorry.
There's no way to lock in.
Keep trying, O'Brien.
The storm's creating
thousands of ghosts.
Beam those ghosts back!
One may be Geordi.
- Permission to lead another team.
- Denied.
When we get a window
in the storms.
The crash site?
The Romulan craft is a loss.
There's nothing to salvage
unless you use tweezers.
No others?
You couldn't see
two metres in front of yourself.
It is the last place one would expect
Romulan encroachment.
On the other hand,
Galorndon Core
would provide ideal cover
for the opening move
of a new offensive.
I doubt they were there
for the climate.
We thought it would
be like working on Vulcans.
But there are subtle differences.
Too many.
- Can you treat him?
- He has damage to vital areas.
He needs a transfusion
of compatible ribosomes to recover.
I'm setting up a schedule
to test the crew.
- We can't use the replicator?
- It's too complex.
- Will he survive?
- I can't answer that yet.
Will he survive long enough
to tell us what he was doing?
It's an important consideration.
I can bring him around
for a few minutes.
But there is
one serious complication.
His brainwaves indicate
early neural-pathway degeneration.
- Head injury?
- No obvious cranial trauma.
I'm guessing
the magnetic fields on the surface
slowly broke down
his synaptic connections.
Will that affect Geordi?
He'll be conscious for a minute.
You are on board
the Federation Starship Enterprise.
We're treating your injuries.
How long were you
down on Galorndon Core?
Do you understand me?
I will not answer questions.
We need to know
if there are other survivors.
I am alone.
I will not answer any questions.
Do you have a mothership
to advise of your condition?
The only answer he gives
is that he was alone.
Which suggests that he wasn't.
Something, anything,
to cut through the storm.
Some way to get a signal
through to him.
A neutrino pulse! We could build
a portable neutrino source
and send it to the surface
as a beacon.
A neutrino pulse would send
particles up through the atmosphere
and be detected by Geordi's visor.
He can show himself
by modifying the pulse.
Make it so.
Captain.
I have a new transmission
on a parallel frequency.
- From the surface?
- No, from inside the Romulan zone.
We should be able
to view the transmission.
On screen.
Tomalak to Pi.
We have received
your distress signal.
Respond.
If you can hear me,
we are entering
the Neutral Zone now.
We will reach you in six hours.
Mr Worf, hail the Romulan vessel.
Hailing frequencies open, sir.
Romulan vessel,
this is Capt Jean-Luc Picard
of the Federation
Starship Enterprise.
The frequency is open, sir.
Cmdr Tomalak, we have
intercepted your transmission.
You are not
to enter Federation space.
Capt Picard, my apologies.
Had I known you were near,
I would have advised you
before crossing the Neutral Zone.
Indeed?
I am sure you will understand.
One of our ships
had a navigational error
and crashed on Galorndon Core.
A slight navigational error?
Nearly half a light year
past the Neutral Zone?
I assure you,
no aggression was intended.
Commander.
We have recovered
one of your survivors.
He is on board your ship?
He is being treated
for severe injuries.
And his craft?
Destroyed deliberately.
After the crash.
I'm sure you are prepared
to rendezvous in the Neutral Zone.
I have a team on the planet.
We have to beam them up.
And then you will return my officer?
Are there any other Romulans
to recover from Galorndon Core?
No.
It was a one-man craft.
Captain.
We will be at the Federation border
in roughly five hours.
We will expect you to rendezvous
at that time.
Counsellor?
There is great hostility
behind his smile.
He'll stop at nothing
to complete his mission.
Including the Neutral Zone border.
Captain, I see no reason
to return the Romulan.
He should be held and interrogated.
We have every right to detain him.
Without evidence of intent,
it will not be simple.
It obviously wasn't pilot's error.
It demands a response.
But we must measure
our response carefully,
or history may remember
Galorndon Core
along with Pearl Harbor
and Station Salem One
as the stage
for a bloody preamble to war.
I want him off the drugs.
They're not doing anything.
- Dr Crusher to Picard.
- Go ahead.
