Star Trek: The Next Generation s02e13 Episode Script

Come on in.
Excellent!|That's exactly what I needed.
Mr Worf.
|And the good Doctor bearing gifts.
Ale from Ennan VI.
|Your omelettes deserve no less.
This is not an efficient method|to prepare sustenance.
The computer is more efficient, but it isn't subtle enough|for great cooking.
It would give you the ingredients, but wouldn't allow|for flair or individuality.
And flair marks the difference|between artistry and competence.
Historically, the breaking of bread symbolized friendship and community.
Something we've got away from|in the 24th century.
You've a practised hand, Commander.
- I have my father to thank.
|- Your father liked to cook? No, he hated it.
|That's why he left it to me.
I understand in most human families|the woman shares in the cooking.
There were only the two of us.
I never knew my mother.
|She died when I was very young.
Where did you get these eggs? On our last stop.
- At Starbase 73?|- Yeah.
- What kind of eggs are they?|- Owon.
For you, Data, something special.
Don't be afraid.
|They won't bite you.
And for you, Mr Worf.
A cook is only as good|as his ingredients.
Delicious.
- Number One.
|- Go ahead.
- Would you join me on the bridge?|- Right away, sir.
We've picked up a signal|from a Federation shuttlecraft.
How? I thought we were the only|manned vessel out here.
Apparently not.
What's it doing out this far?|Where's its mothership? Sensors indicate at least one|life form aboard.
Humanoid.
Perhaps someone to answer your|questions.
Open hailing frequencies.
Communication is not possible.
|The shuttle has no power.
Set course to intercept.
Estimate intercept in three minutes.
Space, the final frontier.
These are the voyages|of the Starship Enterprise.
Its continuing mission,|to explore strange new worlds, .
.
to seek out new life|and new civilizations, .
.
to boldly go|where no one has gone before.
Captain's log, stardate 42679.
2.
En route to the Endicor system, we have encountered|a Federation shuttlecraft, which has appeared out of nowhere.
There are no indications of where|it came from or how it got out here.
- We are closing on the shuttlecraft.
|- Thank you.
On screen.
Magnify.
Prepare the tractor beam.
Target vehicle.
We will be within|tractor-beam range in two seconds.
Set automatic locking device.
|Alert shuttle bay two.
Shuttle bay two,|prepare for retrieval procedure.
Locking tractor beam.
Number One.
You're with me, Mr Worf.
Dr Pulaski, you are needed|in shuttle bay two.
I've been monitoring.
|I'm on my way.
Engage secondary tractor beam.
It's a Federation shuttlecraft,|alright.
Yet there are no bases or vessels|in this area.
NCC-1701-D, USS Enterprise.
|Shuttlecraft 5.
NCC-1701 -D, USS Enterprise.
|Shuttlecraft 5.
How is this possible? Commander, come here! - Captain?|- Yes, Number One.
- Are you on the bridge?|- Where else would I be? Right now, you should be|in shuttle bay two.
Why? What is it? This you should see for yourself.
|Bring Cmdr Data.
Condition? Life signs are very confusing.
|Strong heartbeat but weak pulse.
- Is he injured?|- There's no signs of trauma.
Why is he unconscious?|What happened? I can't say.
The readings of his brain waves|are very strange.
Strange? In what way? - Not human? Artificial?|- No, neither.
They're just out of phase.
Can you revive him? I wouldn't even attempt it|till we get him to sickbay.
Come on, let's get him out.
Counsellor? I have never felt anything|like this before, so it's difficult to put into words.
- That person is you.
|- No.
He is as much Jean-Luc Picard|as the person I'm standing next to.
Beyond that, there is very little|I can be sure of.
I will have to wait|until he regains consciousness.
I need to know|what's on the shuttle's logs.
Aye, sir.
Captain, both primary and|reserve power has been drained.
I need to connect to the Enterprise|to activate the shuttle's systems.
Geordi, report to|shuttle bay two immediately.
I'm on my way.
- I'll be in sickbay.
|- Captain.
Seen this? Looks like the damage|caused by an antimatter explosion.
It must have been just out of range|of the shuttlecraft.
Data, I need those logs.
Counsellor.
We'll be on the bridge.
Lieutenant.
Resume course and speed.
|Scanners at maximum range.
Maximum range.
There you go.
|You should have power now.
What happened? The polarity is not compatible.
That's not possible.
|The connection's idiot-proof.
The power requirements of the shuttle|do not match those of the Enterprise.
We will need|a variable-phase inverter, to align the power from|the Enterprise to the shuttle.
