Star Trek: Picard (2020) s02e02 Episode Script
Penance
Previously on Star Trek: Picard
And how is Seven these days?
You know Seven.
There's always folks out there in trouble.
What kind of asshole needs to be more important than that? Show me your ugly Borg face! The medical supplies you're attempting to steal are the property of the Fenris Rangers.
But you would like to be.
When I first came to work here, I saw you as a man who chose the stars.
After all this time, I've come to wonder have you been seeking or running? Laris, last night - I was - You.
Nothing has to change.
It's too late for that, Jean-Luc.
What's the big hurry, Captain? And what about you and you know? Yeah, I have to confess, the whole "we can totally still" "work together" thing made a lot more sense back on Earth.
- It's so good to see you.
- You, too.
Welcome to the Stargazer.
Some kind of subspace anomaly.
Starfleet's ordered us to investigate.
- This is Admiral Jean-Luc Picard - Picard.
Warp vessel, cease transport attempt, or you will be fired upon.
The queen is actually coming.
She's assimilating the ship! Not just our ship! The entire fleet.
She's using us as a hub.
- We're out of options! - Computer! Activate auto-destruct sequence! Picard, look up.
What is happening here? An excellent question, Jean-Luc.
Q.
Welcome to the very end of the road not taken.
Atmospheric sweepers coming online.
Particle pollution down to 23% in upper troposphere.
What is this? This? This is home.
And where are the crew of the Stargazer? Oh, how quaint.
How provincial.
How yesterday's Enterprise of you.
There is no Stargazer.
What do you mean? What have you done? Show them a world of their own making and they ask you what you've done.
So human of you.
Q, have you had enough of playing games with other people's lives? I am no longer your pawn.
Oh, you undersell yourself, Jean-Luc.
You are more than just a piece.
Why, you're the very board upon which this game is played.
And I am too old for your bullshit! Old.
Yes.
How unfair time is.
So many wrinkles.
So many disappointments.
What do you want, Q? Will you come to the point? - You want me to cut to the chase? - Yes! Well, the chase is cut, Picard, the chase is bleeding, the chase is dying in your arms.
And I am but a suture in the wound.
Are you? Q, you are not well.
Harvest was this morning.
But Same day, same time.
Different harvest.
Q, I ask you once more.
And for the last time.
Where is the Stargazer and her crew? I intervened.
You see, I thought to myself, I thought, "I really must see Jean-Luc.
" So I simply sought out the nearest explosion.
- What do you want, Q?! - Oh, I could tell you, but you're far too clever to listen.
That said, we're never too old to be students of our own behaviors, Jean-Luc.
I have had enough of your stupid patronizing.
And I've had enough of your obstinance, your stubbornness, your insistence on changing in all ways but the one that matters.
This is not a lesson.
It's a penance.
Do you like the skies here? In your history, humanity discovered a way to spare the planet they were in the process of murdering.
Here they just keep the corpse on life-support.
In heaven's name Well, paradise has to have staff.
Come on, who's gonna mow the grass? Fertilize the apple tree? And why pay for help when you can have alien slaves? I would never, ever "I would never.
" Such moral convictions are the luxury of the victors.
Come.
Through a mirror darkly.
And here the man who holds the glass is darker still.
Let me show you.
Gul Dukat.
Executed in the Ithian Forests just outside the capital city Put up a hell of a fight.
In this reality, he's the reason you have that nifty synthetic body.
General Martok.
Defeated in armed combat after a bioengineered virus By all accounts, a nasty little creation Decimated his Klingon homeworld.
And Sarek.
Director Sarek.
Decapitated on the steps of the Vulcan Science Academy in front of a crowd that included his wife and son.
Nice touch.
And all carried out by the same withering hand.
Who? Why, the greatest general the mighty Confederation of Earth has ever seen.
The most bloodthirsty, merciless, ruthless human to ever set out to conquer the galaxy.
You, of course.
What is this hellhole, Q? This is the only life you understand.
Shall we see what else has been lost in the wake of your fear? Now, you're welcome to remain here in the body of a madman, in the world of a madman, to attempt, like Macbeth, to wash the blood from your hands.
But I assure you, Jean-Luc it's un-washable.
Or Or? Atonement.
Maybe even forgiveness? Forgiveness for what? I think you know.
But don't worry.
I won't let you do this alone.
Whatever it is I won't do it anyway.
Q, I refuse.
I'm sorry, do you wish me to respond to the designation "Q," sir? Forgive me, I can't remember your name.
Harvey, sir.
Your valet? Yeah.
Harvey, I suppose y-you didn't see the individual I was talking to just now? No, sir.
My sensors confirm no one has been here all morning.
May I ask if you're all right, sir? No.
I don't know who I am.
But I'm not myself.
In the name of the Confederation, I fought for a pure universe.
One by one, with the aid of the brave crew of the CSS World Razer, we conquered the stars.
We sought out and subjugated savage civilizations, boldly conquered war-like alien worlds, increased the wealth and resources for future generations of humanity.
And you could be Earth's next great hero.
Because a safe galaxy is a human galaxy.
Sir? Apologies for the interruption, General.
- Your morning usual.
- Thank you, Harvey.
Ugh.
What the hell is this? Colombian roast.
Black.
This really is the circle that Dante overlooked.
If I may be so bold, sir, you appear disoriented.
Harvey, I would like to locate someone who might have worked here.
She may still be here now.
Her name is Laris.
Yes.
You mentioned her before.
Searching.
My records indicate that we have never had a Laris here.
I see.
Thank you, Harvey.
There was a Laris you encountered during the Romulan uprisings.
She and her husband Zhaban were leaders of the Free Romulan movement.
My records show both were killed at the gates of Romulus.
