"I don't see why we have to do this every year." "I thought the teachers agreed they wouldn't do this any more." "Capt Picard Day is one of the children's favourite activities." "They look forward to it all year." "Why does it have to be me?" "You're the Captain." "They look up to you." "You're a role model for them." "Well, they seem to have a somewhat exaggerated impression of me." "The resemblance is striking." "Wouldn't you agree, Number One?" "Isn't there something you can do?" "I'll be on the bridge." "Will." "The finalists will be here soon." "You have to pick first, second and third, and four honourable mentions." "Worf to Captain." "Transmission from Admiral Blackwell." "It is coded Priority One." "Put it through." "Excuse me." " Yes, Admiral?" " Captain." "What is your status?" "We are conducting energy-output studies of the Merkoria Quasar." "All systems normal and fully operational." "Good." "I'm postponing the quasar study for the moment." "The Enterprise is to rendezvous with the Starship Crazy Horse in Sector 1607 immediately." "You may exceed warp-speed limitations for the duration of this assignment." "I understand." "What is our assignment?" "I'd prefer not to discuss it over subspace channels." "The Crazy Horse will be carrying someone from Starfleet Intelligence." " He'll brief you when he arrives." " Very well." "Capt Picard Day?" "Yes." "It's for the children." "I'm..." " I'm a role model." " I'm sure you are." "Starfleet out." "So, who won the contest?" "Paul Menegay, a seven-year-old." "He did a clay sculpture of my head." "Was that the orange one with lumpy skin?" "Yes." "You'll be interested in our Cmdr Riker Day next month." "I'm considering making an entry myself." "Great." " Energise." " Aye, sir." "Will." "I bet you never thought you'd see me again." "It's good to see you." "Sure." "You look like you're about to faint." "No." "It's just been a long time." "Capt Jean-Luc Picard." "Admiral Erik Pressman." "Pressman." "Of course." "You were Will's first commanding officer on the Pegasus." "That's right." "The Pegasus is the reason I'm here." "Sir?" "She's still out there." "And the Romulans have found her." "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." "As you know, the Pegasus was lost 12 years ago with most of her crew." "I was her captain." "Cmdr Riker was my helmsman." "I remember." "The ship was destroyed by a warp-core breach." "The Captain and I made it to a pod before the breach became critical." "From space, we observed an explosion which vaporised the ship." "No wreckage was found, so Starfleet declared the ship destroyed." "However, all that changed three days ago." "Starfleet Intelligence has an operative in Romulan High Command." "He sent us a message that a Romulan warbird located a piece of debris which was identified as being from the Pegasus." "The warbird was ordered to locate the rest of the ship." "Why do they want pieces of a 12-year-old starship?" "The Pegasus was a prototype." "Experimental engines." "In fact, some of our designs were used on the Enterprise." "There are things on board the Romulans would love to have." " What are our orders?" " To find the ship." "Salvage it if possible." "Destroy it if necessary." "You command the Enterprise, I command the mission." "We'll need the metallurgical specs to set up search parameters." "I'll make the information available." "Very well." "Lay in a course for the Devolin system." "Aye, sir." "Captain, we are approaching the Devolin system." " Any sign of the Romulans?" " No, sir." "They're out there, waiting to see what you'll do." "Mr La Forge?" "There's an awful lot of ionising radiation." "That will slow down our search." " How slow?" " I'd say..." "Romulan warbird decloaking ahead." " They are powering weapons." " Shields up." "Red alert." " Prepare phasers." " Sir, they are hailing us." "On screen." "I am Cmdr Sirol of the Romulan vessel Terix." "To whom do I have the honour of speaking?" "I am Capt Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise." "Capt Picard." "I've heard much about you." "A pleasure to make your acquaintance." "I hope our sudden appearance didn't startle you." "Not at all." "But your unannounced appearance might have unfortunate consequences." "It would be a shame if your ship were damaged due to some misunderstanding." "I am touched by your concern for my ship, but I doubt we were ever in any danger." "May I ask what you are doing here?" "I might ask you the