Star Trek: The Next Generation s06e25 Episode Script

You really did it this time, Will.
This is not just a scrape.
|This is a very deep cut.
Well, I can heal it, of course.
But you've got to stop playing|parrises squares as if you're 21.
One day, you'll break your neck, and I won't be able|to heal that as easily.
I wasn't playing parrises squares.
Worf's callisthenic program? - No.
|- I give up.
What was it? - I was trying to feed Spot.
|- Data's cat? I said I would feed him while he|was gone.
I put down the food.
Next thing, this hissing ball of fur|came at my face.
I hate cats.
I love cats.
You've just gotta know|how to handle them.
- Maybe you'd like to do it.
|- I would be honoured, if - Cmdr Riker to the bridge.
|- On my way.
By the way, you'll need this.
Report.
We're picking up a distress call|on long-range sensors.
- It is Romulan, sir.
|- Romulan.
They claim they have suffered|a complete engine failure.
Power levels are dropping.
|Life support is failing.
Could be a trick.
How long before we rendezvous|with Picard? Approximately 13 hours.
Lay in a course for the Romulan ship.
|Go to red alert.
- I want to be ready for anything.
|- Aye, sir.
Captain's log, stardate 46944.
2.
Data, La Forge, Troi and I|are en route to the Enterprise after a three-day conference|on the psychological effects of long-term|deep-space assignments.
Computer,|activate automatic helm control.
Helm control activated.
I was just leaving the reception when this Ktarian walks|up to me and says, "Hello, Diane.
" "I understand you're an empath.
" "I'm a very sensitive man myself.
" "I'm doing a thesis|on inter-species mating rituals.
" "Would you care to join me|in some empirical research?" That's a good impression of Dr Mizan.
- How did you know?|- He's notorious but he is an expert.
Did you help him, Counsellor? Absolutely not.
I thought it was a topic|you were interested in.
Did you enjoy the conference? To be honest, I was bored.
I spent most of my time at Prof|Wagner's phylobiology seminar.
I thought the idea|was that we would all participate, bring different points of view|to the discussion.
He gathered 200 scientists|from all over the Federation, and all he did was put us to sleep.
I have a memory record of the|lecture.
I can repeat the portions No, thank you.
Well, it was little better|at the physiognomy workshop.
Dr Vassbinder|gave an hour-long dissertation on the ionisation effect|on warp nacelles before he realised that the topic|was supposed to be psychology.
- Why didn't anybody tell him?|- There was no opportunity.
There was no pause.
He just kept talking in one long,|incredibly unbroken sentence, moving from topic to topic so that no one had a chance|to interrupt.
It was quite hypnotic.
Well, I had a great time.
The warp-energy symposium|was fascinating.
I had an opportunity|to touch a plasma field.
Really? What was it like? It was incredible.
I could feel|the plasma moving up my arm.
It was warm, and there was this|amazing tingling sensation that Captain? Data? .
.
moved through my chest.
|It was incredible.
It was like taking a bath|in pure energy.
- It was not painful?|- No! Counsellor? Is there something wrong? I'm not sure.
Space, the final frontier.
These are the voyages|of the Starship Enterprise.
Its continuing mission,|to explore strange new worlds, .
.
to seek out new life|and new civilisations, .
.
to boldly go|where no one has gone before.
Well, our bioscans check out.
|There are no physiological anomalies.
If something did happen,|it left no biological traces.
How long did we appear to be frozen? I don't know.
|Four, maybe five seconds.
You just stopped|and then started again.
I can't explain it.
My memory record does not indicate|a pause during that time period.
My internal chronometer and|the ship's computer are synchronised.
There is no temporal discrepancy.
Let's run a ship-wide diagnostic.
|Maybe we missed something.
Let's go through this again.
|You were sitting there.
The rest of us were here.
Describe the exact moment|when we appeared to freeze.
Well, Geordi was talking|about what it felt like to touch the plasma field and you were taking a sip of tea.
Did you sense something from us?|Any unusual emotion.
Not a thing.
I was empathically aware of you|right up to the moment you froze.
And then it all stopped.
The last few days|have been exhausting.
Maybe it was my imagination.