Data, what do you think|is going on here? Not just the shuttle,|I mean everything.
I do not have enough information.
I'm just starting|a complete medical work-up.
His vital signs are distorted.
Some indicators are depressed,|others are fluctuating wildly.
I can't explain any of it.
But he is alive.
The restraints|are for his own protection.
Have you determined|why he's still unconscious? No, but I have been able|to rule out any head injury.
Wake him.
What happened? Apparently, the normal stimulant|had the opposite effect.
I'll have to try something else.
Alright, Data.
I think I've got it now.
That ought to give you something.
Making this power adjustment|is very tricky.
By all rights, this should blow|all the shuttle's circuits.
Perhaps you had better|step out of the way.
Alright.
But remember, you're not|indestructible yourself, you know.
Increase the power.
Powering up.
Adjust the inverter|two percent positive.
Two percent positive.
The right decision|is having the opposite effect.
Yes.
I can't think of anything that would cause the circuit|to change so radically.
Adjust the inverter|two percent negative.
OK.
Two percent negative.
That's it.
|It shouldn't work, but it does.
Take a look at the stardate.
- Captain|- Go ahead.
We've been able|to reactivate the shuttle.
The clock indicates that the shuttle|is six hours in front of us.
Captain, do you read me? If the shuttle's|from six hours into the future, then so is the other Capt Picard.
Captain's log, supplemental.
Part of the mystery|has been solved.
There are two number 5 shuttlecrafts|because one is from the future.
Six hours, to be ex act.
And so,|presumably, is the facsimile of me.
Try and wake him again.
- No.
|- It's only a sedative.
I know.
Don't sedate him.
|Let him be.
Please.
Let him remain conscious.
I've never seen anything like this.
Are you alright? Fine.
Save your ministrations|for your patient.
I want a staff meeting|in five minutes.
I assume you will remain here.
Yes, I will monitor the conference|from here.
Keep me informed|of any changes, no matter how small.
Captain's log, supplemental.
Mr Data has recovered the logs|from the duplicate shuttle.
I am apprehensive to play back a log which will not be recorded|for several hours.
We've retrieved|all we can from the logs, including the last visual records.
|Everything else is just a jumble.
Show me.
The distortion is because|we had to use a phase inverter.
The quality will improve slightly.
According to the log,|the Enterprise was destroyed three hours, 19 minutes from now.
Captain, we also have a portion of|the last log entry.
It's audio only.
Captain's personal log, supplemental.
I have just witnessed the total|destruction of the USS Enterprise, with the loss of all hands,|save one.
Me.
All attempts to obtain|further information have failed.
Well, at least|we have something to go on.
I don't understand how you|could have ended up in a shuttlecraft - while the Enterprise was destroyed.
|- Nor I.
The last thing you would do is leave|the bridge during an emergency.
Yes.
Alright.
|Let's proceed on the premise that what|we have just seen happened, and that|in less than four hours from now .
.
the Enterprise will be destroyed, and, somehow,|although this is unfathomable, l, and I alone, escape.
Discussion.
Our destination|is the Endicor system.
We'll arrive in three days.
The charts show nothing to threaten|the ship between here and there.
Sensors indicated no other vessels,|Federation or otherwise, here.
- Data?|- I have nothing to offer.
There is not enough information|upon which to base a hypothesis.
The shuttle came from up ahead.
Rather than continuing,|maybe we should stop here and let whatever it is out there|come to us.
We may already be too late.
What? Stopping, turning, even|reversing our course is pointless? When we brought the shuttle|and the other Picard on board, we committed to a sequence of events|which may be unalterable.
Yes, this is not some|rock on the trail, which once seen|can easily be avoided.
This is much more complex.
There is the theory of the Möbius.
A twist in the fabric of space|where time becomes a loop from which there is no escape.
So when we reach that point,|whatever happened will happen again.
The ship will be destroyed.
|The other Picard will meet us.
And we do it all over again.
|Sounds like someone's idea of hell.
Well, I know this much.
|We can't avoid the future.
Agreed.
So let's continue on course.
Somewhere out there,|something will happen.
A decision will be made and I will|be separated from the Enterprise.
At the time, the decision will seem|to be correct, but it won't be.
We have to anticipate,|and not make .
.
not make the same mistake once.
Something is waiting|for us out there.
Let's try and determine what it is,|quickly.
Doctor? I'm just beginning to realize|how much of the body is held together|by its own internal clock.
He was thrown out of time, which caused his body systems|to change their rhythms.
Now, slowly, as we get closer|to the time that he left, his internal body clock|is realigning.