My patient is not responding
to treatment.
You haven't found
a compatible ribosome donor?
The lab is still processing
the tests.
Early results indicate
humans have many
bio-rejection factors.
I've also ruled out the Vulcans.
I think
I'll try old-fashioned medicine.
Keep the fever down
and let the body heal itself.
Keep me advised.
Picard out.
The neutrino beacon
is aboard a class-3 probe.
Well done, Ensign.
Mr Worf, launch the probe.
Aye aye, sir.
Probe has reached the surface, sir.
The neutrino stream is strong.
Sensors are tracking the probe
despite the interference.
A stationary neutrino source!
Wesley Crusher.
Thank you, Wesley!
- You are my prisoner!
- Right.
Congratulations.
Surely a strategic triumph
for the Romulan Empire.
Stay there!
My shoes are full of sand.
I hate that.
Don't you?
Name and rank.
Lt Cmdr Geordi La Forge.
I don't think I got yours.
A Romulan ship will arrive shortly.
- You will accompany me on board.
- I don't think so.
We heard your message, too,
and well, the fleet's in.
The sky's full of Federation ships.
- You're lying.
- I never lie with sand in my shoes.
Get up!
Seriously, the only way out of here
is for you to put that thing down.
When there's a window in the storm
Are you OK?
- You gotta be kidding.
- Sit!
Welcome to Galorndon Core,
where no good deed goes unpunished.
Yes, Doctor?
Lieutenant, good.
Come in.
Please sit down.
We have found a compatible
ribosome match for the Romulan.
But only one.
You.
That is impossible.
I am a Klingon.
Different species, yes.
But many humanoids have
comparable cell structures.
And you have what this Romulan needs.
There's absolutely no risk to you.
You understood
that was the purpose of the testing?
I have no objection to tests.
You have an objection
to being a donor?
Yes.
I understand your feelings
about the Romulans,
but this is not the time.
If you had seen them kill
your parents, you would understand
it is always the time
for those feelings.
This Romulan
didn't *** your parents.
And you are the only one
who can save his life.
Then he will die.
I sure wish you'd put that away.
- You're afraid of dying!
- You bet.
- Who isn't?
- I'm not.
- Right!
- To die serving my people
The Romulan path to glory.
You can be sarcastic now.
But in a few millennia,
when humans are extinct
and the Romulan Empire
spans the galaxy
You really believe that stuff,
don't you, Commodore?
You may address me
as Centurion Bochra.
Bochra?
Good, solid Romulan name.
- What's the matter?
- Nothing.
Wrong.
Your heart rate
just shot way up.
It translates radiation into
neural impulses.
It allows me to see.
Without it, you're blind?
Yeah.
- How did this happen?
- I was born that way.
And your parents let you live?
What kind of question is that?
Of course they did!
No wonder your race is weak.
You waste time and resources
on defective children.
Whoa!
I must be having some sort of
polarity shift.
Diagnostic insists everything's fine.
Your body temperature's
gone up almost another point.
- What are you saying?
- I don't know.
It must be this place,
all that electromagnetic soup.
It's wreaking havoc
on our nervous systems.
Your metabolism's messed up,
so's my interface with the visor.
- We gotta get out.
- Sit down.
- Bochra.
- Sit down!
What is that?
It's just background fluctuation.
He hasn't found it yet.
Then he must be hurt.
Or dead.
When does our next window open up,
Data?
There is no indication,
no way to predict.
- Incoming Romulan transmission.
- They're early.
The Romulan warbird should be
Close enough, however,
to see that we are not there.
On screen.
Picard.
I'm approaching
the Federation border.
The Enterprise is not to be found.
Why?
My away team is unable to leave
the surface because of the storms.
And my officer?
- He is alive.
- His life remains in jeopardy?
Yes.
And yet you will not permit me
into your precious Federation space
to retrieve him?
If the point is not clear,
let me make it again.
Romulan warships
do not enter Federation space
unless they are to do battle.
But a mission of mercy?
