1 00:00:02,544 --> 00:00:06,006 Picard: Captain's log, stardate 41463.9. 2 00:00:06,215 --> 00:00:07,674 While mapping the pleiades cluster, 3 00:00:07,841 --> 00:00:09,343 we have been asked by the federation 4 00:00:09,551 --> 00:00:12,304 to visit a group terraforming velara III. 5 00:00:12,513 --> 00:00:13,972 Communications have been erratic, 6 00:00:14,181 --> 00:00:16,350 and there is some concern about their welfare. 7 00:00:16,558 --> 00:00:19,144 Entering standard orbit now. 8 00:00:19,353 --> 00:00:21,980 It takes very special people to live in such desolation. 9 00:00:22,189 --> 00:00:25,150 Visionaries who don't see the planet as it is, but as it will be. 10 00:00:25,359 --> 00:00:27,736 I've always wanted to see terraforming in operation. 11 00:00:27,945 --> 00:00:31,406 - Lieutenant yar, hailing frequencies. - Hailing frequencies open, sir. 12 00:00:31,573 --> 00:00:32,741 Velara III base, 13 00:00:32,950 --> 00:00:36,245 this is captain picard of the starship enterprise. 14 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:48,760 No malfunctioning equipment on either side, sir. 15 00:00:48,924 --> 00:00:50,092 They are receiving us. 16 00:00:50,259 --> 00:00:53,887 Velara III base, this is the enterprise. Come in, please. Over. 17 00:00:55,764 --> 00:00:58,058 Maybe no one's home. 18 00:01:00,978 --> 00:01:03,647 We are sensing life-forms, sir. 19 00:01:04,940 --> 00:01:07,526 Velara III base, do you copy? 20 00:01:07,734 --> 00:01:11,154 Mandl: Velara base to enterprise. 21 00:01:11,363 --> 00:01:16,118 Yes, captain, I'm director Mandi, and I'm sorry about the delay, 22 00:01:16,326 --> 00:01:19,121 but we weren't expecting visitors. 23 00:01:19,329 --> 00:01:23,709 Terraform command has asked us to see how you were getting along. 24 00:01:24,084 --> 00:01:26,628 We were a little behind, but we 're back on schedule. 25 00:01:27,212 --> 00:01:31,258 And I'd like to hope we'd be allowed to maintain that schedule. 26 00:01:31,675 --> 00:01:34,595 We alarm him for some reason. 27 00:01:36,221 --> 00:01:38,974 Your staff are all well, I presume, director? 28 00:01:39,182 --> 00:01:42,978 Understandably tired. We 're working very hard, captain. 29 00:01:43,186 --> 00:01:45,772 Well, if there is anything that we can do to help, 30 00:01:45,981 --> 00:01:47,649 you and your staff are very welcome aboard 31 00:01:47,858 --> 00:01:49,651 for a change of scene, rest. 32 00:01:49,818 --> 00:01:51,578 We have some holodecks which you might enjoy. 33 00:01:51,737 --> 00:01:55,616 No disrespect, sir, but we cannot afford the time. 34 00:01:57,576 --> 00:01:59,995 - Computer: Channel closed. - His fear is escalating. 35 00:02:00,203 --> 00:02:03,373 Mandl: If you'll excuse me, sir, I really must get back to work. 36 00:02:03,582 --> 00:02:06,376 - I sense deliberate concealment, sir. - Of what? 37 00:02:06,585 --> 00:02:09,463 I don't know, but it's intense. 38 00:02:10,756 --> 00:02:13,091 Director mandl, we've heard of your remarkable achievements 39 00:02:13,258 --> 00:02:14,718 in terraforming. 40 00:02:14,926 --> 00:02:17,054 My crew would very much appreciate looking around. 41 00:02:17,262 --> 00:02:19,640 This is not really the best time. 42 00:02:19,848 --> 00:02:22,768 We 're at a very critical phase just now. 43 00:02:22,976 --> 00:02:24,853 We would require no special attention. 44 00:02:25,062 --> 00:02:31,276 I'm trying not to be rude, sir, but this is really very inconvenient. 45 00:02:32,694 --> 00:02:34,154 He is concealing something. 46 00:02:34,363 --> 00:02:36,823 It's more than just being too busy. 47 00:02:37,032 --> 00:02:38,700 Your announcement about coming down 48 00:02:38,909 --> 00:02:41,495 has sent him almost to a point of panic. 49 00:02:42,412 --> 00:02:44,915 Well, whether he wants us or not. 50 00:02:45,123 --> 00:02:47,376 Director mandl, unless you're absolutely 51 00:02:47,542 --> 00:02:50,295 refusing us permission to land at your station, 52 00:02:50,462 --> 00:02:53,048 prepare to receive our away team. 53 00:02:53,757 --> 00:02:55,342 As you wish. 54 00:02:59,054 --> 00:03:00,894 Counselor, perhaps you better go along as well. 55 00:03:01,056 --> 00:03:02,099 Troi: Aye, sir. 56 00:03:02,265 --> 00:03:04,226 Someone that tense can be very unpredictable. 57 00:03:04,434 --> 00:03:06,561 Stay on your toes, number one. 58 00:03:32,671 --> 00:03:36,717 Picard: Space, the final frontier. 59 00:03:37,467 --> 00:03:41,388 These are the voyages of the starship enterprise. 60 00:03:41,596 --> 00:03:46,727 Its continuing mission: To explore strange new worlds, 61 00:03:47,394 --> 00:03:51,481 to seek out new life and new civilizations, 62 00:03:51,982 --> 00:03:56,319 to boldly go where no one has gone before. 63 00:05:14,648 --> 00:05:17,442 Welcome to velara III. Please. 64 00:05:19,945 --> 00:05:21,947 I want you to remember it as it is now 65 00:05:22,155 --> 00:05:25,909 because in a couple of decades, you won't recognize it. 66 00:05:27,077 --> 00:05:29,788 Louisa Kim, gardener of edens. 67 00:05:29,996 --> 00:05:32,499 Commander William riker, USS enterprise. 68 00:05:32,707 --> 00:05:35,544 This is counselor troi, lieutenant yar, lieutenant la forge, 69 00:05:35,752 --> 00:05:37,045 lieutenant commander data. 70 00:05:38,088 --> 00:05:43,009 Arthur malencon, hydraulics specialist, and bjorn bensen, chief engineer. 71 00:05:45,303 --> 00:05:49,140 - An Android? - Third in command of the enterprise. 72 00:05:49,891 --> 00:05:51,309 Where were you manufactured? 73 00:05:51,518 --> 00:05:53,186 Are there others like you? 74 00:05:53,353 --> 00:05:56,481 Both matters are subjects of protracted discussion. 75 00:05:57,774 --> 00:05:59,693 Remarkable. 76 00:06:00,193 --> 00:06:01,862 Excuse me. 77 00:06:05,365 --> 00:06:09,035 We don't get many visitors. It's exciting to have you here. 78 00:06:09,244 --> 00:06:11,913 We weren't sure how we would be received. 79 00:06:12,122 --> 00:06:16,042 Director mandl was less than enthusiastic about our interests. 80 00:06:16,251 --> 00:06:18,086 I should apologize for him. 81 00:06:18,295 --> 00:06:20,213 We are at a critical phase. 82 00:06:20,422 --> 00:06:23,258 - Usually he's quite charming. - We'll try to stay out of the way. 83 00:06:23,466 --> 00:06:26,094 We've never seen a terraforming station 84 00:06:26,261 --> 00:06:28,597 and we appreciate the opportunity. 85 00:06:28,805 --> 00:06:30,640 How much do you know about the process? 