There may be tribute photos of their bodies on file at the Museum of Conquest.
Would you like me to inquire? - I know how you enjoy such - That will not be necessary.
Well, you should be getting ready.
Your shuttle will be landing on the south lawn in two hours to escort you to the president's palace.
For what exactly is the great General Jean-Luc Picard being summoned to the palace? Why, sir, it's Eradication Day.
Have a glorious Eradication Day.
Mankind moves ever closer to securing the galaxy.
Good morning, Annika.
This can't be real.
Psychological assessment.
Cognition.
Check.
Sensory parameters.
Check.
Pain receptors.
Check.
You can't smell in a dream.
No, this is real.
How? How is this possible? We were on the Stargazer.
The Borg.
Raffi? Happy Eradication Day, dear.
Coffee is coming, I assure you.
335, some light.
Annika, my love, we have four hours until your speech.
The moment has finally arrived, so let's rise to meet it, shall we, Madam President? I'm sorry, what? The Eradication Day ceremony will begin Eradication Day will forever serve as a reminder of humanity's "universal might" or its "merciful power"? Dear? Uh, right.
Um, the second.
We have dissident activity in Okinawa.
And our morning update from the Vulcan Front has the casualty count - at eight - Yes.
The Vulcan war.
I'd like a Federation officer to brief me on the situation.
Federation? All cranial implants must be scanned before Confederation.
Sorry.
Just a little tired.
Of course.
- I'll comm General Sisko right away.
- No.
I want an unfiltered perspective from the field.
I want privacy, some coffee, and a secure comms channel to a What was his name? To Colonel Cristobal Rios.
Deflector shields at 67%.
Deflector shields at 49%.
Colonel? Colonel, you all right? Looked like that Vulcan bastard tagged you.
Autopilot engaged.
- Vulcan? - Don't worry, sir.
We'll come around and put that green-blooded bastard down.
No! No, no, no.
Don't.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Why are we? Hello?! - What is this?! - Victory, sir.
Your plan worked.
Bait and switch.
Once we mop up here, what are your orders? What are my orders? Take two squadrons and cut off the Vulcan escape route? Okay.
Uh-huh.
- Good.
- Like you said, if we don't stomp these green-bloods now, they'll meld your minds and scramble your balls until you're begging to die.
I said that, did I? Enjoy the fireworks.
No, no, no, no.
Incoming transmission.
Alpha-level priority.
From President Hansen.
President? This is Rios.
Secure channel activated.
Colonel Rios? For the moment, it seems.
I requested a personal briefing on your progress.
The line is secure, I assure you, so if you've encountered anything out of the ordinary, I encourage you, speak freely.
Seven? Chris.
Do you have any idea what's happening here? My last memory is the Stargazer auto-destruct code.
Well, unless being dead looks a lot like D-Day over Vulcan, something or someone moved us.
Consider yourself recalled back to Earth on presidential authority.
We need to meet face-to-face.
Yes, ma'am.
Once I figure out how to get there.
Oh, there you go.
I found you.
I guess some things never change.
On my way.
Elnor, hurry! We have to go.
Security gene-tagged me on the way out, I'm sure of it.
- What is? What is happening? - Rebellion, Elnor.
Rebellion is finally happening.
- Move! Move out! - Two down.
Of how many? One for Cardassia.
One for Andoria.
One for Qo'noS.
One for Vulcan.
One for Romulus.
They can call us insurgents, terrorists, whatever they like, but soon we'll be free.
There he is! - No! - Hands up! Target acquired.
- Ready to execute.
- You Romulan scum.
Enough! Chief, we're shoot to kill.
Elnor.
Last I remember, we were on the Excelsior.
What is going on here? I have no idea what's going on, but Right, come on.
Let's get out - of here.
- Lockdown initiating.
Keep off the street.
Sorry, baby.
Just go with this until I figure out what this is.
I want this one kept alive! For questioning! - You got it, Chief.
- I don't know anything.
Me neither, kiddo.
Don't try anything.
I trust your conversation with Colonel Rios was informative? Yes.
Very.
You seem distracted, dear.
I understand if you're nervous about this momentous Eradication Day.
And you seem preoccupied with me, dear, rather than your duties.
Explain what we're doing and why today is so special, and maybe then you can convince me that you're focused on the right priorities.
Of course.
As is per tradition on this day, we are eradicating dissidents, alien sympathizers, terrorists.
But today is special because we are also eradicating the last of one of the Confederation's greatest enemies.
Dr.
Jurati should have finished prepping her by now.
Agnes Jurati is here? It's barbaric, you know.
Public executions are needless displays of authority to a people already sufficiently subjugated.
It's cruel and unusual and beyond disturbing that this day is so celebrated amongst the masses.
- Where am I? - Of course, I say all this subject to the faith customary between a domesticant and their master.
Meow.
What are you exactly? M-Maybe don't tell me.
I am Spot 73, your very best friend, of course.
- And I made you? - Obviously.
- Meow.
- Right.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay, let's run the alternatives here.
Uh, I'm crazy, although I feel like I could come up with a better delusion.
I'm dead, although see last supposition and replace me with God.
I'm in a crazy mirror universe where it turns out I'm exactly the same, only with slightly more sophisticated pet-programming skills.
Now announcing Her Excellency, the President of the Confederation of Earth.
- Seven.
- Agnes.
Um, not that you don't look hot, which you do, but where are your? You do, of course, remember my husband.
Yeah.
Of course.
Is anybody else hot with these collars? It's been a while, Doctor.
It has.
Has it? Yes.
The last time I saw you, you were gazing at the stars.
Yes.
Yes, the Stargazer.
Yes! I mean, I'm a starga I'm a stargazer.
Madam President.
Which, way to go, by the way.