same." "We are conducting a survey of gaseous anomalies." "How interesting." "So are we." "Perhaps we could combine our efforts and share our findings." "I doubt our objectives are compatible." "Perhaps you're right." "This has been most pleasant, but we must return to our research." "Then I won't keep you." "Sir, they are moving off, resuming their tachyon scans." "Stand down red alert, but keep tracking their movements." "Aye, sir." "Commander, how long to search the system?" "At least seven days." "And the Romulans have a two-day head start." "Let's get to it, Mr Data." "Initiating sensor sweep of grid zero one." " How long have you had that beard?" " Four years." "I got tired of hearing how young I looked." "What was it that Lt Boylen used to call you?" "Ensign Baby Face." "You never did have much of a sense of humour." "I like to think that I've lightened up." " Really?" " I've told a joke or two." "It's about time." "You were always so serious on the Pegasus." "We went through some serious times." "Do you think we'll find the Pegasus?" "I wouldn't have come if I didn't." "What about the experiment?" "Do you think we'll find that?" "Maybe." "I think a lot about what happened, especially on that last day." "So do I. It's not the kind of thing you just forget." "Do you ever wonder if we did the right thing?" "Never." "What happened was a tragedy but it wasn't your fault or mine." "What we did was for the Federation." "We can't blame ourselves if the others couldn't see that." "I know, but maybe we went about it the wrong way." "This time we may have a chance to do it the right way." "If we're successful, if we find the Pegasus and the experiment, we can finish what we started 12 years ago." " You want to try it again?" " Not just me." "The Chief of Starfleet Security has given me her complete support." "Admiral Ranar?" "How many other people know about this?" "Not many and we must make sure it stays that way." "Ranar has given me orders for you, coded in the computer." "You've been instructed not to reveal our mission to anyone else, not even Capt Picard." "Will, don't worry." "It won't be like it was 12 years ago." "And this time, no one's gonna stop us." "As a matter of fact," "I never met Will until he reported on board at Farpoint Station." "You chose your first officer without ever meeting him?" "I was looking through the records of 50 candidates and Will's was very much like all the others, filled with lots of dry statistics and glowing letters of recommendation that tell you nothing." "I was about to put it aside and look at another file, and then something caught my eye." "There was an incident on Altair III when Will was on the Hood." "He refused to let Capt DeSoto beam down during a crisis." "He disobeyed a direct order and he risked a court martial because he thought he was right." "When I read that, I knew that I had found my number one." "You wanted someone with a history of disobedience?" "I wanted someone who would stand up to me, who was more concerned with the safety of the ship and doing the mission than with how it might look on his record." "To me, that's a mark of a good officer." "Frankly, I feel it's more important to trust a captain's judgement." "In a crisis, there's no time." "Orders have to be obeyed or lives may be lost." "I'm aware of that, Admiral." "Of course you are." "I guess this mission has brought up some old ghosts for me." "Know what it's like to lose a ship?" "You always wonder if there was something you missed." "Admiral, the record regarding the loss of the Pegasus is a bit vague from the moment before you abandoned ship." "Is there anything you can add?" "I'm afraid not." "But I can tell you this." "12 years ago, I needed an officer that I could count on, someone who would obey me without question, someone willing to trust my judgement." "That someone was Will Riker." "Without his loyalty, none of us would have survived." " What's wrong?" " I think I busted a rib." "Excuse me." "What were you doing?" "I was doing bat'leth moves with Mr Worf." "I jabbed when I should have blocked." "He got me." "It's a good thing we were using sticks, not blades." "It's broken, alright." "Give him 10cc of terakine." "I can't believe how stupid I was." "You both must have got carried away." "It was my fault." "I got distracted at a crucial moment." "It can happen to anyone." "I knew what I was supposed to do." "If those had been real bat'leths, I might be dead right now." "There, all