86 00:06:30,849 --> 00:06:33,894 Theories, reports, but nothing firsthand. 87 00:06:34,102 --> 00:06:36,271 Oh, wonderful. Let me show you what we do. 88 00:06:36,438 --> 00:06:38,106 Newcomers find this imager helpful. 89 00:06:38,273 --> 00:06:41,484 The other two are secretive, but she is as open as she appears. 90 00:06:41,693 --> 00:06:44,738 What we're doing is so exciting, so inspiring. 91 00:06:44,946 --> 00:06:49,367 We take a lifeless planet and little by little, transform it 92 00:06:49,534 --> 00:06:53,788 to an m-class environment capable of supporting life. 93 00:06:53,997 --> 00:06:58,126 Terraforming makes you feel a little godlike. 94 00:06:59,002 --> 00:07:01,630 The first phase involves selecting the planet. 95 00:07:01,838 --> 00:07:03,298 That's very important. 96 00:07:03,506 --> 00:07:06,217 It must have the right mass and gravity, 97 00:07:06,426 --> 00:07:10,138 a correct rate of rotation, and a balanced day and night. 98 00:07:10,347 --> 00:07:12,724 The planet must also be without life 99 00:07:12,933 --> 00:07:15,352 or the prospect of life developing naturally. 100 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:17,771 The federation determines if that's so. 101 00:07:17,979 --> 00:07:21,691 Then we take over. 102 00:07:22,734 --> 00:07:25,070 This station is phase two. 103 00:07:25,278 --> 00:07:27,197 Phase three involves water. 104 00:07:27,405 --> 00:07:30,492 Usually we create basins using hydraulic landscaping, 105 00:07:30,700 --> 00:07:33,328 but the water on this planet is subsurface 106 00:07:33,536 --> 00:07:35,872 and extremely high in salt content. 107 00:07:36,414 --> 00:07:40,001 We're just about to begin pumping and filtering the water, 108 00:07:40,210 --> 00:07:43,964 removing the salt, oxygenating, and replacing. 109 00:07:44,172 --> 00:07:48,885 Next, we introduce microorganisms. 110 00:07:49,803 --> 00:07:55,558 And when the process is complete, we'll have a lush, arable biosphere. 111 00:07:55,767 --> 00:07:57,477 You make it sound poetic. 112 00:07:57,644 --> 00:08:00,981 I think it's the best job in the universe. 113 00:08:05,276 --> 00:08:09,072 The efficiency of your hydraulic landscaping is quite elegant. 114 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,033 It isn't yet, but it will be. 115 00:08:12,283 --> 00:08:15,453 Right now I'm disturbed by the erratic power surges 116 00:08:15,662 --> 00:08:19,457 in several of the servomechanisms that control the hydraulic probes. 117 00:08:19,666 --> 00:08:22,919 Could the increased conductivity be caused by the high saline content? 118 00:08:23,128 --> 00:08:25,880 - That was my first thought, but I... - Bensen: Arthur. 119 00:08:26,548 --> 00:08:29,843 The factors do not support that conclusion. 120 00:08:30,593 --> 00:08:32,846 I'm director mandl, and I'm sorry 121 00:08:33,054 --> 00:08:35,849 about having been so abrupt during our initial contact. 122 00:08:36,057 --> 00:08:39,853 But being isolated, one tends to forget the social graces. 123 00:08:40,061 --> 00:08:42,105 Are you seeing everything that you want? 124 00:08:42,313 --> 00:08:44,315 What you're doing here is miraculous. 125 00:08:44,524 --> 00:08:48,069 What we are doing here is working a difficult and demanding timetable. 126 00:08:48,278 --> 00:08:51,740 And there will be no miracle unless malencon here 127 00:08:51,948 --> 00:08:56,036 gets the hydraulic probes back on line. 128 00:08:56,453 --> 00:09:02,500 We are set to step up to full conversion immediately. 129 00:09:03,293 --> 00:09:06,796 Shouldn't you be in the hydraulic chamber, Arthur? 130 00:09:07,005 --> 00:09:08,214 Now? 131 00:09:12,719 --> 00:09:14,387 All right, Kurt. 132 00:09:14,596 --> 00:09:15,680 Geordi? La forge: Hmm? 133 00:09:15,889 --> 00:09:18,224 This appears to be the master subsurface pump. 134 00:09:18,433 --> 00:09:20,143 You're right. Very impressive. 135 00:09:20,351 --> 00:09:21,436 This is interesting. 136 00:09:21,644 --> 00:09:24,731 The water table is a thin ribbon between the Sandy surface layer 137 00:09:24,939 --> 00:09:25,982 and the rocks below. 138 00:09:26,149 --> 00:09:27,589 La forge: Hmm, and those two surfaces 139 00:09:27,734 --> 00:09:29,069 follow that contour so precisely 140 00:09:29,235 --> 00:09:31,475 that the water maintains a consistent depth between them. 141 00:09:31,613 --> 00:09:34,824 Which would require extreme precision from the probe controls. 142 00:09:35,033 --> 00:09:38,369 Here we have something that may be of interest to you. 143 00:09:38,578 --> 00:09:41,081 A vegetation graph. 144 00:09:41,414 --> 00:09:46,628 It is really the key center for successful terraforming. 145 00:09:47,378 --> 00:09:48,463 Riker: Incredible. 146 00:09:48,671 --> 00:09:51,091 It's planned month-by-month, decade-by-decade? 147 00:09:51,299 --> 00:09:56,096 Every single thing is specific and exact. 148 00:09:56,304 --> 00:10:00,266 You see grand romantic concepts. 149 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:04,729 I see unyielding rock under an ocean of sand. 150 00:10:06,189 --> 00:10:08,066 - Commander. - Riker: What is it, Deanna? 151 00:10:08,274 --> 00:10:10,276 Malencon. He's in trouble. 152 00:10:10,819 --> 00:10:11,945 Malencon: Help! 153 00:10:13,404 --> 00:10:15,281 Help! Help! 154 00:10:17,283 --> 00:10:18,451 Can you open it? 155 00:10:19,244 --> 00:10:20,578 Mandl: It's jammed. 156 00:10:48,314 --> 00:10:52,193 Riker: First officer's log, stardate 41464.3. 157 00:10:52,402 --> 00:10:54,863 What began as a routine visit to a terraforming site 158 00:10:55,071 --> 00:10:56,990 has turned into something far more serious. 159 00:10:57,198 --> 00:10:59,325 Arthur malencon, the hydraulics engineer, 160 00:10:59,534 --> 00:11:01,254 has been critically injured by a laser drill 161 00:11:01,411 --> 00:11:03,079 which appears to have malfunctioned. 162 00:11:06,791 --> 00:11:09,210 Picard: Situation report, number one. 163 00:11:10,378 --> 00:11:12,258 For safety reasons, we're shutting off all power 164 00:11:12,422 --> 00:11:15,049 to the hydraulics room before entering to recover the body. 165 00:11:15,258 --> 00:11:17,093 Then we'll beam him up to sickbay. 166 00:11:17,302 --> 00:11:19,762 But from the look of his wounds, it's probably hopeless. 167 00:11:19,971 --> 00:11:21,514 Picard: Keep me informed. 