| Gr: |
Enterprise, Enterprise, come in. Help us, please!
What shall we do? Enterprise, help us, please!
|
| P: |
Tune that down. Commander Riker, come in. Can you hear me?
|
| R: |
Riker to Enterprise. Come in.
|
| P: |
Commander Riker, come in. Where are you?
|
| R: |
With Data, on the edge of the old city, sir. It's being hit hard, sir.
|
| P: |
And Farpoint station, any damage there?
|
| R: |
Negative on damage to the Farpoint, sir. Whoever they are,
they are carefully avoiding hitting the station.
|
| P: |
It's from an unidentified vessel that's entered into orbit with us
here, no ID, no answer to our signals.
|
| R: |
The old Bandi city is being hit hard, sir. Many casualties.
Very powerful.
|
| P: |
Understand, Commander. Would you object to your Captain ordering a
clearly illegal kidnapping?
|
| R: |
No objection, sir.
|
| P: |
Groppler Zorn may have the answers we need. Get him, bring him here.
|
| R: |
Aye, sir.
|
| P: |
They're forcing a very difficult decision on me, Counselor.
|
| De: |
But I doubt our protecting the Bandi would violate the prime directive.
True, they are not actual allies but...
|
| P: |
We are in the midst of diplomatic discussions with them.
Lieutenant, lock phasers on that vessel.
|
| Ta: |
Phasers locked on, Captain.
|
| Q: |
Typical, so typical. Savage life-forms never follow even their own rules.
|
| P: |
Get off my bridge!
|
| Q: |
Interesting, that order about phasers.
|
| Ta: |
Standing by on phasers, Captain.
|
| Q: |
Please don't let me interfere. Use your weapons.
|
| P: |
With no idea who's on that vessel, my order was a routine safety
precaution.
|
| Q: |
Really? No idea of what it represents? The meaning of that vessel is
as plain as the noses on your ugly little primate faces.
And if you were truely civilized, Capation, wouldn't you be doing something
about the casualties happening down there?
|
| P: |
Captain to CMO, are you reading any of this?
|
| Cr: |
Medical teams aleady preparing to beam down, Captain.
|
| P: |
Compliments on that, Doctor.
Any questions? Starfleet people are trained to render aid and asistance
whenever ....
|
| Q: |
But not trained in clear thinking.
|
| P: |
Let's consider your thoughts. You call us savages and yet you knew
those people down there were going to be killed. It is your conduct
that is uncivilized.
|
| Wo: |
Sir, they're firing on the planet, again.
|
| P: |
Go to maneuvering jets. Position us between that vessel and
the planet. Force fields full on.
|
| Wo: |
Aye, sir. Impulse power to....
We have no ship control, sir. It's gone.
|
| Da: |
Are you undamaged?
|
| R: |
Yes. You?
|
| Da: |
All systems operating.
|
| Gr: |
Please. Make it stop! You can drive it away.
|
| R: |
Drive who away, Groppler?
|
| Gr: |
I don't know.
|
| Da: |
Unlikely, sir.
Our record show you supervised all Bandi contact with other worlds.
|
| Gr: |
We've done nothing wrong.
|
| R: |
Then if we can learn nothing from you, we'll leave.
|
| Gr: |
No, no please, don't leave. I, I'll try to explain.
Wa......
|
| R: |
First officer to Enterprise. We've lost Zorn. Something like a transporter
beam seems to have snatched him away. Question, sir-- Could it be this Q?
|
| Q: |
None of you knows who transported him. You're running out of time, Captain.
|
| De: |
Captain, suddenly I'm sensing something else. Satisfaction,
enormous satisfaction.
|
| P: |
From the same source as before?
|
| De: |
No, that was on the planet. This is much closer.
|
| Q: |
Excellent, Counselor. He's such a dullard, isn't he?
|
| ??: |
Captain, from transporter room. First officer and Mr. Data have
beamed aboard.
|
| Q: |
Excellent also. Perhaps with more of these little minds helping...
|
| P: |
That's enough. Damn it!
|
| Q: |
Have you forgotten that we have an agreement?
|
| P: |
An agreement which you are at this moment breaking by taking over our vessel.
Interferring with my decisions. Either leave or finish us!
|
| Q: |
Temper, temper, mor Capitaine. I'm merely trying to asist a pitiful
species. But perhaps I will leave, if Commander Riker provides
me with some amusement.
|
| P: |
Do nothing that he asks.
|
| Q: |
But I ask so little. And it's so necessary if you're to solve all this.
Beam over there with your, what do you call it? Your away team?
|
| P: |
I'll risk none of my crew on that unknown?
|
| Q: |
You should already know what you'll find there. Perhaps it's too adult
a puzzle for you.
|
| R: |
With all respect, Captain. I want to beam over there.
|
| Q: |
You show promise, my good fellow.
|
| R: |
Have you understood any part of what he is trying to tell you.
Humanity is no longer a savage race.
|
| Q: |
But you must still prove that.
|
| P: |
At least you impressed him, Number One. That's hopeful.
|
| R: |
Thank you, Captain. Captain, if he's not open to evidence in our favor
where will you go from there?
|
| P: |
I'll attend to my duty.
|
| R: |
To the bitter end.
|
| P: |
I see nothing so bitter about that.
|