Earlier, why did you call her Seven? College nickname.
It was a drinking game.
- Dr.
Jurati.
- Meow.
- What is that, exactly? Have you, uh - Meow? Uh, well, apparently, I am mind-bendingly lonely basically anywhere.
But you are president, - so that's terrific.
- Enough.
Is the prisoner in stasis-cell M5-10 ready? Would you, please? So, we're going to assume that this is something that I know how to do.
Yeah.
Uh, okay.
- Um - Welcome, Dr.
Jurati.
Sure.
Uh, M5-10.
Of all the enemies of humankind brought under heel none have ever been quite so dangerous as The Borg.
Holy shit.
This is not right.
The hive is gone.
The hive is dead.
Chronometer misaligned.
Quantum-level deconfiguration.
Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01, assist me.
There's a splinter in her flesh.
No beginning, no end.
What's wrong with it? Isn't that kind of obvious? You ripped her - from her body and stuck her in a tube.
- Hansen, Annika.
Assimilated 2350.
Hansen, Annika.
Escaped assimilation.
But you, you fragile teacup.
You are accustomed to this feeling anywhere.
What feeling? Un-belonging.
Put them in a cage, and how easily they go mad.
I am in a cage.
I am burning the quadrants of distant systems.
Reality has been split.
There is division.
Time.
Time has been broken.
The Borg Queen has a kind of transtemporal awareness.
It bridges into adjacent times, realities.
They hear echoes of themselves, of-of each other.
So I hear.
Tritium PADD has injected interplexing nullifiers.
Borg nanobot inhibitors functioning at That's it, Seven.
There's been a corruption to the timeline.
Magistrate, you asked to be informed of General Picard's status.
He will be docking shortly.
Because a safe galaxy is a human galaxy.
General Picard.
I have been asked to escort you to the office of President Annika Hansen.
Prisoner remains stable.
Copy.
Have a glorious Eradication Day.
Mankind moves ever closer to securing - the galaxy.
- Give me a moment.
Captured this Romulan terrorist.
By order 939, we accept delivery of this prisoner for psycho-interrogation.
I'll handle this terrorist myself.
- I've been granted authority.
- Alien S.
O.
P.
comes straight from the magistrate.
Authorized by whom? By me, soldier! Ten-hut! My sincerest apologies, sir.
You, bring the prisoner.
That you in there, JL? I'm beginning to wonder.
I'm not.
It is you.
It is good to see both of you.
We've been deposited in a mad world by a madman.
But I will get us home together.
- Oh, Raffi.
- Hmm? It seems that, uh, Seven is the president.
Oh.
Oh, she's gonna wear that gracefully.
And, after today, Picard has petitioned the title "Borgslayer.
" General Picard.
With respect, you bring an alien terrorist in close quarters with the president.
I remind you she is also my wife.
Say what now? It's fine, dear.
I asked him to.
An exercise in knowing thy enemy.
Tell me 20 minutes with your angry wife isn't greater torture than anything the Confederation could administer.
President Hansen, I need to discuss a sensitive piece of intelligence your head of security has extracted from this prisoner.
In private.
And I assure you, Magistrate, your wife will be just fine.
Of course, General.
Is everyone all right? I'm the human president of a xenophobic authoritarian regime.
You're also married.
Looks like someone worked out their commitment issues? I'm a rebel.
Well, obviously this is an alternate reality.
Actually, the Borg Queen here has a different theory.
The Borg Queen? Here? She's in the basement with Jurati.
Jurati and the Borg Queen? From the Stargazer? No, this one's more typical.
She suggested that there may have been a divergence in time.
Time? Of course.
That's how he did it.
This is not another reality.
This is our reality.
He went back in time and changed the present.
Who, exactly? Ah, an entity called Q.
Q.
I know him from your biography.
So, how do we make this Mr.
Alphabet undo what he did to us? I'm afraid it's not just us.
He transformed the entire galaxy.
From my experience with Q, he won't undo something until he's certain that we have passed some kind of test.
But this morning, even for Q, he he seemed unstable.
Not quite sane.
Oh.
That's great news.
- Not really great news, Raffi.
- No, I-I know, honey.
So, what do we do now? As I said, we're not the only ones who recognized that time is broken.
This world is a lie, the fiction of the "what if" of what was.
Tell me about it, sister.
Visitors.
All right, let's take these off of you.
- Hey, mister.
- Hello, Agnes.
- There you go.
- Thank you.
Huh.
Don't see that every day.
You.
You are Locutus.
And you are not.
I know you can see the divergence in time.
What did Q do in the past when he turned our world into a polluted, totalitarian nightmare? Friend, then foe, - and now - Answer the question.
What did Q do? A temporal recision.
A single change.
What was it? When was it? Calculating.
That is the when.
Where is the where? Calculating.
Earth.
The change in the timeline originates there.
In Los Angeles.
Calculating.
There is someone there to help.
A Watcher.
Seek the Watcher.
- There's a splinter in her flesh.
- Los Angeles.
That's got to be our destination.
We cannot live in this reality.
If we want to save the future, - then we have to repair the past.
- I'm afraid my cursory review of Confederation briefs made no mention of any time travel capabilities.
The tech here seems similar to our own, albeit with a slightly more "Boy, that torture device "really looks like it's gonna hurt" kind of look.
So, what do we do? Well, there are cruder methods of time travel.
A star's gravitational pull.
A slingshot maneuver at warp to generate a temporal fissure.
Kirk's Enterprise did it on more than one occasion.
But for that, you need an intelligence that can isolate the divergence and micro-shift for any chronitonic radiation.
They had Spock.
And we have her.
She has the capabilities.
But why would she help us? All this talk of eradication.
Trapped in a forest.