168 00:11:21,723 --> 00:11:22,891 La forge: Data? 169 00:11:23,099 --> 00:11:24,475 Go ahead, geordi. 170 00:11:26,352 --> 00:11:28,479 Data, we have your section completely powered down. 171 00:11:28,688 --> 00:11:31,357 Bensen has just locked the master servomotor drive system, 172 00:11:31,566 --> 00:11:33,568 so it should be safe in there now. 173 00:11:33,776 --> 00:11:36,404 - I'm going in. - Data: I will go with you. 174 00:11:40,867 --> 00:11:42,619 Transporter room, this is lieutenant yar. 175 00:11:42,827 --> 00:11:45,079 Two to beam up to sickbay. 176 00:11:51,169 --> 00:11:52,587 Louisa: I wanna go. 177 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,136 Kurt, please come too. 178 00:12:08,561 --> 00:12:10,313 Transporter room, this is commander riker. 179 00:12:10,521 --> 00:12:12,982 Beam up four at my coordinates. 180 00:12:17,654 --> 00:12:20,114 Data: Geordi, this is intriguing. 181 00:12:20,323 --> 00:12:22,158 I have seen malfunctions, 182 00:12:25,787 --> 00:12:28,581 it is almost as if the laser drill 183 00:12:28,790 --> 00:12:33,419 seemed to operate with a will 184 00:12:33,628 --> 00:12:36,673 separate from its control console. 185 00:12:37,590 --> 00:12:39,509 I can't explain it. 186 00:12:40,051 --> 00:12:44,430 The laser blasts seemed to end when the yelling stopped. 187 00:12:46,307 --> 00:12:48,893 Well, maybe Arthur stopped it, only not in time. 188 00:12:50,103 --> 00:12:51,271 Not possible. 189 00:12:51,813 --> 00:12:54,607 - Then what are you suggesting? - Uncertain. 190 00:12:54,816 --> 00:12:58,987 Geordi, please return power to the control console in this room. 191 00:12:59,195 --> 00:13:01,030 I wish to reactivate the program. 192 00:13:01,781 --> 00:13:03,449 You got it. 193 00:13:16,004 --> 00:13:19,215 I am now running the base-drilling program. 194 00:13:25,972 --> 00:13:28,808 - Geordi, servos off. - They are off. 195 00:13:29,017 --> 00:13:31,477 - Data, what's happening? - Data: Too much to explain. 196 00:13:36,858 --> 00:13:39,485 Can you open that? Do it. La forge to enterprise. 197 00:13:39,694 --> 00:13:41,988 - We have a problem. - Be specific. 198 00:13:42,196 --> 00:13:45,158 Data's in the hydraulics room alone, and we're hearing laser blasts. 199 00:13:45,366 --> 00:13:47,869 - Get him out of there. - It's not working again. 200 00:13:48,036 --> 00:13:51,706 We gotta get this door open. Data, we can't get in. 201 00:14:03,009 --> 00:14:05,511 Away team, now, what is happening? 202 00:14:06,137 --> 00:14:08,181 I'm gonna beam him out of there. 203 00:14:08,389 --> 00:14:11,059 Bridge, this is lieutenant commander data. 204 00:14:11,267 --> 00:14:14,687 No need to beam me up, sir. The situation is under control. 205 00:14:20,234 --> 00:14:22,195 - Are you all right? - Yes. 206 00:14:22,403 --> 00:14:25,114 What happened? Did you do anything which might have set it off? 207 00:14:25,323 --> 00:14:28,284 No, but the firing program was dynamic. 208 00:14:28,493 --> 00:14:29,744 The firing pro... 209 00:14:29,952 --> 00:14:31,245 What? In what way? 210 00:14:31,454 --> 00:14:33,081 It adjusted to my tactics. 211 00:14:33,289 --> 00:14:35,166 It tracked with me, anticipating. 212 00:14:35,375 --> 00:14:37,418 A fixed program could not have done that. 213 00:14:37,627 --> 00:14:39,908 Are you suggesting that someone was controlling the aiming 214 00:14:40,046 --> 00:14:41,130 and firing sequence? 215 00:14:41,297 --> 00:14:45,760 That is exactly how it appeared. There was a mind working against me. 216 00:14:45,927 --> 00:14:47,970 Bensen: What did you do to this laser drill? 217 00:14:49,847 --> 00:14:52,433 A year's work. 218 00:14:52,642 --> 00:14:54,602 Destroyed. 219 00:14:54,769 --> 00:14:56,771 I had no choice. 220 00:15:03,194 --> 00:15:05,530 We were attempting to trace the source of the malfunction 221 00:15:05,696 --> 00:15:06,906 when it attacked me. 222 00:15:07,115 --> 00:15:10,827 How much more of this useless fantasy do I have to listen to? 223 00:15:10,993 --> 00:15:12,833 None at all, Mr. Mandl. Until this is resolved, 224 00:15:12,995 --> 00:15:15,206 I've provided temporary quarters for you and your staff. 225 00:15:15,373 --> 00:15:17,208 Perhaps you'd like to make use of them. 226 00:15:17,375 --> 00:15:19,627 You're overstepping your authority, picard. 227 00:15:19,836 --> 00:15:21,921 You have no right to interfere. 228 00:15:22,130 --> 00:15:25,049 Mr. Mandl, an attack on one of my crew gives me the right. 229 00:15:25,258 --> 00:15:28,052 - I have a schedule to meet. - Your schedule is on hold 230 00:15:28,219 --> 00:15:30,638 until I have a satisfactory explanation of this. 231 00:15:32,723 --> 00:15:34,559 Director mandl. 232 00:15:35,643 --> 00:15:38,396 Lieutenant yar, would you escort the director to his quarters? 233 00:15:38,604 --> 00:15:40,189 Aye, sir. 234 00:15:42,775 --> 00:15:44,318 Go on with your report. 235 00:15:44,527 --> 00:15:47,864 It would appear the laser's drilling system was reprogrammed, sir. 236 00:15:48,072 --> 00:15:49,949 As soon as its memory bank received power, 237 00:15:50,158 --> 00:15:52,285 it turned itself on and went after me. 238 00:15:52,493 --> 00:15:54,162 Fortunately, I was able to cope with it. 239 00:15:54,370 --> 00:15:56,873 And not by much, from what I saw. 240 00:15:57,081 --> 00:16:00,793 I believe it was programmed to destroy any person moving in that room, sir. 241 00:16:01,377 --> 00:16:04,297 - Certainty or speculation? - Certainty. 242 00:16:04,505 --> 00:16:07,216 That would have required the talents of a master programmer. 243 00:16:07,425 --> 00:16:08,634 But it was done. 244 00:16:08,843 --> 00:16:11,345 And so the question becomes not who, 245 00:16:11,554 --> 00:16:14,307 since it clearly was one of the three remaining terraformers. 246 00:16:14,515 --> 00:16:16,267 The question becomes why. 247 00:16:16,476 --> 00:16:18,019 What are they hiding? 248 00:16:18,227 --> 00:16:20,646 What could be so important that one or all of them 249 00:16:20,855 --> 00:16:24,525 could be desperate enough to kill? 250 00:16:25,193 --> 00:16:27,153 Shall I have them brought in, sir? 251 00:16:29,530 --> 00:16:31,115 Not yet. 252 00:16:32,658 --> 00:16:34,869 - Malencon? - I couldn't save him. 253 00:16:35,077 --> 00:16:37,288 The injuries were too severe, the damage too extensive. 254 00:16:37,497 --> 00:16:40,082 The entire velara III facility has been powered down, captain. 