Are you saying that when our time|intersects with the time he left, in that instant|he will function normally, and .
.
and there will be two of us? Right now, that is my guess.
I don't think that's possible.
I'm able to feel|much more from him now.
His emotions|are still a jumble, but Counsellor? He desperately|wants to leave this ship.
Captain's log, supplemental.
|We continue on course to Endicor.
We are less than two hours away|from our rendezvous with ourselves.
Worf.
Maximum scan, sir.
|Nothing unusual to report.
If this timetable is correct,|we could get an indication soon.
- Bridge, this is sickbay.
|- Yes, Doctor? Captain, my patient is more coherent.
I'm on my way.
|You have the bridge, Number One.
How is he? His vital signs are more normal,|more like ours.
- He is calmer.
|- He's aware of me? Perhaps, in some fashion.
But he knows where he is,|who's here? I doubt it.
What went wrong?|You know, don't you? What did you do? What happened?|Why did you leave the ship? Don't turn away! Look at me! Picard! Look at me! - He doesn't understand you.
|- He knows I'm here.
Yes, but in a nightmare of disjointed images|and half-heard voices.
He's in another dimension,|looking at us across a great chasm.
He's feeling remorse|at what he witnessed.
- He's afraid.
|- What is he afraid of? Damn you.
Help me.
|Why did you leave the ship? It's no use, Captain.
|He can't answer you.
When we get closer to his time,|he may be able to.
- Are you still convinced he's me?|- Yes, but you're not convinced.
Not in the slightest.
Except for his features, there is|nothing about him I find familiar.
Counsellor,|I want you to stay with him.
He'll be able to communicate|with you before anyone else.
I don't know how long anyone|could take this anxiety state.
- There has to be a breaking point.
|- He's handling it very well.
He has a lot of anger.
- Because of what he represents.
|- And what is that? Doubt.
|He's afraid that seeing him here, and knowing what happened to the|Enterprise, will make him timid.
Or worse, make him hesitate.
Part of my job|is to anticipate problems.
My duty is to the Captain,|but first to the ship and its crew.
Doctor, the Captain is quite capable|of making command decisions.
Yes, for now.
|But this situation has put him under extreme pressure|of a unique and very personal kind.
We both know that pressure|will only increase.
You said yourself|that he already has doubt.
Which is understandable and healthy.
And could be potentially paralyzing.
If we begin to see signs that|he's acting in an irrational manner, I have the authority|and duty to relieve him.
I don't think|that will be necessary.
I hope you're right.
What force or phenomenon|could cause the shuttle to be thrown back in time? None that we know.
In theory,|accelerating beyond warp ten.
Using the gravitational pull|of a star to slingshot back in time? The shuttle|doesn't have warp capability.
No.
|So some external force was needed.
We've never encountered|a natural force that powerful.
Why only six hours?|Why not a day? Or a year? Are you saying there was|some conscious mind at work here? There's no evidence either way.
The Traveller moved through time|using the power of his mind.
I don't think that's the case here.
No.
And Manheim's experiments|with gravity and time were rudimentary and uncontrollable.
Captain, I think this is one instance where you should suppress|your natural tendencies.
- Really?|- One of your strengths is your ability to evaluate|the dynamics of a situation, and then take a definitive|pre-emptive step, take charge.
You're frustrated.
|You not only can't see the solution, you can't even define the problem.
Go on.
What we're facing|is neither a person nor a place.
At least not yet.
It's time.
You're saying I should|shut up and wait? I wouldn't have put it|exactly like that.
- Not something I do easily.
|- Your Persian flaw.
Yes, perhaps it is.
Captain to the bridge.
Report.
This energy vortex|has just appeared beneath us.
- There was no warning.
|- Well, at least the waiting's over.
Captain's log, supplemental.
We have apparently intersected|with something.
It is similar to our tractor beam,|only much more powerful.
- Bridge, this is Lt La Forge.
|- Bridge.
The pull on the ship is steady.
I'm holding the engines at 30|percent to maintain our position.
Transfer Engineering control|to the bridge.
Captain,|there is a consciousness here.
Not thought, more like instinct.
- What do you think, Number One?|- I think we're being probed.
The beam is coming|from the centre of the vortex.
Sensors show it to be|only a mass of energy.
What is it trying to learn? I think it's trying to determine|if we are a life force.
- We'll stay and investigate.
|- Agreed.
Unless that was the mistake.
- Staying too long.
|- Possibly.
- We should go now.
|- Well That would be the prudent move.
I never thought|I'd hear myself say that.