How did it feel when your people were eradicated? You don't have to answer because I know.
What a pitiful end to the Great Borg Empire.
Is that what you want? Or do you want a way back to our present? The collective waiting for you in the Delta Quadrant? Will you help us? Yes.
Great.
Now what? Captain Rios.
Standing by, Madam President.
Five to beam up.
Plus the Borg Queen.
Um I'm sorry, for a moment there, it sounded like you said "Borg Queen.
" She's in a stasis tube if that makes it any better.
Agnes? That you? Can't get rid of me that easily.
Okay.
Hold on.
Energizing.
We're still here.
Indeed.
Attention.
Security protocols initiated.
They've instituted a palace-wide lockdown.
Why? - Are they on to us? - No.
It was in my brief.
They're initiating heightened security measures.
All transporting has been deactivated.
Try to find a blind spot in the security array.
Do you copy? Seven? And now communications as well.
Doctor.
I can't stop it.
What the hell just happened? The Eradication Day ceremony has begun.
Prisoner M5-10 in transit.
Stasis field modified for neural transmitter deflection.
Where has she gone, Seven? Do you know? She's been put in the queue.
For? The ceremony calls for the Borg Queen to be terminated onstage.
Oh.
Barbaric.
By your hand.
Maybe that's our chance.
Oh, wait.
How are we supposed to Borg-nap the queen and get away in front of thousands of witnesses? A smart, strategic question, Raffi.
Well, thank you.
Elnor, improvise.
Communication.
Make a hole.
Transport.
Make a bigger hole.
- And you and I will find the queen.
- Now announcing the Magistrate of the Confederation of Earth.
And as for you Find out what this thing knows.
And that's an order.
Yes, sir.
What are you doing down here? What's going on with you today, Annika? I've half a mind to have you tested for telepathic incursion.
How dare you even suggest This was This was all my fault, Mr.
First Husband, sir.
The-the The Borg Queen was claiming that Romulans had infiltrated the palace with spies from a little-known sect called the Qowat Milat, or Final Stranglers as they were known in the North, and I postulated it wasn't true, but I-I didn't have any proof until I saw that Picard had apprehended a Romulan.
So, out of an abundance of caution, I sent a coded message to my old drinking pal, the president, aka Annika Seven Shot.
It's a funny story.
That's for another time.
Wow.
Uh, so that I could test my hypothesis, which we just did.
There was a lot of screaming.
Did you hear it? Anyway, it-it turns out the queen was totally lying in a typical "weaker-than-thou species bargaining for her life" kind of strategy.
And, so, she's off, you know, going to be beheaded or whatever.
And basically, um As you were.
Madam President, we need you and General Picard onstage.
It's time.
Bye.
Have a good You know.
Oh, God.
Let's figure this out.
A safe galaxy is a human galaxy.
Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Yeah! Yeah! My fellow Confederates, today we honor the heavy costs of bloodshed and suffering as they are returned in victorious celebration.
Eradication Day will forever serve as a reminder of humanity's merciful power.
And who better to remind us of that mercy, that power, than General Jean-Luc Picard? Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Come on, work.
Shit.
Let the general's actions today echo as a warning to any species who dare defy the Confederation.
For no monster from any dark corner of the stars can survive the righteousness of human might.
Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! La Sirena? Agnes? Yes.
Oh, my God, so sorry.
They clamped down hard for the ceremony.
Please tell me you still have transporter locks on everyone.
Barely.
There must be some kind of inhibitor.
You'll need to boost everyone's signal and then just open a tra Transporter window, I know.
I know.
Raffi's on it.
Well, hurry.
Could you please stop being so goddamn impatient? We're doing this now? Seriously? Come on.
- I need your console.
Now.
- Chief? - What's going on? - Damn Romulan just confessed to uploading a virus.
So I brought him along as a little present.
Merry Christmas, boys.
Targeting's down.
Turrets are misidentifying friendlies.
We'll be wide open unless I can scrape it out.
Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Tonight, witness what awaits rebellion.
Insurrection.
Resistance.
Tonight, we eradicate the Borg.
Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! - Yeah! - Yeah! You think maybe it's your problem that this whole man-on-the-move thing is just because you feel like you never fit in? Says the woman who won't share a single feeling.
Oh, I'll share a feeling with you right now.
Synthetic cats, synthetic people With them, you're intimate.
Other humans? They're the problem.
You know, I would hang up on you right now if it wasn't gonna get us all killed.
Warning.
Palace shields deactivated.
What the hell are you doing?! Elnor, they're yours.
The admiral said to improvise.
Show-off.
Jurati, shields are down.
I bought us about a minute before they reboot and raise.
Tell me we're good to go.
Shit! Shit! I'd say that's not encouraging.
Yeah, yeah, I-I'm working on it! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Come on, Jurati, we're out of time.
Jurati, you got ten seconds here! Almost there.
Kill her! Seven, we may have to fight our way out of here.
Get him off the stage! Still can't get a lock, Agnes! Ah, oh, boom! Yes! Oh! How do you like that sh? Well, that was all kinds of terrible.
Uh, I could use some help up there.
On it.
- Raffi, deflector shields at maximum.
- Copy that.
Deflector shields at maximum.
The main array access is here, right? No, no, no, no, no, absolutely not.
Don't-don't even remotely consider connecting that thing to my ship.
What the hell are you doing? Rios, we need her to go back in time.
Time travel is not a way to make me feel better.
About anything.
They're on to us.
We got to move.
Whatever this is, it better work, Agnes.
It probably will.
- Warning.
Incoming ships - Rios! Captain Rios, get us out of here! Warning.
Presidential override.
- Deflectors disabled.
- Wait, what? - No! - Elnor! Uh-uh.