better." "Will, it's alright." "You made a mistake." "No harm done." " You'll be better next time." " Yeah, maybe." "Scan of grid 157 is complete." "I am moving to grid 158." "The Romulan warship is still searching grid 270." "They're spending a lot of time there..." "Commander, I think we might have struck pay dirt." "There's a subspace resonance signature coming from that asteroid." "From the frequency, it looks like a Federation warp core." "Capt Picard to the bridge." "Take us to within ten kilometres of asteroid Gamma 601." "Geordi's found something." "There's a resonance signature coming from that asteroid." "It could be the Pegasus." "I think he's right." "I recognise the variance patterns." "Put the asteroid on the main viewscreen." "I have confirmed Geordi's readings." "The signatures are originating from beneath the surface." "Beneath the surface?" "How?" "The asteroid contains deep chasms large enough for a starship to enter." "It is possible the Pegasus drifted into the gravitational field and was pulled into a fissure." "Sir, the Romulan warbird has altered course once again." "They're heading towards us." "They want to see what we're interested in." "Mr Data, how long will it take to determine the location?" " At least another six hours." " That's too long." "If the Romulans search the asteroid, they could find the ship." "I recommend we destroy the asteroid." "It would take our photon torpedoes but would preclude the Pegasus falling into Romulan hands." "Our top priority is salvage." "I'll destroy it as a last resort." "Yes, sir." "Captain, could you give me a third alternative?" "Is it possible to saturate the asteroid with verteron particles that would mask the resonance signature and prevent detection?" "In order to succeed, it would have to appear to be a natural phenomenon." "Verteron particles are artificial in nature." "Wait." "We can blanket the asteroid with ionising radiation." "There's so much of it, the Romulans won't know the difference." " Mr Data?" " Theoretically, it should work." "If we do this, we have to do it fast." "The Romulans will be in range in a minute." "Make it so." "Aye, sir." "Initiating ionisation-field pulse." "When he's finished, we'll make it look as if we haven't found anything." "Lay in a course for the next search." "If it works, the Romulans won't find anything and we can return later." " If it doesn't..." " We'll have handed them the Pegasus." " Ionisation pulse complete." " Helm, one-quarter impulse." "Engage." "The Romulans are initiating a tachyon scan of the asteroid." "They have switched to their lateral sensors." "Beginning another scan." "They're being thorough." "The warbird has completed its sweep." "If they found the signature, they should be sending away teams any second." "They are moving out." "Mr Data, we must convince the Romulans that we're still looking." " Continue scanning this system." " Aye, sir." "I want to be back at this asteroid at 0800 tomorrow." " Plan your search accordingly." " Aye." "Admiral, care to join me for some late dinner?" "Please excuse me." "I'll turn in early." "You have the bridge, Number One." "Will you bring the scan analysis to my quarters?" "Aye, sir." " Initiate search of grid 163." " Beginning sensor sweeps." "Commander, I want to see you in the Captain's ready room." " Mr Data, you have the bridge." " Aye, sir." "What is the matter with you?" "Destroy the Pegasus before looking at it?" " I thought it was more important..." " Well, you were wrong!" "We can change the balance of power but we can't do that if we destroy the Pegasus, can we?" "No, sir." "It hasn't been easy for you, keeping your captain in the dark." "I haven't enjoyed it, if that's what you mean." "I hope you understand it's necessary." "I understand that you think it's necessary." "You have changed." "Changed..." "Something the Captain and I were talking about." "To be honest, I'm glad to see this change." "State your opinion and stand by it." "It's a far cry from the young man who worried about pressing the wrong button." "A lot of things can change in 12 years, Admiral." "Yes, they can." "But it's important that a man changes the right things, not his sense of duty, not his sense of loyalty." "I'd like to think that I haven't changed those things." "I would like to think that, too." "Because those things say more about a man than the rank on his collar." "They define him." "12 years ago, a lot of older officers turned away from