255 00:16:40,291 --> 00:16:43,252 We've just completed a remote power feed to the life support systems. 256 00:16:43,461 --> 00:16:47,548 Good. Data, I want you and geordi to return for a more careful inspection. 257 00:16:47,757 --> 00:16:49,008 What are we to look for, sir? 258 00:16:49,175 --> 00:16:52,178 Evidence of tampering, negligence, sabotage, whatever. 259 00:16:52,386 --> 00:16:53,721 The answer's there on the planet. 260 00:16:53,930 --> 00:16:55,890 Tasha, I want you to provide counselor troi and me 261 00:16:56,057 --> 00:16:58,226 with complete personnel records of our three guests. 262 00:16:58,434 --> 00:17:01,729 Psych profiles, training, everything. I'm looking for motive, intent, 263 00:17:01,938 --> 00:17:03,814 the psychological capacity to commit one murder 264 00:17:04,023 --> 00:17:05,483 - and to attempt another. - Aye, sir. 265 00:17:05,691 --> 00:17:08,277 It seems we are becoming detectives, number one. 266 00:17:27,797 --> 00:17:30,508 La forge: Not much left of this drill. 267 00:17:44,564 --> 00:17:48,067 Geordi, I need some visual assistance. 268 00:17:50,778 --> 00:17:54,740 Whoa. What is it? 269 00:17:58,995 --> 00:18:01,539 Nothing but basic elements. 270 00:18:02,164 --> 00:18:04,041 Inorganic. 271 00:18:04,500 --> 00:18:07,545 No carbon, Sandy texture. 272 00:18:08,212 --> 00:18:13,843 Those flashes are almost musical. 273 00:18:15,094 --> 00:18:22,393 I see color variations and rhythms in complex harmonies. 274 00:18:26,939 --> 00:18:28,941 Speculation. 275 00:18:32,028 --> 00:18:34,947 How could it be alive? It's inorganic. 276 00:18:35,323 --> 00:18:37,158 Whatever it is, 277 00:18:37,366 --> 00:18:40,077 it could be what they are covering up. 278 00:18:40,661 --> 00:18:43,914 And the reason someone killed malencon. 279 00:18:49,837 --> 00:18:51,339 Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. 280 00:18:51,547 --> 00:18:54,592 On my order, data's startling discovery of a possible life-form 281 00:18:54,759 --> 00:18:58,846 has been beamed aboard so that its true nature might be uncovered. 282 00:18:59,055 --> 00:19:00,973 But unlike life on earth and elsewhere, 283 00:19:01,140 --> 00:19:03,684 it appears to be completely inorganic. 284 00:19:03,893 --> 00:19:06,729 - A test for inorganic life. - It has never been done, doctor. 285 00:19:06,937 --> 00:19:09,023 There are basic definitions for organic life. 286 00:19:09,231 --> 00:19:12,401 It must have the ability to assimilate, respirate, reproduce, 287 00:19:12,610 --> 00:19:15,112 grow and develop, move, secrete and excrete. 288 00:19:15,279 --> 00:19:18,741 - Would any of those apply here? - Perhaps growth and development. 289 00:19:18,908 --> 00:19:21,619 - Reproduction. - Yes. 290 00:19:21,827 --> 00:19:24,413 Those two may be basic for any definition of life, 291 00:19:24,622 --> 00:19:26,374 organic or inorganic. 292 00:19:26,582 --> 00:19:28,334 Well, doctor, you're charting unknown seas. 293 00:19:28,542 --> 00:19:30,628 - So how do we proceed? - Since we're dealing 294 00:19:30,836 --> 00:19:33,547 with a fundamental question, let's use the basic scientific method: 295 00:19:33,756 --> 00:19:37,093 Observe, theorize, and attempt to prove it. 296 00:19:37,301 --> 00:19:40,096 Activate. Let's be sure of what we're dealing with. 297 00:19:40,304 --> 00:19:42,306 Is the sample organic? 298 00:19:42,515 --> 00:19:43,724 Computer: Negative carbon. 299 00:19:43,933 --> 00:19:46,143 Negative known life components. 300 00:19:46,352 --> 00:19:48,479 - Substance inorganic. - La forge: Mm-hm. 301 00:19:48,688 --> 00:19:50,272 Recheck analysis, please. 302 00:19:50,481 --> 00:19:51,691 Computer: Rechecking. 303 00:19:51,899 --> 00:19:54,568 Analysis verified. Not organic. 304 00:19:55,945 --> 00:19:57,697 Magnify to screen. 305 00:20:01,409 --> 00:20:03,452 Factor five. 306 00:20:04,370 --> 00:20:06,330 Hold surface. 307 00:20:07,415 --> 00:20:08,874 Factor ten. 308 00:20:13,754 --> 00:20:17,633 - What are we looking at? - It's beautiful, whatever it is. 309 00:20:21,929 --> 00:20:22,972 What's that hum? 310 00:20:23,806 --> 00:20:27,393 It started after Dr. Crusher ordered the scanner to magnify. 311 00:20:27,601 --> 00:20:29,019 Computer, demagnify. 312 00:20:29,228 --> 00:20:31,605 Resume normal scan. 313 00:20:36,694 --> 00:20:38,779 Everyone, stand back. 314 00:20:41,031 --> 00:20:42,950 Step back again. 315 00:20:46,829 --> 00:20:48,581 It's us. 316 00:20:49,123 --> 00:20:51,542 Yes. We're causing it. Why? 317 00:20:51,751 --> 00:20:53,002 Data: Unknown. 318 00:20:53,210 --> 00:20:56,088 But it is definitely reacting to our presence. 319 00:20:56,297 --> 00:20:59,467 Perhaps it is picking up the electrical impulse of our systems. 320 00:20:59,967 --> 00:21:02,011 The flashes haven't changed. 321 00:21:02,219 --> 00:21:04,263 Could the hum be connected to the flashing? 322 00:21:05,848 --> 00:21:07,683 Computer, magnify. 323 00:21:09,685 --> 00:21:11,437 What is the magnification? 324 00:21:11,645 --> 00:21:14,607 Computer: Twenty-five hundred diameters. 325 00:21:15,357 --> 00:21:19,111 Analyze the pattern of the flashes. 326 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,739 Computer: Not repetitive or sequential. 327 00:21:21,947 --> 00:21:24,617 Pattern not recognized. 328 00:21:24,825 --> 00:21:26,368 What is the source of the flashes? 329 00:21:26,577 --> 00:21:28,537 Computer: Unable to specify. 330 00:21:28,746 --> 00:21:32,291 Theoretically not possible from this substance. 331 00:21:32,583 --> 00:21:34,293 Disregard incongruity 332 00:21:35,961 --> 00:21:38,756 and theorize as to source. 333 00:21:40,883 --> 00:21:42,718 Computer: Life. 334 00:21:55,439 --> 00:21:59,193 What do you mean, a life-form? What life-form? 335 00:21:59,401 --> 00:22:04,073 A federation recon expedition certified velara III lifeless. 336 00:22:04,281 --> 00:22:07,493 Understandable, given this particular life-form's 337 00:22:07,660 --> 00:22:10,496 - novel nature. - What is that nature? 338 00:22:10,704 --> 00:22:12,665 Dr. Crusher is still making her determination. 339 00:22:12,832 --> 00:22:16,627 Mr. Mandl, you know the prime directive. 340 00:22:17,628 --> 00:22:20,631 Are you saying that I knowingly defied it? 341 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:22,080 That's what I have to find out. 342 00:22:22,216 --> 00:22:23,736 You're a man obsessed with what you do. 343 00:22:23,884 --> 00:22:27,096 Who knows what an obsessed man will do to keep going? 