There were moments when I thought|time was standing still there, too.
Or there is another possibility.
|This could be nothing more than - Are you alright?|- What happened? You were motionless|for three minutes, 11 seconds.
It appears to be the effect you|described in us.
Remember anything? No, one second, I was talking to you.
|The next, you were around me.
Wait a second.
This is weird.
What is it? I had the tricorder compare the scan|I took earlier and the one just now.
In the time between the scans,|you should have aged 23 minutes but according to decay levels,|you aged 20.
- How do you account for this?|- I don't know.
It's as if for Counsellor Troi,|for three minutes, time just stopped.
Mr Data, contact the Enterprise.
Tell Cmdr Riker|to meet us as soon as possible.
Have him scan the region|for temporal anomalies.
Aye, sir.
I'll check the sensors,|see if I can find anything.
Captain, may I see you? The Enterprise is not responding.
- Are we within sensor range?|- No, sir.
Increase speed|to the rendezvous coordinates.
Aye, sir.
We have an engine-failure warning - Report.
|- Starboard nacelle just cut out.
Attitude control is restored.
Full stop.
What happened? Starboard antimatter pod is drained.
The fuel reserves are empty.
Is there a leak? No, sir.
Engine systems are|operational.
The fuel is just gone.
Geordi.
I have an explanation.
According to|the plasma-conversion sensor, the starboard engine|has been in operation for 47 days.
No.
Let's check that sensor.
|It must be malfunctioning.
I'll check the fuel-consumption logs.
- What happened?|- My hand.
The cells are metabolising at an|incredible speed.
50 times normal.
- The pain is going away.
|- Your metabolism's stabilising.
It happened when I reached|for the fruit.
Captain, I am detecting a temporal|disturbance intersecting the table.
It appears|that within the disturbance, time is moving|at an accelerated rate, approximately 50 times faster|than normal.
The disturbance|is spherical in shape.
It is extending outward from the hull|17 metres from the ship.
That would cover|the starboard nacelle.
- No wonder it used up all its fuel.
|- Check the hull integrity.
It does not appear affected.
Mr La Forge, move us away|from the disturbance.
Aye, sir.
Lateral thrusters on line.
Data, plot a course|away from the disturbance.
Make sure it doesn't contact|our other engine.
Course plotted.
|Adjust pitch to 27.
3 degrees.
Set heading 180, mark zero.
Got it.
|Reversing at 15 metres per second.
We are clearing the phenomenon.
- All stop.
|- What was that? There is another temporal disturbance|behind us.
Captain? I think you'd better|come take a look at this.
Yes, Mr La Forge? Sensors are picking up|disturbances throughout the region.
Different configurations, different|sizes.
They're everywhere.
Within each disturbance,|time is moving at a different rate.
As if something shattered|the space-time continuum.
The fragmentation effect continues|along a heading of 270, mark 15.
The direction of the Enterprise.
Can we navigate|around these fragments? We have to limit our speed|to one-half impulse, but I think so.
Get us to the Enterprise.
These are the coordinates.
Perhaps the Enterprise|has been delayed.
I've got the long-range sensors|on maximum.
No sign of the ship.
But I am picking up a reading.
|Possibly metallic.
Difficult to tell.
Energy levels|are almost non-existent.
- Take us to it.
|- Aye, sir.
The fragmentation effect|is increasing.
Slowing to one-eighth impulse.
There she is.
My God! Mr Data? The Enterprise and the warbird are|trapped within a temporal fragment.
The fragments seem to be converging|at this point.
I'd say this is the centre|of the disturbances.
Scan for life signs.
Sensors cannot penetrate|the subspace field.
I cannot scan the vessels.
It looks like the Enterprise|has been damaged.
There, on the port nacelle.
The warbird doesn't look|to have any damage at all.
I wonder if the Enterprise|got a shot.
The Romulans|may have decloaked too fast.
A second energy beam is coming from|the Enterprise.
What could that be? It is impossible to tell|from a visual inspection.
But it appears to be focused|on the warbird's Engineering.
We can't determine it from here.
|We need to get on the Enterprise.
That would be inadvisable.