I wonder what a trophy of your head will say? How about "Jean-Luc Picard, traitor"? "Killed while rescuing a Borg.
"
There's always folks out there in trouble.
What kind of asshole needs to be more important than that? Show me your ugly Borg face! The medical supplies you're attempting to steal are the property of the Fenris Rangers.
But you would like to be.
When I first came to work here, I saw you as a man who chose the stars.
After all this time, I've come to wonder have you been seeking or running? Laris, last night - I was - You.
Nothing has to change.
It's too late for that, Jean-Luc.
What's the big hurry, Captain? And what about you and you know? Yeah, I have to confess, the whole "we can totally still" "work together" thing made a lot more sense back on Earth.
- It's so good to see you.
- You, too.
Welcome to the Stargazer.
Some kind of subspace anomaly.
Starfleet's ordered us to investigate.
- This is Admiral Jean-Luc Picard - Picard.
Warp vessel, cease transport attempt, or you will be fired upon.
The queen is actually coming.
She's assimilating the ship! Not just our ship! The entire fleet.
She's using us as a hub.
- We're out of options! - Computer! Activate auto-destruct sequence! Picard, look up.
What is happening here? An excellent question, Jean-Luc.
Q.
Welcome to the very end of the road not taken.
Atmospheric sweepers coming online.
Particle pollution down to 23% in upper troposphere.
What is this? This? This is home.
And where are the crew of the Stargazer? Oh, how quaint.
How provincial.
How yesterday's Enterprise of you.
There is no Stargazer.
What do you mean? What have you done? Show them a world of their own making and they ask you what you've done.
So human of you.
Q, have you had enough of playing games with other people's lives? I am no longer your pawn.
Oh, you undersell yourself, Jean-Luc.
You are more than just a piece.
Why, you're the very board upon which this game is played.
And I am too old for your bullshit! Old.
Yes.
How unfair time is.
So many wrinkles.
So many disappointments.
What do you want, Q? Will you come to the point? - You want me to cut to the chase? - Yes! Well, the chase is cut, Picard, the chase is bleeding, the chase is dying in your arms.
And I am but a suture in the wound.
Are you? Q, you are not well.
Harvest was this morning.
But Same day, same time.
Different harvest.
Q, I ask you once more.
And for the last time.
Where is the Stargazer and her crew? I intervened.
You see, I thought to myself, I thought, "I really must see Jean-Luc.
" So I simply sought out the nearest explosion.
- What do you want, Q?! - Oh, I could tell you, but you're far too clever to listen.
That said, we're never too old to be students of our own behaviors, Jean-Luc.
I have had enough of your stupid patronizing.
And I've had enough of your obstinance, your stubbornness, your insistence on changing in all ways but the one that matters.
This is not a lesson.
It's a penance.
Do you like the skies here? In your history, humanity discovered a way to spare the planet they were in the process of murdering.
Here they just keep the corpse on life-support.
In heaven's name Well, paradise has to have staff.
Come on, who's gonna mow the grass? Fertilize the apple tree? And why pay for help when you can have alien slaves? I would never, ever "I would never.
" Such moral convictions are the luxury of the victors.
Come.
Through a mirror darkly.
And here the man who holds the glass is darker still.
Let me show you.
Gul Dukat.
Executed in the Ithian Forests just outside the capital city Put up a hell of a fight.
In this reality, he's the reason you have that nifty synthetic body.
General Martok.
Defeated in armed combat after a bioengineered virus By all accounts, a nasty little creation Decimated his Klingon homeworld.
And Sarek.
Director Sarek.
Decapitated on the steps of the Vulcan Science Academy in front of a crowd that included his wife and son.
Nice touch.
And all carried out by the same withering hand.
Who? Why, the greatest general the mighty Confederation of Earth has ever seen.
The most bloodthirsty, merciless, ruthless human to ever set out to conquer the galaxy.
You, of course.
What is this hellhole, Q? This is the only life you understand.
Shall we see what else has been lost in the wake of your fear? Now, you're welcome to remain here in the body of a madman, in the world of a madman, to attempt, like Macbeth, to wash the blood from your hands.
But I assure you, Jean-Luc it's un-washable.
Or Or? Atonement.
Maybe even forgiveness? Forgiveness for what? I think you know.
But don't worry.
I won't let you do this alone.
Whatever it is I won't do it anyway.
Q, I refuse.
I'm sorry, do you wish me to respond to the designation "Q," sir? Forgive me, I can't remember your name.
Harvey, sir.
Your valet? Yeah.
Harvey, I suppose y-you didn't see the individual I was talking to just now? No, sir.
My sensors confirm no one has been here all morning.
May I ask if you're all right, sir? No.
I don't know who I am.
But I'm not myself.
In the name of the Confederation, I fought for a pure universe.
One by one, with the aid of the brave crew of the CSS World Razer, we conquered the stars.
We sought out and subjugated savage civilizations, boldly conquered war-like alien worlds, increased the wealth and resources for future generations of humanity.
And you could be Earth's next great hero.
Because a safe galaxy is a human galaxy.
Sir? Apologies for the interruption, General.
- Your morning usual.
- Thank you, Harvey.
Ugh.
What the hell is this? Colombian roast.
Black.
This really is the circle that Dante overlooked.
If I may be so bold, sir, you appear disoriented.
Harvey, I would like to locate someone who might have worked here.
She may still be here now.
Her name is Laris.
Yes.
You mentioned her before.
Searching.
My records indicate that we have never had a Laris here.
I see.
Thank you, Harvey.
There was a Laris you encountered during the Romulan uprisings.
She and her husband Zhaban were leaders of the Free Romulan movement.
My records show both were killed at the gates of Romulus.
There may be tribute photos of their bodies on file at the Museum of Conquest.