Under the circumstances, sir,|I think you're right.
But you would rather stay and find|out what it is? What is its intent? - Engineering, transfer to bridge.
|- Mr La Forge.
- Sir?|- Take us out of here.
Maximum warp.
Aye, sir.
|I've set the velocity at warp nine.
Engage.
Warp engines are at 91 percent.
- Put it to the wall, Mr La Forge.
|- Aye, sir.
I can't hold it.
The engines can't handle the strain.
All stop.
- Mr La Forge?|- I'm re-engaging warp engines.
Status? All decks have reported.
|No damage.
No injuries.
The hold on the Enterprise|is strong.
I'm at warp seven|just to maintain our position.
Everything we do tightens its grip.
Let's see what we can learn.
|Launch a class-1 probe.
Aye, sir.
Mr Worf That was personal.
The power drain needed|to hold this position is enormous.
How long can you maintain it? Just a few minutes|then we'll have to shut down.
Captain, some kind of energy just surrounded my patient.
- Is he alive?|- Yes.
Arm the photons, Mr Worf.
|Lock on the centre of the vortex.
Photon torpedoes on target.
Hold for my order.
Like a rag in a dog's mouth.
I am now at maximum warp.
It's you, Captain.
|It was the entire ship, but now it has focused its attention|entirely on you.
Captain, I can't hold it.
|If we don't shut down right now Hold this position! Counsellor,|if I were to leave the Enterprise, would its attention|still be focused on me? Yes, I think it would.
You'd never survive.
But in those few seconds,|the Enterprise might break free.
That's what he That's what|the other Picard must have thought.
- Where are you going?|- You have the bridge.
You're leaving the ship? We may be on a road|that has no turns.
He's very agitated.
I must get to the shuttle.
I know.
Do you know where you are? The Enterprise.
But you're only vaguely aware of it.
|And me? Do you know who I am? No, you don't, do you? I must go! - Release him.
|- Do you know what you're doing? No.
Release him.
Security to sickbay.
No! Security, disregard that order|and clear all personnel, repeat,|all personnel from shuttle bay two.
I don't want any distractions.
You, stay here.
- You're leaving the ship?|- I must.
- Why?|- The energy in the vortex wants me.
- You're certain?|- Yes.
It's an entity, a life form.
It recognizes the Enterprise|as an entity with me as its brain.
Shuttle bay two.
What's your other option? This is our only chance.
If I leave, it may be distracted long enough|for the Enterprise to escape.
No.
If you leave, the Enterprise|will be destroyed.
Remember? You saw it happen.
If I don't leave the ship,|the Enterprise will be destroyed.
If that's true, then help me.
|We both want the ship to be safe.
But there is information|I don't have.
- It's me.
|- You? Captain,|we're about to lose warp drive.
- Understood.
|- Understood.
When you say it wants you,|do you mean still you and not me? You're confusing me.
We're almost out of time.
|I must get to the shuttle.
Wait! You can.
I'll let you.
But, first, tell me,|what was your other choice? Stand aside.
You must tell me.
What was it? You don't know|what I'm talking about.
You're locked into a single intent|unable to change.
Unable to alter|any of your previous actions.
I must leave.
There's no other way.
There must be.
One.
But it would never work.
What is it? What would never work? I have to leave.
What was the other choice?|We can't fight.
We can't go forward.
No, we can't go forward.
|That would destroy the Enterprise.
Was that it?|Was that the other choice? - I must leave.
|- No! Capt Picard! I cannot allow you to leave.
Before we can go forward, |the cycle must end.
Dr Pulaski, report to shuttle bay two.
Bridge.
Number One, we're wasting energy|trying to escape.
Set a course|for the centre of the vortex.
Mr La Forge, on my command,|all the power you can muster.
- Yes, sir.
|- We're going in? - Yes.
|- Course set, sir.
Now everyone hold their position.
|No matter what.
Engage.
Capt Picard? Shuttle bay two.
The other Picard|and the shuttle are gone.
- Explain.
|- They just vanished.
- What's our position?|- We are back on course to Endicor.
Stand down from red alert.
All decks have reported in.
|No damage, no casualties.
You have the bridge, Number One.
A lot of questions, Number One.
|Damn few answers.
Maybe none of it was real.
Perhaps we were all part|of a shared illusion.
Or maybe he was thrown back in time, so that we would be able|to take another road.
Make a different choice.
They say if you travel far enough,|you will eventually meet yourself.
Having experienced that,|Number One, it's not|something I would care to repeat.
I'll be on the bridge, sir.