344 00:22:27,304 --> 00:22:28,556 Kill, perhaps? 345 00:22:29,515 --> 00:22:32,184 I create life. 346 00:22:35,187 --> 00:22:36,856 I don't take it. 347 00:22:44,530 --> 00:22:46,323 You hit him pretty hard, captain. 348 00:22:47,658 --> 00:22:48,868 What do you think, counselor? 349 00:22:49,034 --> 00:22:50,911 It was useful. 350 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:52,580 I felt two levels. 351 00:22:52,788 --> 00:22:54,623 He did know about the life-form, 352 00:22:54,832 --> 00:22:57,126 but the idea of murder seemed to shock him. 353 00:22:57,334 --> 00:23:01,171 Whether it was the whole idea or just being accused of it, I can't tell. 354 00:23:02,006 --> 00:23:03,883 What about his file, lieutenant yar? 355 00:23:04,091 --> 00:23:06,969 Could he have accomplished the reprogramming data says took place? 356 00:23:07,177 --> 00:23:09,346 Mandl holds advanced degrees in computer science 357 00:23:09,555 --> 00:23:12,850 as well as artificial intelligence. It's possible. 358 00:23:13,058 --> 00:23:14,894 What about the others, including the victim? 359 00:23:15,102 --> 00:23:18,105 Well, only the victim had the required expertise. 360 00:23:18,314 --> 00:23:22,026 Malencon did work where the whatever it is was found. 361 00:23:22,234 --> 00:23:25,362 Trying to suppress that knowledge would be motive for murder. 362 00:23:25,529 --> 00:23:27,781 If mandl were obsessed enough. 363 00:23:27,990 --> 00:23:29,909 Terraformers are often obsessive. 364 00:23:30,117 --> 00:23:32,786 It frequently goes with the career profile. 365 00:23:32,995 --> 00:23:34,997 How do you read the designer? 366 00:23:35,205 --> 00:23:38,000 She is possessed of highly abstracted reality. 367 00:23:38,208 --> 00:23:40,920 Lovely visions, little data. 368 00:23:41,462 --> 00:23:44,298 But you might do better than I. 369 00:23:54,683 --> 00:23:56,810 It's not locked. 370 00:24:04,818 --> 00:24:06,695 Mind a visitor? 371 00:24:10,658 --> 00:24:12,576 Is it true? 372 00:24:15,496 --> 00:24:18,082 Did you really find a life-form? 373 00:24:18,290 --> 00:24:20,960 Well, the debate is still going on in some quarters, 374 00:24:21,168 --> 00:24:24,421 but I think so, yes. 375 00:24:25,673 --> 00:24:27,633 What's it like? 376 00:24:28,384 --> 00:24:30,928 We have nothing we can compare it with. 377 00:24:31,136 --> 00:24:32,346 It's microscopic. 378 00:24:32,554 --> 00:24:36,850 It seems colonial, simple. 379 00:24:37,351 --> 00:24:39,019 But it's inorganic. 380 00:24:39,228 --> 00:24:40,938 Which is why the recon scouts missed it. 381 00:24:41,146 --> 00:24:43,857 It was not your mistake. 382 00:24:48,654 --> 00:24:52,449 Everything I've worked so hard for 383 00:24:55,953 --> 00:24:58,497 is falling apart. 384 00:25:06,922 --> 00:25:08,549 Louisa. 385 00:25:10,175 --> 00:25:12,219 It's very beautiful. 386 00:25:13,429 --> 00:25:15,848 I could arrange for you to see it if you like. 387 00:25:18,434 --> 00:25:20,477 Perhaps later. 388 00:25:36,869 --> 00:25:38,789 Crusher: Captain, this is Dr. Crusher. 389 00:25:38,954 --> 00:25:41,290 I think you'd better come to the medical lab. 390 00:25:48,255 --> 00:25:50,549 - What is it? - Geordi observed movement. 391 00:25:50,716 --> 00:25:51,759 Not movement exactly, 392 00:25:51,925 --> 00:25:53,605 but a definite shift in the energy pattern. 393 00:25:53,761 --> 00:25:55,929 - Without external influence. - The hum is gone too. 394 00:25:56,138 --> 00:25:57,931 - — Why? - Unknown, sir. 395 00:25:58,140 --> 00:25:59,767 Perhaps it is scanning us. 396 00:25:59,975 --> 00:26:02,978 Scanning us? Why? What could it hope to learn? 397 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:05,230 Unknown at this time, sir. 398 00:26:05,397 --> 00:26:06,899 It's changing. 399 00:26:09,443 --> 00:26:13,197 - I don't see anything. - The infrared range is increasing. 400 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,327 Computer: Warning, input overload. 401 00:26:18,702 --> 00:26:20,954 - The hum is back. - It is projecting an energy field. 402 00:26:21,163 --> 00:26:23,248 And it's intensifying. 403 00:26:27,044 --> 00:26:29,588 Computer: Magnification deactivated. 404 00:26:41,725 --> 00:26:43,852 Crusher: Two of them. 405 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,733 Only life can replicate itself, doctor. 406 00:26:49,942 --> 00:26:54,029 Inorganic or not, it is alive. 407 00:27:00,536 --> 00:27:03,163 Activate quarantine field. 408 00:27:07,459 --> 00:27:09,711 Quarantine field full. 409 00:27:10,963 --> 00:27:13,549 Full shield backup. 410 00:27:16,343 --> 00:27:17,761 Evacuafinglab. 411 00:27:17,970 --> 00:27:20,764 Computer: Translation request being patched. 412 00:27:20,973 --> 00:27:22,391 Translation? From whom? 413 00:27:26,311 --> 00:27:28,230 Evacuate. 414 00:27:31,108 --> 00:27:33,110 What's wrong with the translator circuit? 415 00:27:33,318 --> 00:27:35,696 Picard: Bridge, this is the captain. 416 00:27:35,904 --> 00:27:39,575 Request emergency power to initiate lab quarantine seal. 417 00:27:40,450 --> 00:27:42,578 - Do it, Mr. Worf. - Aye, sir. 418 00:27:42,786 --> 00:27:45,205 What's the nature of the problem, captain? We've lost visual. 419 00:27:45,372 --> 00:27:48,375 We have confirmed that data's discovery is life. 420 00:27:48,584 --> 00:27:50,586 But more than that, 421 00:27:51,086 --> 00:27:52,921 it is intelligent life. 422 00:27:55,632 --> 00:27:57,176 How do you know, sir? 423 00:28:02,181 --> 00:28:04,600 It's trying to communicate with us. 424 00:28:09,605 --> 00:28:11,005 Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. 425 00:28:11,190 --> 00:28:13,150 The inorganic life-form from velara III 426 00:28:13,358 --> 00:28:16,570 has apparently taken over our medical lab. 427 00:28:16,737 --> 00:28:19,615 It generates enough energy to interfere with the surrounding systems. 428 00:28:19,781 --> 00:28:21,421 Mr. La forge, can we see into the lab yet? 429 00:28:21,575 --> 00:28:22,618 Negative, captain. 430 00:28:22,784 --> 00:28:24,912 Reducing the backup to the quarantine seal might help. 431 00:28:25,078 --> 00:28:26,914 - Doctor? - I wouldn't. 432 00:28:27,122 --> 00:28:28,762 - Picard: Continue quarantine. - Aye, sir. 433 00:28:28,916 --> 00:28:31,516 Tasha: Director mandl and the others are in the observation lounge 434 00:28:31,668 --> 00:28:32,711 as you requested. 