A mission to recover
one of your officers,
who has been caught
on a Federation planet
for reasons as yet unknown.
- I have already explained.
- I rejected your explanation!
Territories!
You would measure territories
against a man's life?
I am singularly impressed
by your concern for a life.
Do not risk more lives
by leaving the Neutral Zone!
Picard out.
Bochra.
You're in bad shape.
My vision's worse.
There's a beacon to get us to
my ship, but not if I can't find it.
I cannot surrender to the Federation.
Then stay here and die!
If the situation were reversed
would you not die to avoid capture?
I don't know.
I might.
If I thought
the stakes were high enough.
But they'd have to be pretty high.
I guess I'd make a lousy Romulan!
I no more wish to die than you do.
Bochra.
There are times when it's necessary
to die for one's ideals.
Do you believe this is the time?
Come on.
Let's go find that beacon.
Whoa!
What is it?
Everything's gone blank.
I'm blind.
Come.
Worf.
You are busy.
Forgive my intrusion.
For what it's worth,
I understand your bitterness.
With respect, sir, you cannot.
I am asked to give the blood
of my mother and father
- To those who murdered them!
- You blame all Romulans?
- Yes.
- For ever?
What if the Federation made peace
with the Romulans?
Impossible.
That's what your people said
a few years ago about humans.
Think how many died in that war.
Would you and I be here now
if we hadn't let go
of the anger and blame?
Where does it end, Worf?
If that Romulan dies,
does his family carry the bitterness
on another generation?
Then you believe I should?
What I believe doesn't matter.
My Starfleet training
tells me one thing.
But everything I am
tells me another.
- Lt Worf to sickbay.
- Acknowledged.
Lieutenant,
his life is coming to an end.
I thought it important
for you to see him again.
It's not too late
to change your mind.
Come close to me, Klingon.
Let me die
with my hands at your throat.
There is a substance within
my cells which you need to survive.
Then you've come
to hear me beg for my life?
No.
I would rather die
than pollute my body
with Klingon filth!
I've lost
almost all feeling in my legs.
My synapses must be turning to jelly.
The visor's fine.
I just can't see a thing.
How do we locate the beacon?
We don't.
Do all humans give up so easily?
We're lost, unless you've got
something that can smell neutrinos.
We have the sensor device
you are carrying.
Tricorder? It's not set up
to detect neutrinos.
Your eye device does.
Connect them.
They don't speak the same language.
Besides, I'd never be able
to get an accurate sampling.
Wait a second.
I wouldn't need an accurate sampling,
just a pointer.
A neutrino Geiger counter.
No, it's still not possible.
- You cannot do it?
- Under normal circumstances, maybe.
Here? No way.
- Why?
- Because I can't see!
Adapting the neural output
of the visor can't be done by touch.
Then I will be your eyes.
The storm is subsiding.
We should
have a window in an hour.
There's still no indication
he's found the beacon.
- Assemble a team.
- Sir.
The Romulan warship
has crossed the border.
It is in Federation space
and heading towards us.
Belay that order, Number One.
Red alert.
Make sure the limiter
matches the output range.
Not so fast.
Now, place the neural output pods
in contact
with the tricorder scanner heads.
- Ready.
- Let her rip.
Bearing three-five-zero.
We did it! The first
Federation-Romulan co-venture.
The storm may be breaking.
With any luck, there'll be
an electromagnetic window opening up.
At which point,
I'll be your prisoner.
- Can you walk?
- I don't know.
Well, let's find out.
Come on.
- OK, let's go.
- Straight ahead.
To the right.
Come.
- You wished to see me?
- Yes, Lieutenant.
- I assume you know what it's about.
- Yes.
The Romulan vessel
will reach us within the hour.
If our patient dies
it may be just the excuse
the Romulan commander needs
to start an incident.
The death of a Romulan officer
at the hands of the Federation.
- Think of it.
- I have.
So, there is no question that he is
more valuable to us alive than dead.
I understand.
Lieutenant
sometimes, the moral obligations
of command are less than clear.
I have to weigh the good of the many
against the needs of the individual,
and try to balance them
as realistically as possible.