their duty, but you stood for what was right." "I'm sorry, Will." "I know the kind of man you are." "I know that I can count on you again." "Come." "The scan analysis you asked for." "Thank you." " Is there something else, sir?" " Yes, there is." ""Judge Advocate General's report, stardate 36764."" ""Subject, inquiry into mutiny aboard USS Pegasus."" ""Based on testimony from Capt Pressman and others, the Judge Advocate believes there is sufficient evidence to conclude that members of the crew did mutiny against the Captain just prior to the destruction of the Pegasus."" "Mutiny on a Federation starship?" "That's shocking." "It's unthinkable." "Yet you've never mentioned it." "No, sir." "You know, it wasn't easy to get this report." "I had to pull in quite a few favours just to look at it." "It seems that it was classified by Starfleet Intelligence." "So, not only was the Pegasus carrying sensitive equipment, which must not fall into Romulan hands, not only was there a mysterious explosion which seemed to destroy the ship but didn't but it seems there was a mutiny." "I've read the official report of the inquiry on that mutiny but I want your version of what happened." "I was on the bridge." "The ship was at yellow alert." "We were running tests on the engines." "Something went wrong." "There was an explosion in Engineering." "Heavy casualties." "The First Officer, Engineering Chief and most of the bridge crew mutinied against Capt Pressman." "Why?" "They thought he jeopardised the ship." "And you?" "I was seven months out of the Academy, my head ringing with words like "duty" and "honour"." "When they turned on him," "I thought they were a bunch of disloyal officers." "I grabbed a phaser and I defended my captain." "Two or three others joined us but it was clear by then that the mutineers had most of the crew behind them." "We felt a need to get off the ship." "There was a running firefight to the escape pod." "About five minutes after we left the ship, there was an explosion." ""The Judge Advocate also believes that the surviving officers are deliberately withholding vital information."" ""Investigation is recommended." There was no investigation." "This report was classified and then it was quietly buried." "Why?" " Sir, take this up with Admiral..." " I'm taking this up with you." "The Judge Advocate thought that you covered up the truth." "Now, what the hell is going on here, Will?" "Why did that mutiny happen?" "Why is Pressman determined to find your ship 12 years later?" "I've said all I can." "I'm under direct orders from Admiral Pressman not to discuss this, sir." "Very well." "He's an admiral." "I'm a captain." "I cannot force you to disobey his orders." "I will have to remain in the dark on this mission." "I'll have to trust that you will not let Pressman put this ship at risk." "If I find that trust is misplaced," "I will re-evaluate the command structure of this ship." "Dismissed." "Captain." "Starfleet places the highest priority on this mission." "Your request for a delay is denied." "Margaret, something's very wrong here." "Do you know what's going on?" "I know that the Chief of Intelligence is watching this one." "You'd be well advised to follow orders." "Leave it at that." "Starfleet out." "Worf to Capt Picard." "We are approaching asteroid Gamma 601." "On my way." "Mr Worf, where are the Romulans?" "Out of sensor range on the far side of the system." "Take us to within 15 kilometres of the asteroid." "Hold that position." "Mr Data, report." "I have been scanning the area where we detected the signature of the Pegasus." "From the strength of the signature, it appears the warp core is intact." "If we're lucky, the entire Engineering section is there." "But how do we get to it?" "I wouldn't transport through so much solid rock." "Agreed." "What about a shuttle?" "Send it through a fissure." "I would recommend against it." "There may be gravometric fluctuations inside the asteroid which would overpower the engines." "Sounds like the best solution is to take the Enterprise in." " Into the asteroid?" " That's right." "Put this fissure on the main viewer." "This chasm is large enough." "Besides, to salvage the Pegasus, we'll need a starship." "Mr Data?" "It is theoretically possible, sir." "But I am unaware of any prior situations where a starship was taken so deeply inside." "There may be unforeseen difficulties." " We can't risk..." " I've made my decision." "Prepare to take the Enterprise