Would you like me to inquire? - I know how you enjoy such - That will not be necessary.
Well, you should be getting ready.
Your shuttle will be landing on the south lawn in two hours to escort you to the president's palace.
For what exactly is the great General Jean-Luc Picard being summoned to the palace? Why, sir, it's Eradication Day.
Have a glorious Eradication Day.
Mankind moves ever closer to securing the galaxy.
Good morning, Annika.
This can't be real.
Psychological assessment.
Cognition.
Check.
Sensory parameters.
Check.
Pain receptors.
Check.
You can't smell in a dream.
No, this is real.
How? How is this possible? We were on the Stargazer.
The Borg.
Raffi? Happy Eradication Day, dear.
Coffee is coming, I assure you.
335, some light.
Annika, my love, we have four hours until your speech.
The moment has finally arrived, so let's rise to meet it, shall we, Madam President? I'm sorry, what? The Eradication Day ceremony will begin Eradication Day will forever serve as a reminder of humanity's "universal might" or its "merciful power"? Dear? Uh, right.
Um, the second.
We have dissident activity in Okinawa.
And our morning update from the Vulcan Front has the casualty count - at eight - Yes.
The Vulcan war.
I'd like a Federation officer to brief me on the situation.
Federation? All cranial implants must be scanned before Confederation.
Sorry.
Just a little tired.
Of course.
- I'll comm General Sisko right away.
- No.
I want an unfiltered perspective from the field.
I want privacy, some coffee, and a secure comms channel to a What was his name? To Colonel Cristobal Rios.
Deflector shields at 67%.
Deflector shields at 49%.
Colonel? Colonel, you all right? Looked like that Vulcan bastard tagged you.
Autopilot engaged.
- Vulcan? - Don't worry, sir.
We'll come around and put that green-blooded bastard down.
No! No, no, no.
Don't.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Why are we? Hello?! - What is this?! - Victory, sir.
Your plan worked.
Bait and switch.
Once we mop up here, what are your orders? What are my orders? Take two squadrons and cut off the Vulcan escape route? Okay.
Uh-huh.
- Good.
- Like you said, if we don't stomp these green-bloods now, they'll meld your minds and scramble your balls until you're begging to die.
I said that, did I? Enjoy the fireworks.
No, no, no, no.
Incoming transmission.
Alpha-level priority.
From President Hansen.
President? This is Rios.
Secure channel activated.
Colonel Rios? For the moment, it seems.
I requested a personal briefing on your progress.
The line is secure, I assure you, so if you've encountered anything out of the ordinary, I encourage you, speak freely.
Seven? Chris.
Do you have any idea what's happening here? My last memory is the Stargazer auto-destruct code.
Well, unless being dead looks a lot like D-Day over Vulcan, something or someone moved us.
Consider yourself recalled back to Earth on presidential authority.
We need to meet face-to-face.
Yes, ma'am.
Once I figure out how to get there.
Oh, there you go.
I found you.
I guess some things never change.
On my way.
Elnor, hurry! We have to go.
Security gene-tagged me on the way out, I'm sure of it.
- What is? What is happening? - Rebellion, Elnor.
Rebellion is finally happening.
- Move! Move out! - Two down.
Of how many? One for Cardassia.
One for Andoria.
One for Qo'noS.
One for Vulcan.
One for Romulus.
They can call us insurgents, terrorists, whatever they like, but soon we'll be free.
There he is! - No! - Hands up! Target acquired.
- Ready to execute.
- You Romulan scum.
Enough! Chief, we're shoot to kill.
Elnor.
Last I remember, we were on the Excelsior.
What is going on here? I have no idea what's going on, but Right, come on.
Let's get out - of here.
- Lockdown initiating.
Keep off the street.
Sorry, baby.
Just go with this until I figure out what this is.
I want this one kept alive! For questioning! - You got it, Chief.
- I don't know anything.
Me neither, kiddo.
Don't try anything.
I trust your conversation with Colonel Rios was informative? Yes.
Very.
You seem distracted, dear.
I understand if you're nervous about this momentous Eradication Day.
And you seem preoccupied with me, dear, rather than your duties.
Explain what we're doing and why today is so special, and maybe then you can convince me that you're focused on the right priorities.
Of course.
As is per tradition on this day, we are eradicating dissidents, alien sympathizers, terrorists.
But today is special because we are also eradicating the last of one of the Confederation's greatest enemies.
Dr.
Jurati should have finished prepping her by now.
Agnes Jurati is here? It's barbaric, you know.
Public executions are needless displays of authority to a people already sufficiently subjugated.
It's cruel and unusual and beyond disturbing that this day is so celebrated amongst the masses.
- Where am I? - Of course, I say all this subject to the faith customary between a domesticant and their master.
Meow.
What are you exactly? M-Maybe don't tell me.
I am Spot 73, your very best friend, of course.
- And I made you? - Obviously.
- Meow.
- Right.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay, let's run the alternatives here.
Uh, I'm crazy, although I feel like I could come up with a better delusion.
I'm dead, although see last supposition and replace me with God.
I'm in a crazy mirror universe where it turns out I'm exactly the same, only with slightly more sophisticated pet-programming skills.
Now announcing Her Excellency, the President of the Confederation of Earth.
- Seven.
- Agnes.
Um, not that you don't look hot, which you do, but where are your? You do, of course, remember my husband.
Yeah.
Of course.
Is anybody else hot with these collars? It's been a while, Doctor.
It has.
Has it? Yes.
The last time I saw you, you were gazing at the stars.
Yes.
Yes, the Stargazer.
Yes! I mean, I'm a starga I'm a stargazer.
Madam President.
Which, way to go, by the way.
Earlier, why did you call her Seven? College nickname.
It was a drinking game.
- Dr.