God knows, I don't always succeed.
I have not had cause to complain,
Captain.
Lieutenant, you wouldn't complain
even if you had cause.
If you order me
to agree to the transfusion,
I will obey, of course.
I don't want to order you.
But I ask you.
I
beg you to volunteer.
I cannot.
Lieutenant.
Sir?
That will be all.
- Picard to Dr Crusher.
- Go ahead.
Do not continue to enlist
the cooperation of Lt Worf.
I won't have to, Captain.
The Romulan has died.
We've found it!
Now we alter its signal
so the Enterprise knows we found it.
- Will that be difficult?
- Not with your help.
The scanners are showing a window.
- Expected duration?
- Nine minutes, 40 seconds, sir.
No change in the beacon's signal.
Romulan ship approaching.
Bearing 354, mark 287.
On screen.
Entering phaser range.
- We are being hailed, sir.
- On viewer.
You have one chance
to escape destruction, Picard.
Return my officer at once.
You have entered Federation space
despite my warning.
You forced the situation!
I will not leave without him.
He is dead.
Then he
is but the first to fall, Picard.
The Romulan ship is powering
its forward disruptor.
All shields to maximum.
Aye, sir.
Lock phasers on target.
Phasers locked and ready.
The signal from the beacon
is modulating.
It's Geordi.
But our shields are up.
Lower them
and the Romulans will strike.
The electromagnetic window
is closing.
Three minutes remain.
Transporter room,
lock onto the beam and stand by.
Standing by.
The window is allowing
intermittent readings.
There are ghost images
but we are picking up two life forms.
Another Romulan?
I cannot say.
The interference
prevents an accurate reading.
But that's a likely hypothesis.
If Cmdr La Forge has located
a second survivor
Lieutenant.
- Hail the Romulan vessel.
- Aye, sir.
- They are ignoring our hail.
- Repeat the hail.
They have no way of knowing
how accurate our sensors are.
Put on your best poker face,
Number One.
Open a frequency.
Cmdr Tomalak.
It would appear
our away team has located
a second man from your one-man ship.
We're preparing to beam them up.
After which,
we will return the survivor to you.
No acknowledgement, sir.
Commander, both our ships
are ready to fight.
We have two extremely powerful
and destructive arsenals
at our command.
Our next actions
will have serious repercussions.
We have reason to mistrust
one another
but even better reason
to set those differences aside.
Of course, the question is,
who will take the initiative?
Who will make
the first gesture of trust?
The answer is, I will.
I must lower our shields
to beam those men
up from the planet's surface.
Once the shields are down,
you will have the opportunity
to fire on us.
If you do, you will destroy
not only the Enterprise and its crew,
but the ceasefire that the Romulans
and the Federation now enjoy.
Lieutenant, lower the shields.
Leave the hailing frequency open.
Yes, sir.
Shields down.
Mr O'Brien, transport La Forge
and the Romulan to the bridge.
Aye, sir.
Energising.
- Security to the bridge.
- Belay that order.
Shields up.
No one is going to harm you.
You have my word on that.
Well, Commander?
If he has been
in any way mistreated
I have given them no information,
Commander.
But I have not been mistreated.
In fact
this human saved my life.
Tomalak.
How is it possible that you
didn't know of the second Romulan?
A simple misunderstanding,
Capt Picard.
I was misinformed
as to the size of the craft.
I assure you,
I intended no deception.
Of course not.
You doubt my good faith?
My faith would be strengthened
by a gesture from you.
Such as powering down
your disruptors.
Disruptors powering down.
Thank you.
Cancel red alert, Lieutenant.
We shall return your officer
and escort you to the Neutral Zone.
That is acceptable.
- Good to have you back.
- Good to be back.
Actually, I have Centurion Bochra
to thank for it.
Indeed?
Cmdr La Forge
and Lt Worf,
escort our guest
to transporter room one.
Yes, sir.
Come on.
- Close call.
- Too close, Number One.
Brinkmanship is a dangerous game.