in, Captain." "That's an order." "Mr Data, note in the ship's log that this action is being taken over my explicit objection." "It is so noted, sir." " Yellow alert." " Inertial dampers at maximum." "Ensign Gates, plot a course into the chasm, manoeuvring thrusters only." " Course plotted, sir." " Take us in." "We are two kilometres beneath the surface." "Captain, we are encountering shifts in the magnetic-field density." "If this passage narrows to less than 500 metres," "I will abort the mission." "Charge me with insubordination, but I won't risk the Enterprise." "I'm reading a large resonance signature directly ahead." " Pegasus." " What the hell happened?" "Sensors show the ship is intact." "However, 65 percent of it is within the asteroid." "Looks as if half the ship materialised inside solid rock." "Yes, sir." "I do not understand how this could happen." "Keep speculation to a minimum and begin the operation." "The equipment was in Main Engineering." "Scan that section." "The starboard bulkhead is contained within the rock face." "Most of its compartment is intact." "There is a hull breach." "If we begin a power transfer, can we restore life-support systems to that compartment?" "I believe so." "The breach can be sealed by our shields." "See to it." "Once you restore life support, Cmdr Riker and I will beam aboard." "I would like a complete team." "There is some sensitive equipment." "I don't want anyone else near it." "Yes, sir." "This room was open to space for 12 years." "A vacuum." "It preserved everything." "I wonder how many of the crew are buried there." "We're not here for a memorial service." "It's still intact." "What's the matter?" "Don't you understand?" "We've found it." "I know." "I kept hoping it wouldn't be here, that it had been destroyed, that it was buried in that rock back there." "What's that supposed to mean?" "It means that I can't put this off any longer." "Right up to this moment, I had the luxury of time." "But now I've got to make a choice." "And, Admiral, I'm afraid my choice is this." "I can't let you start these experiments again." "It was wrong 12 years ago." "It is wrong today." "You had better reconsider." "We have a mission to accomplish." "That's all you care about, starting these experiments again." "Look around." "This room is filled with dead bodies because of this." "Keep your self-righteous comments to yourself." "I knew these people longer than you did." "It was their fault." "You don't know that." "We don't know what happened after we left." "It's not hard to guess." "They shut down an experiment they didn't understand and it killed them." "No, we killed them." "That doesn't sound like the man who defended his captain 12 years ago." "I've had 12 years to think about it." "If I had it to do over again," "I'd have grabbed the phaser and pointed it at you." "So, on reflection, you'd rather be a traitor than a hero." "I wasn't a hero." "Neither were you." "What you did was wrong, but I was too young and stupid to realise it." "You were captain." "I was the ensign." "I was just following orders." "If you hadn't, you'd be dead along with them." "Dead because you listened to a bunch of cowards blinded by fear." "They were brave enough to risk their lives to stop you from violating a treaty the Federation signed." "That treaty has bound our hands and given the Romulans a tactical advantage for 60 years." "I was trying to level the playing field." "And now you want to try it again?" "How many people will die this time?" "50?" "100?" "1,000?" "You don't want to help me?" "Fine." "But you are still under my orders not to talk about what you know." "I made you, mister, and I can break you." "Do you understand me?" "Picard to away team, prepare to return to the ship." "Stand by, Enterprise." "Pressman to Enterprise." "Two people and one piece of equipment to beam up." "Report." "The Romulans destroyed the entrance to the chasm with their disrupters." "They've sealed us in." "Sir, there is an incoming message." "It is from the warbird." " On screen." " Aye, sir." "Captain, you seem to be in a very unfortunate circumstance." "How can we help?" " Are you responsible for this?" " I'm not sure." "We were conducting some geological experiments on the surface." "It is entirely possible that we accidentally sealed you in." "If we'd known you were beneath the surface, if you had shared your plans, this might have been avoided." "What do you want?" "I don't want anything." "But