Jurati.
- Meow.
- What is that, exactly? Have you, uh - Meow? Uh, well, apparently, I am mind-bendingly lonely basically anywhere.
But you are president, - so that's terrific.
- Enough.
Is the prisoner in stasis-cell M5-10 ready? Would you, please? So, we're going to assume that this is something that I know how to do.
Yeah.
Uh, okay.
- Um - Welcome, Dr.
Jurati.
Sure.
Uh, M5-10.
Of all the enemies of humankind brought under heel none have ever been quite so dangerous as The Borg.
Holy shit.
This is not right.
The hive is gone.
The hive is dead.
Chronometer misaligned.
Quantum-level deconfiguration.
Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01, assist me.
There's a splinter in her flesh.
No beginning, no end.
What's wrong with it? Isn't that kind of obvious? You ripped her - from her body and stuck her in a tube.
- Hansen, Annika.
Assimilated 2350.
Hansen, Annika.
Escaped assimilation.
But you, you fragile teacup.
You are accustomed to this feeling anywhere.
What feeling? Un-belonging.
Put them in a cage, and how easily they go mad.
I am in a cage.
I am burning the quadrants of distant systems.
Reality has been split.
There is division.
Time.
Time has been broken.
The Borg Queen has a kind of transtemporal awareness.
It bridges into adjacent times, realities.
They hear echoes of themselves, of-of each other.
So I hear.
Tritium PADD has injected interplexing nullifiers.
Borg nanobot inhibitors functioning at That's it, Seven.
There's been a corruption to the timeline.
Magistrate, you asked to be informed of General Picard's status.
He will be docking shortly.
Because a safe galaxy is a human galaxy.
General Picard.
I have been asked to escort you to the office of President Annika Hansen.
Prisoner remains stable.
Copy.
Have a glorious Eradication Day.
Mankind moves ever closer to securing - the galaxy.
- Give me a moment.
Captured this Romulan terrorist.
By order 939, we accept delivery of this prisoner for psycho-interrogation.
I'll handle this terrorist myself.
- I've been granted authority.
- Alien S.
O.
P.
comes straight from the magistrate.
Authorized by whom? By me, soldier! Ten-hut! My sincerest apologies, sir.
You, bring the prisoner.
That you in there, JL? I'm beginning to wonder.
I'm not.
It is you.
It is good to see both of you.
We've been deposited in a mad world by a madman.
But I will get us home together.
- Oh, Raffi.
- Hmm? It seems that, uh, Seven is the president.
Oh.
Oh, she's gonna wear that gracefully.
And, after today, Picard has petitioned the title "Borgslayer.
" General Picard.
With respect, you bring an alien terrorist in close quarters with the president.
I remind you she is also my wife.
Say what now? It's fine, dear.
I asked him to.
An exercise in knowing thy enemy.
Tell me 20 minutes with your angry wife isn't greater torture than anything the Confederation could administer.
President Hansen, I need to discuss a sensitive piece of intelligence your head of security has extracted from this prisoner.
In private.
And I assure you, Magistrate, your wife will be just fine.
Of course, General.
Is everyone all right? I'm the human president of a xenophobic authoritarian regime.
You're also married.
Looks like someone worked out their commitment issues? I'm a rebel.
Well, obviously this is an alternate reality.
Actually, the Borg Queen here has a different theory.
The Borg Queen? Here? She's in the basement with Jurati.
Jurati and the Borg Queen? From the Stargazer? No, this one's more typical.
She suggested that there may have been a divergence in time.
Time? Of course.
That's how he did it.
This is not another reality.
This is our reality.
He went back in time and changed the present.
Who, exactly? Ah, an entity called Q.
Q.
I know him from your biography.
So, how do we make this Mr.
Alphabet undo what he did to us? I'm afraid it's not just us.
He transformed the entire galaxy.
From my experience with Q, he won't undo something until he's certain that we have passed some kind of test.
But this morning, even for Q, he he seemed unstable.
Not quite sane.
Oh.
That's great news.
- Not really great news, Raffi.
- No, I-I know, honey.
So, what do we do now? As I said, we're not the only ones who recognized that time is broken.
This world is a lie, the fiction of the "what if" of what was.
Tell me about it, sister.
Visitors.
All right, let's take these off of you.
- Hey, mister.
- Hello, Agnes.
- There you go.
- Thank you.
Huh.
Don't see that every day.
You.
You are Locutus.
And you are not.
I know you can see the divergence in time.
What did Q do in the past when he turned our world into a polluted, totalitarian nightmare? Friend, then foe, - and now - Answer the question.
What did Q do? A temporal recision.
A single change.
What was it? When was it? Calculating.
That is the when.
Where is the where? Calculating.
Earth.
The change in the timeline originates there.
In Los Angeles.
Calculating.
There is someone there to help.
A Watcher.
Seek the Watcher.
- There's a splinter in her flesh.
- Los Angeles.
That's got to be our destination.
We cannot live in this reality.
If we want to save the future, - then we have to repair the past.
- I'm afraid my cursory review of Confederation briefs made no mention of any time travel capabilities.
The tech here seems similar to our own, albeit with a slightly more "Boy, that torture device "really looks like it's gonna hurt" kind of look.
So, what do we do? Well, there are cruder methods of time travel.
A star's gravitational pull.
A slingshot maneuver at warp to generate a temporal fissure.
Kirk's Enterprise did it on more than one occasion.
But for that, you need an intelligence that can isolate the divergence and micro-shift for any chronitonic radiation.
They had Spock.
And we have her.
She has the capabilities.
But why would she help us? All this talk of eradication.
Trapped in a forest.
How did it feel when your people were eradicated? You don't have to answer because I know.
What a pitiful end to the Great Borg Empire.