435 00:28:32,878 --> 00:28:36,048 Counselor, I shall need you. You have the bridge, number one. 436 00:28:40,302 --> 00:28:42,679 Director mandl, I put it to you again. 437 00:28:42,888 --> 00:28:44,681 What do you know about these life-forms? 438 00:28:44,890 --> 00:28:46,225 Mandl: Not a thing. 439 00:28:46,433 --> 00:28:47,935 Enough. 440 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:52,064 Sit down, lieutenant. 441 00:28:52,272 --> 00:28:54,483 You are deliberately evasive and it must stop. 442 00:28:54,691 --> 00:28:57,444 You have kept information from me since our first communication. 443 00:28:57,653 --> 00:29:02,449 An alien life-form has taken possession of my medical lab. 444 00:29:03,992 --> 00:29:06,411 You knew of its existence. 445 00:29:08,163 --> 00:29:09,790 Is this true? 446 00:29:09,998 --> 00:29:12,417 You knew there was life on velara III? 447 00:29:12,584 --> 00:29:15,629 I knew that there were random energy patterns, 448 00:29:15,837 --> 00:29:16,964 yes, I knew that. 449 00:29:17,172 --> 00:29:19,341 But not life. 450 00:29:19,549 --> 00:29:22,177 Not by any definition that I have ever heard. 451 00:29:22,386 --> 00:29:25,222 But you tried to keep that knowledge from us. 452 00:29:26,848 --> 00:29:31,019 They are meaningless silicon crystals which rebroadcast sunlight. 453 00:29:31,228 --> 00:29:33,563 It is a life-form and it has intelligence. 454 00:29:36,817 --> 00:29:38,443 Why do you say that? 455 00:29:38,986 --> 00:29:40,779 It's trying to communicate with us. 456 00:29:41,321 --> 00:29:43,115 Communicate with you? 457 00:29:43,991 --> 00:29:45,909 When did you first become aware of them? 458 00:29:48,245 --> 00:29:50,580 Tell him about the pattern in the sand. 459 00:29:50,789 --> 00:29:53,333 Oh, yes, do tell us. 460 00:29:57,170 --> 00:30:00,257 When we first arrived, we noticed that in certain areas, 461 00:30:00,465 --> 00:30:03,010 the sand had a sparkling effect, 462 00:30:03,218 --> 00:30:06,888 like sunlight bouncing off new fallen snow. 463 00:30:07,472 --> 00:30:08,849 What did you think it was? 464 00:30:09,057 --> 00:30:12,311 Honestly, we did not give it anythought 465 00:30:12,936 --> 00:30:16,315 picard, I must point out again 466 00:30:16,523 --> 00:30:20,444 that we were assured not once, but many times 467 00:30:20,652 --> 00:30:23,780 by the best scientific minds in the federation 468 00:30:23,989 --> 00:30:26,033 that this planet has no life. 469 00:30:26,241 --> 00:30:28,410 No life. 470 00:30:28,618 --> 00:30:30,454 And we were not looking. 471 00:30:30,662 --> 00:30:32,622 And therefore, we did not see. 472 00:30:32,831 --> 00:30:34,499 All right. At first you dismissed it. 473 00:30:34,708 --> 00:30:39,046 But then you began to understand that there was something 474 00:30:39,254 --> 00:30:41,048 that was different about them. 475 00:30:41,256 --> 00:30:43,050 You can't know that. 476 00:30:43,258 --> 00:30:47,012 Your apprehension suggested it when we first arrived. 477 00:30:47,220 --> 00:30:48,972 Tell me about these patterns. 478 00:30:50,182 --> 00:30:53,560 At first, we thought it was just natural phenomena unique to velara III. 479 00:30:53,769 --> 00:31:00,192 Refraction in its thin atmosphere is interesting but certainly not life. 480 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:02,319 Why was I never told about this? 481 00:31:02,486 --> 00:31:05,113 Because it's not particularly important. 482 00:31:06,031 --> 00:31:09,034 As the building of the terraforming station went forward, 483 00:31:09,242 --> 00:31:11,620 the patterns in the sand ceased being random. 484 00:31:11,828 --> 00:31:13,497 They became very specific. 485 00:31:13,705 --> 00:31:17,959 Geometric shapes suddenly appearing, disappearing. 486 00:31:18,168 --> 00:31:20,921 Changing location, changing size. 487 00:31:21,129 --> 00:31:26,760 Did you ever feel that these patterns were attempting to communicate? 488 00:31:30,097 --> 00:31:31,640 No. Never. 489 00:31:33,183 --> 00:31:34,559 Bensen? 490 00:31:35,143 --> 00:31:39,398 I don't know. At the time, I didn't think so. 491 00:31:39,606 --> 00:31:42,818 But now after hearing what you just said... 492 00:31:45,070 --> 00:31:46,113 I don't know. 493 00:31:46,279 --> 00:31:48,448 Riker: Captain, we've regained magnification 494 00:31:48,615 --> 00:31:50,575 on the life-form. It's divided again. 495 00:31:50,784 --> 00:31:52,577 Patch visual to observation lounge. 496 00:31:59,418 --> 00:32:03,296 There was no indication of any of this on velara III? 497 00:32:03,505 --> 00:32:05,340 Absolutely none. 498 00:32:09,219 --> 00:32:12,931 - I cannot understand the patterns. - Hmm. Neither can I. 499 00:32:13,140 --> 00:32:16,726 Please show me spectral analysis, magnification, 12k. 500 00:32:16,935 --> 00:32:19,646 - Computer: Silicon, germanium. - Transistor material. 501 00:32:19,855 --> 00:32:22,732 - Gallium arsenide. - Emits light when charged. 502 00:32:22,941 --> 00:32:24,609 Computer: Cadmium selenide sulfide. 503 00:32:24,776 --> 00:32:26,027 Emits charge when lit. 504 00:32:26,236 --> 00:32:28,655 Computer: Water, impurities, sodium salts. 505 00:32:28,864 --> 00:32:30,574 Conductor. 506 00:32:33,118 --> 00:32:35,954 - But is it alive? - Computer: Probability positive. 507 00:32:36,163 --> 00:32:38,123 I wasn't asking you. 508 00:32:38,331 --> 00:32:40,125 Engineer: Engineering to bridge. 509 00:32:40,292 --> 00:32:41,960 This is commander riker, go ahead. 510 00:32:42,127 --> 00:32:45,505 The backup on the lab seal is fluctuating, sir. 511 00:32:45,714 --> 00:32:47,924 I think you should come down here. 512 00:32:48,592 --> 00:32:50,218 On my way. 513 00:32:51,011 --> 00:32:52,846 Data, you've got the bridge. 514 00:32:53,054 --> 00:32:55,015 Inform the captain. 515 00:33:00,061 --> 00:33:01,188 Status, ensign? 516 00:33:01,396 --> 00:33:04,107 The quarantine seal is getting weaker, sir. 517 00:33:04,316 --> 00:33:07,194 Every time I try to redirect backup, it goes somewhere else. 518 00:33:08,862 --> 00:33:11,948 No, no, it's locked three people in a turbolift 519 00:33:12,157 --> 00:33:14,784 and two more in the programmers' restroom. 520 00:33:14,993 --> 00:33:16,828 If that reading is right, there is no seal. 521 00:33:17,037 --> 00:33:19,581 - Give me lab interior image. - Yes, sir. 522 00:33:23,543 --> 00:33:25,253 Magnify. 523 00:33:28,256 --> 00:33:30,300 Picard, this is riker. 