I will offer to help you." "How?" "By transporting your crew aboard my ship." "We'll take you back to Romulus where, after a short stay, you will be returned to the Federation." "Thank you for your generous offer." "I will take it under advisement." "As you wish." "We will continue our research here for a while longer." "I await your decision." "We can't do it." "They'll come back and get both ships." "Agreed." "Options?" "We could use the phasers to cut our way out." "The asteroid's internal structure is highly unstable." "Any attempt to cut through the rock could cause a collapse." "Captain, I have a suggestion." "There's a piece of equipment in Admiral Pressman's quarters that might get us out of here." "It's a prototype for a Federation cloaking device." "You just ended your career, Will." "That's what it's about." "A cloaking device." "In the Treaty of Algeron, the Federation agreed not to develop cloaking technology." "And that treaty is the biggest mistake we ever made." "It's kept us from exploiting a vital area." "That treaty has kept us in peace for 60 years, and as an officer, you're supposed to uphold it." "Now, that's enough!" "I'm taking command of this vessel." "Mr Worf, escort the Captain to his quarters." "I don't think anyone's going to come to your defence." "How do we use the cloak to escape from the asteroid?" "It's more than a cloak." "It changes the structure of matter." "In theory, a ship using this device could pass through normal matter." "I see why you wanted to find it." "Can't you see the potential here?" "The phasing cloak would be the greatest breakthrough in 50 years." "Except that it's illegal." "It's in violation of an agreement signed in good faith." "Captain, I think we could adapt the cloak for the Enterprise." " Mr Data?" " Theoretically, it is possible." "But it would take several hours to link it to our systems." "Make it so." "Captain's log, stardate 47457. 1." "We have been trapped inside the asteroid for over eight hours." "Mr Data and Cmdr La Forge are nearly ready to engage the cloak." "Commander, we've routed the impulse engines through the plasma conduits." "Watch the intercooler levels." "If they get too high, we'll blow the relay system." "Understood." "I think that's what happened 12 years ago." "The cloak blew out the plasma relays on the Pegasus." "The plasma ignited in space and it looked as if the ship had been destroyed." "The ship drifted into this system still in a phased state." "When it passed through this asteroid..." "The cloak failed and half of the ship materialised in solid rock." "La Forge to bridge." "The cloak is ready to begin phase sequencing." " Proceed, Number One." " Activating power systems." " Report." " The cloak is functioning normally." "The ship's matter-energy phasing rate should be sufficient." "Take us out." "Manoeuvring thrusters only." "We will reach the rock face in five seconds." "We have passed through two kilometres of the asteroid." "Now within one kilometre of the surface." "We're approaching the surface." "We have cleared the asteroid." "The warbird is off the port bow." "They're still waiting for us to make up our minds." "Disengage the cloaking device." "You cannot." "If the Romulans see..." "They'll know the truth, Admiral." "Which is what everyone will know shortly." "Carry out my orders." "Send a message to the warbird." "Tell them that their government will be contacted about this." "Aye, sir." "Admiral, I am charging you with violation of the Treaty of Algeron." "As Captain, I am placing you under arrest." " Mr Worf." " If you will come with me." "Captain, I'll have to be placed under arrest as well." "Admiral." "I have a lot of friends at Starfleet Command." "You're going to need them." "I spoke with Fleet Admiral Shanthi." "There will be a full inquiry at Starbase 247." "That will probably lead to a court martial of Admiral Pressman." "And several others at Starfleet Intelligence." "Your involvement will be thoroughly investigated." "There will be some hard questions." "I understand." "You made a mistake 12 years ago." "But your service since then has earned you much respect." "This incident could cost you some of that." "I can't help but feel I should have come forward." "When the moment came to make a decision, you made the right one, to tell the truth and face the consequences." "As long as you can do that, you deserve to wear that uniform." "And I will be proud to have you as my first officer."