Is that what you want? Or do you want a way back to our present? The collective waiting for you in the Delta Quadrant? Will you help us? Yes.
Great.
Now what? Captain Rios.
Standing by, Madam President.
Five to beam up.
Plus the Borg Queen.
Um I'm sorry, for a moment there, it sounded like you said "Borg Queen.
" She's in a stasis tube if that makes it any better.
Agnes? That you? Can't get rid of me that easily.
Okay.
Hold on.
Energizing.
We're still here.
Indeed.
Attention.
Security protocols initiated.
They've instituted a palace-wide lockdown.
Why? - Are they on to us? - No.
It was in my brief.
They're initiating heightened security measures.
All transporting has been deactivated.
Try to find a blind spot in the security array.
Do you copy? Seven? And now communications as well.
Doctor.
I can't stop it.
What the hell just happened? The Eradication Day ceremony has begun.
Prisoner M5-10 in transit.
Stasis field modified for neural transmitter deflection.
Where has she gone, Seven? Do you know? She's been put in the queue.
For? The ceremony calls for the Borg Queen to be terminated onstage.
Oh.
Barbaric.
By your hand.
Maybe that's our chance.
Oh, wait.
How are we supposed to Borg-nap the queen and get away in front of thousands of witnesses? A smart, strategic question, Raffi.
Well, thank you.
Elnor, improvise.
Communication.
Make a hole.
Transport.
Make a bigger hole.
- And you and I will find the queen.
- Now announcing the Magistrate of the Confederation of Earth.
And as for you Find out what this thing knows.
And that's an order.
Yes, sir.
What are you doing down here? What's going on with you today, Annika? I've half a mind to have you tested for telepathic incursion.
How dare you even suggest This was This was all my fault, Mr.
First Husband, sir.
The-the The Borg Queen was claiming that Romulans had infiltrated the palace with spies from a little-known sect called the Qowat Milat, or Final Stranglers as they were known in the North, and I postulated it wasn't true, but I-I didn't have any proof until I saw that Picard had apprehended a Romulan.
So, out of an abundance of caution, I sent a coded message to my old drinking pal, the president, aka Annika Seven Shot.
It's a funny story.
That's for another time.
Wow.
Uh, so that I could test my hypothesis, which we just did.
There was a lot of screaming.
Did you hear it? Anyway, it-it turns out the queen was totally lying in a typical "weaker-than-thou species bargaining for her life" kind of strategy.
And, so, she's off, you know, going to be beheaded or whatever.
And basically, um As you were.
Madam President, we need you and General Picard onstage.
It's time.
Bye.
Have a good You know.
Oh, God.
Let's figure this out.
A safe galaxy is a human galaxy.
Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Yeah! Yeah! My fellow Confederates, today we honor the heavy costs of bloodshed and suffering as they are returned in victorious celebration.
Eradication Day will forever serve as a reminder of humanity's merciful power.
And who better to remind us of that mercy, that power, than General Jean-Luc Picard? Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Come on, work.
Shit.
Let the general's actions today echo as a warning to any species who dare defy the Confederation.
For no monster from any dark corner of the stars can survive the righteousness of human might.
Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! La Sirena? Agnes? Yes.
Oh, my God, so sorry.
They clamped down hard for the ceremony.
Please tell me you still have transporter locks on everyone.
Barely.
There must be some kind of inhibitor.
You'll need to boost everyone's signal and then just open a tra Transporter window, I know.
I know.
Raffi's on it.
Well, hurry.
Could you please stop being so goddamn impatient? We're doing this now? Seriously? Come on.
- I need your console.
Now.
- Chief? - What's going on? - Damn Romulan just confessed to uploading a virus.
So I brought him along as a little present.
Merry Christmas, boys.
Targeting's down.
Turrets are misidentifying friendlies.
We'll be wide open unless I can scrape it out.
Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Tonight, witness what awaits rebellion.
Insurrection.
Resistance.
Tonight, we eradicate the Borg.
Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! - Yeah! - Yeah! You think maybe it's your problem that this whole man-on-the-move thing is just because you feel like you never fit in? Says the woman who won't share a single feeling.
Oh, I'll share a feeling with you right now.
Synthetic cats, synthetic people With them, you're intimate.
Other humans? They're the problem.
You know, I would hang up on you right now if it wasn't gonna get us all killed.
Warning.
Palace shields deactivated.
What the hell are you doing?! Elnor, they're yours.
The admiral said to improvise.
Show-off.
Jurati, shields are down.
I bought us about a minute before they reboot and raise.
Tell me we're good to go.
Shit! Shit! I'd say that's not encouraging.
Yeah, yeah, I-I'm working on it! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Picard! Come on, Jurati, we're out of time.
Jurati, you got ten seconds here! Almost there.
Kill her! Seven, we may have to fight our way out of here.
Get him off the stage! Still can't get a lock, Agnes! Ah, oh, boom! Yes! Oh! How do you like that sh? Well, that was all kinds of terrible.
Uh, I could use some help up there.
On it.
- Raffi, deflector shields at maximum.
- Copy that.
Deflector shields at maximum.
The main array access is here, right? No, no, no, no, no, absolutely not.
Don't-don't even remotely consider connecting that thing to my ship.
What the hell are you doing? Rios, we need her to go back in time.
Time travel is not a way to make me feel better.
About anything.
They're on to us.
We got to move.
Whatever this is, it better work, Agnes.
It probably will.
- Warning.
Incoming ships - Rios! Captain Rios, get us out of here! Warning.
Presidential override.
- Deflectors disabled.
- Wait, what? - No! - Elnor! Uh-uh.
I wonder what a trophy of your head will say? How about "Jean-Luc Picard, traitor"? "Killed while rescuing a Borg.
"