524 00:33:30,509 --> 00:33:32,969 We see it too, number one. 525 00:33:39,226 --> 00:33:40,936 Get that seal back up. 526 00:33:41,478 --> 00:33:44,314 But, sir, no matter what I do, the energy goes somewhere else. 527 00:33:44,523 --> 00:33:47,400 - What if it hits the sickbay or nursery? - Hold off. 528 00:33:47,609 --> 00:33:50,403 Impossible, captain, we haven't got the power. 529 00:33:52,239 --> 00:33:53,639 Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. 530 00:33:53,823 --> 00:33:57,118 The life-form, which has significantly increased in size, 531 00:33:57,327 --> 00:34:00,163 is again attempting to communicate with us. 532 00:34:00,705 --> 00:34:04,000 The universal translator is coming online, sir. 533 00:34:04,209 --> 00:34:07,796 Translator: Ugly, ugly giants. 534 00:34:08,004 --> 00:34:10,632 Bags of mostly water. 535 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:12,634 Bags of mostly water? 536 00:34:12,842 --> 00:34:14,844 An accurate description of humans, sir. 537 00:34:15,053 --> 00:34:18,390 You are over 90 percent water surrounded by a flexible container. 538 00:34:21,226 --> 00:34:25,605 Life force, do you understand us? 539 00:34:28,233 --> 00:34:29,693 Translator: We understand. 540 00:34:29,901 --> 00:34:32,654 We ask that you be gone. 541 00:34:36,575 --> 00:34:38,368 We didn't hear you. 542 00:34:38,577 --> 00:34:40,078 We come in peace. 543 00:34:40,287 --> 00:34:42,914 Translator: Ugly bag of mostly water. 544 00:34:43,123 --> 00:34:45,625 We try at peace. 545 00:34:45,834 --> 00:34:48,044 You still do not listen. 546 00:34:48,962 --> 00:34:53,550 Bag who drill in sand of home had to die. 547 00:34:53,758 --> 00:34:56,177 It killed malencon. 548 00:34:57,512 --> 00:35:00,223 We see and hear you now. 549 00:35:00,432 --> 00:35:03,101 We didn't know you were there. 550 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:06,521 You are beautiful to us. 551 00:35:07,272 --> 00:35:09,774 All life is beautiful. 552 00:35:09,983 --> 00:35:13,069 Translator: Bag in dome did know. 553 00:35:13,278 --> 00:35:15,864 Caused much death. 554 00:35:18,617 --> 00:35:22,329 War is now with you. 555 00:35:23,913 --> 00:35:26,750 Data: The translator is off-line, sir. 556 00:35:27,709 --> 00:35:29,210 Can you hear us now? 557 00:35:33,214 --> 00:35:35,884 - Mr. La forge? - Restabilizing, captain. 558 00:35:36,092 --> 00:35:40,013 Sir, that chaos when we were studying it in the lab 559 00:35:40,221 --> 00:35:43,516 must have been the energy surge of a reproductive cycle. 560 00:35:43,725 --> 00:35:47,062 It is now a colony of single cells which organize as a computer. 561 00:35:47,270 --> 00:35:48,563 And like any computer... 562 00:35:48,772 --> 00:35:52,150 More is stronger. 563 00:36:02,118 --> 00:36:03,578 Picard: Captain's log, supplemental. 564 00:36:03,787 --> 00:36:06,039 We have regained visual contact with the lab, 565 00:36:06,247 --> 00:36:08,208 but our attempts to restore communication 566 00:36:08,416 --> 00:36:10,502 with this microbrain, as we have come to call it, 567 00:36:10,710 --> 00:36:12,253 have been unsuccessful. 568 00:36:12,462 --> 00:36:17,342 One thing that is certain, however, this life-form has declared war on us. 569 00:36:17,550 --> 00:36:20,387 The range of influence appears to be concentrated in the medical lab. 570 00:36:20,595 --> 00:36:21,721 All non-essential personnel 571 00:36:21,930 --> 00:36:24,099 have been moved to the most distant areas of the ship. 572 00:36:24,307 --> 00:36:26,851 Data, any analysis on those bolts of light it emits? 573 00:36:27,060 --> 00:36:29,437 That seems to be its method of reprogramming, captain. 574 00:36:29,646 --> 00:36:31,648 Each bolt of light consists of negatively- 575 00:36:31,815 --> 00:36:32,941 and positively-charged ions. 576 00:36:33,108 --> 00:36:35,318 A series of program instructions, as it were. 577 00:36:36,569 --> 00:36:39,239 It seems to have a quicker rapport with our computers than we have. 578 00:36:39,447 --> 00:36:42,200 What do you expect? It is a computer. 579 00:36:42,409 --> 00:36:44,786 Have we disabled the medical lab computer console? 580 00:36:44,994 --> 00:36:48,081 Aye, sir. As soon as data determined the microbrain's method of operation. 581 00:36:48,289 --> 00:36:51,584 Captain, picking up a decrease in infrared intensity. 582 00:36:52,127 --> 00:36:54,546 Maybe the life-form has reached its energy level. 583 00:36:54,754 --> 00:36:56,673 Or maybe that's not the end of it. 584 00:36:57,340 --> 00:36:59,217 With single-celled life-forms, 585 00:36:59,759 --> 00:37:01,302 at least organic ones, 586 00:37:01,511 --> 00:37:04,597 cell division is preceded by a resting state. 587 00:37:05,223 --> 00:37:07,183 The calm before the storm? 588 00:37:07,392 --> 00:37:11,104 Medical lab on main viewer. Let's use this calm. 589 00:37:16,151 --> 00:37:18,236 It does seem dormant, captain. 590 00:37:20,739 --> 00:37:22,240 Tasha. 591 00:37:25,076 --> 00:37:28,246 Set coordinates to beam it back where it came from. 592 00:37:29,789 --> 00:37:31,082 Coordinates set, sir. 593 00:37:31,833 --> 00:37:32,959 Energize. 594 00:37:42,177 --> 00:37:44,763 Transporter power being redirected, sir. 595 00:37:44,971 --> 00:37:47,891 We are unable to affect it. 596 00:37:56,274 --> 00:37:59,986 Life-form or not, intelligent or not, the safety of this ship 597 00:38:00,153 --> 00:38:02,655 and everyone aboard her is my primary responsibility. 598 00:38:05,700 --> 00:38:07,494 Evacuate all the air from the medical lab. 599 00:38:07,702 --> 00:38:09,329 I want a vacuum there. 600 00:38:12,123 --> 00:38:15,919 Environmental systems fail to respond to command, captain. 601 00:38:16,127 --> 00:38:18,588 It appears the microbrain has successfully interfaced 602 00:38:18,797 --> 00:38:20,048 with our computers. 603 00:38:26,221 --> 00:38:29,682 Picard, if it did try to communicate with us, we didn't understand that. 604 00:38:29,891 --> 00:38:32,560 It has declared a state of war and we are on the defensive. 605 00:38:32,769 --> 00:38:35,063 We have no control over our medical lab, nor our computer. 606 00:38:35,271 --> 00:38:37,440 At this moment, it has the power to destroy this ship 607 00:38:37,649 --> 00:38:39,359 and everybody on it. 608 00:38:39,567 --> 00:38:42,237 - I need your help. - Unbelievable. 609 00:38:42,445 --> 00:38:45,005 It said you were trying to kill some of them. I need to know how. 610 00:38:45,198 --> 00:38:46,825 I don't know. 611 00:38:47,575 --> 00:38:50,245 What was malencon doing when he was killed? 612 00:38:50,453 --> 00:38:52,872 There is a very thin layer of highly saline water 613 00:38:53,039 --> 00:38:54,415 under the Sandy topsoil. 614 00:38:54,624 --> 00:38:56,334 He was siphoning that off. 615 00:38:57,210 --> 00:39:00,213 Perhaps somehow, that saline water sustained them. 616 00:39:00,421 --> 00:39:01,714 It connected them. 617 00:39:01,881 --> 00:39:03,091 I don't understand. 618 00:39:03,299 --> 00:39:05,552 The microbrains may be like our own brain cells. 619 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:08,555 Individually, a cell has life, but not intelligence. 620 00:39:08,763 --> 00:39:10,431 Yet when interconnected, 621 00:39:10,598 --> 00:39:12,976 their combined intelligence is formidable. 622 00:39:13,184 --> 00:39:15,687 The saline fluid is their circuitry. 623 00:39:15,895 --> 00:39:19,107 And to prevent its loss, they killed malencon. 624 00:39:22,652 --> 00:39:25,905 If we had continued to remove that water, 625 00:39:27,740 --> 00:39:29,993 we would have destroyed them all. 626 00:39:30,535 --> 00:39:33,371 A reason enough for anyone to go to war. 627 00:39:35,623 --> 00:39:37,503 Riker: Captain, it's happening again. 628 00:39:37,625 --> 00:39:39,669 I think you'd better get in here. 629 00:39:51,306 --> 00:39:53,391 If this keeps up, it will tear up the enterprise. 630 00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:55,643 - What can you determine, la forge? - Data: Captain, 631 00:39:55,852 --> 00:39:57,562 our sensors indicate that the microbrain 632 00:39:57,770 --> 00:40:00,982 expends a tremendous amount of energy during its reproductive cycle. 633 00:40:01,190 --> 00:40:03,818 Yet, there is no discernible power drain on our own systems. 634 00:40:04,027 --> 00:40:07,238 - What is feeding the damn thing? - We found traces of cadmium salts. 635 00:40:07,447 --> 00:40:09,908 Now, cadmium is a conduit for converting infrared 636 00:40:10,116 --> 00:40:11,367 - into electricity. - Meaning? 637 00:40:11,534 --> 00:40:15,330 Meaning, the microbrain might be photoelectric. 638 00:40:16,164 --> 00:40:18,249 Kill the lights in the medical lab, Mr. La forge. 639 00:40:19,208 --> 00:40:21,044 Let's see if darkness will neutralize it. 640 00:40:21,210 --> 00:40:23,880 Ugh. Sorry, sir, it still has control of the computer. 641 00:40:24,088 --> 00:40:25,131 We can't do it by remote. 642 00:40:25,340 --> 00:40:26,925 - Number one. - Aye, sir. 643 00:40:29,302 --> 00:40:32,013 The life-form must have evolved at that narrow layer 644 00:40:32,221 --> 00:40:35,391 where the light got through the sand to the water. 645 00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:39,729 Drop the water a centimeter below the light penetration level 646 00:40:40,521 --> 00:40:42,565 and they starve. 647 00:40:52,492 --> 00:40:55,912 Killing the lab lights now. 648 00:40:59,916 --> 00:41:01,876 It's slowing down. 649 00:41:03,086 --> 00:41:05,838 La forge: It's getting dimmer too. 650 00:41:07,006 --> 00:41:09,634 Translator: More light, please. 651 00:41:09,842 --> 00:41:12,178 Only if you will talk to us. 652 00:41:12,387 --> 00:41:14,389 Translator: We die. 653 00:41:14,597 --> 00:41:18,017 Bags of water kill us. 654 00:41:18,226 --> 00:41:22,188 You are like others. 655 00:41:22,730 --> 00:41:25,191 We have no wish to kill you. We never have. 656 00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:28,820 Translator: You do not say truth. 657 00:41:29,028 --> 00:41:33,157 We will end this war if you will end the war. 658 00:41:33,908 --> 00:41:37,412 Translator: Darkness, death, terrible. 659 00:41:38,037 --> 00:41:42,583 Must go home to wet sand. 660 00:41:42,792 --> 00:41:45,670 War over. 661 00:41:46,462 --> 00:41:48,172 Agreed. 662 00:41:48,381 --> 00:41:51,384 We will send you home to your wet sand. 663 00:41:51,926 --> 00:41:53,761 Picard to riker, 664 00:41:54,303 --> 00:41:57,181 bring up the lights in the lab, just a bit. 665 00:42:04,397 --> 00:42:05,898 Are you better? 666 00:42:06,315 --> 00:42:07,984 Translator: Better. 667 00:42:08,192 --> 00:42:10,236 Picard: We mean you no harm. 668 00:42:10,778 --> 00:42:12,530 Do you believe me? 669 00:42:12,739 --> 00:42:15,074 - Translator: Yes. - Good. 670 00:42:15,491 --> 00:42:17,994 It is important that you trust us. 671 00:42:19,287 --> 00:42:21,330 Translator: Not yet. 672 00:42:21,539 --> 00:42:24,751 You are still too arrogant, 673 00:42:25,585 --> 00:42:27,378 too primitive. 674 00:42:28,212 --> 00:42:32,341 Come back three centuries. 675 00:42:32,967 --> 00:42:37,055 Perhaps then, we trust. 676 00:42:40,433 --> 00:42:43,019 We understand what you are saying. 677 00:42:44,020 --> 00:42:46,105 We will leave you. 678 00:42:48,024 --> 00:42:50,526 We will send you home. 679 00:43:12,340 --> 00:43:14,842 Riker to transporter chief. 680 00:43:15,051 --> 00:43:18,262 Pick up the coordinates of the bell jar in the medical lab 681 00:43:18,471 --> 00:43:21,224 for return to velara III. 682 00:43:21,432 --> 00:43:23,768 Transport chief: Coordinates entered, sir. 683 00:43:30,817 --> 00:43:32,777 Riker to bridge. 684 00:43:33,736 --> 00:43:35,321 Captain, 685 00:43:36,739 --> 00:43:39,534 we're ready to beam it back to the planet. 686 00:43:41,327 --> 00:43:43,287 I wish we were able to learn more about them, sir. 687 00:43:43,496 --> 00:43:47,959 In time, Mr. Data, when we are better prepared. 688 00:43:49,127 --> 00:43:53,548 I wanted to create a place where living things could thrive. 689 00:43:54,048 --> 00:43:59,971 And all the while, I was about to destroy the life that is there. 690 00:44:00,346 --> 00:44:02,223 Our apologies. 691 00:44:02,431 --> 00:44:04,058 And respects. 692 00:44:04,267 --> 00:44:07,353 - Lieutenant yar? - Coordinates set, sir. 693 00:44:09,730 --> 00:44:11,149 Energize. 694 00:44:21,367 --> 00:44:24,912 Picard: Captain's log, stardate 41464.8. 695 00:44:25,121 --> 00:44:28,583 I have declared an indefinite quarantine for velara lll, 696 00:44:28,791 --> 00:44:32,545 and we are now returning to starbase with the three surviving terraformers. 697 00:44:32,753 --> 00:44:35,506 Perhaps the lesson we have learned from this near tragedy 698 00:44:35,715 --> 00:44:38,718 will prevent it from happening elsewhere.