In each of the instances|we contacted a temporal fragment, we were integrated into its time.
If we beam aboard,|we'd be frozen in time like them.
We have to find some way|of staying unfrozen.
Mr La Forge,|what about a subspace force field, like the one we used on Devidia II? Could something like that protect us|from the temporal fragment? Possibly.
We need an awfully|sensitive phase discriminator.
The emergency transporter armbands|contain a type-seven discriminator.
It should be possible|to reconfigure their emitters.
Yeah.
That would isolate us|from the other time frame.
But to interact with it,|we have to restrict the field.
It would have to be|practically skintight.
Mr Data? I will attempt|to narrow the field, sir.
Captain.
I think this is gonna work,|but it's gonna take some time.
Well, Mr La Forge, it would seem that time|is something we have plenty of.
We've channelled all communications|to the relays in the armbands.
We'll be in continual communication.
- How long will the fields last?|- An hour.
Maybe less.
Don't worry, I'll be monitoring you|very carefully.
Counsellor? I got dizzy for a second.
We've created an artificial pocket|of time around you.
It's playing tricks|with your equilibrium.
It might take time to get used to it.
|Tell me if it gets worse, - Beam us directly to the bridge.
|- Aye, sir.
Energising.
There are three Romulans,|all of them with disruptors.
One at conn.
There are none of our|Security officers on the bridge.
They must have taken us by surprise.
It appears that we can move objects|in this time frame.
Maybe we could do something|to help Will.
I'm wary about making changes|until we know what's going on.
Captain, the equipment|is no longer functioning.
But the information indicates|a massive power surge in Engineering.
Security teams had just been sent|to transporter room three.
And to sickbay.
Counsellor, go to sickbay.
|Mr Data, go to Main Engineering.
Determine the cause of that surge.
|I'll be in the transporter room.
- Mr La Forge?|- Here, sir.
Lock on to our signals.
|Transport Counsellor Troi I'd rather not.
We've got limited power and|your fields consume a lot of energy.
Understood.
We'll use|the Jefferies tube.
Let's go.
Maybe we can go around them.
No, we'll find an alternative route.
Let's go back up.
Excuse me, Mr Worf.
- Captain.
|- Counsellor, look at this.
It appears that Mr Worf had just|beamed these three on board.
Three other Romulans had been|beamed to sickbay seconds earlier.
I know.
What are we doing, transporting|Romulans aboard in a battle? They don't have any weapons.
|And that one looks injured.
If they were part of an invasion,|why are they unarmed? Captain, there's something|I have to tell you.
Dr Crusher has been hit|by a disrupter blast at point blank.
If time returns to normal,|she can't survive.
- Data to Capt Picard.
|- Go ahead.
Come to Engineering immediately.
|It is urgent.
- What's the problem?|- Captain.
I have found the cause|of the power surge.
There is a warp-core breach.
It is the flash point|of an explosion.
- And it is expanding.
|- Expanding? I thought that time was suspended.
We were incorrect.
I have determined that time is|moving at an infinitesimal rate.
Why didn't we notice it before? Our conclusion was based|on observations of the crew.
A warp-core breach|moves at a faster rate.
The motion of the cloud is|within my visual-detection threshold.
At its current rate, it will consume the Enterprise|in nine hours, 17 minutes.
Is there anything we can do? It is no longer|a question of stopping it.
The explosion has already occurred.
The fact that it is moving slowly|changes nothing.
Astonishing to see it frozen|like this.
- Do we know what caused the breach?|- No.
However, the console displays|indicate a power transfer in progress between the Enterprise|and the warbird at the moment time decelerated.
That is why there is a second beam.
Why would we be sending them power? Perhaps we should board|the Romulan ship.
The answer may Captain? - Captain, are you alright?|- My head.
Dizzy.
I can't No! No! Troi to La Forge.
|Get us out of here now.
You weren't completely protected|from the other time continuum.
The neurophysical stress|must have been overwhelming.
In the same way deep-sea divers|experience nitrogen narcosis, you experienced|a form of temporal narcosis.
Can we modify the isolators|to give us better protection? I don't think so.
The best thing|we can do now is to be careful, limit our exposure|to their time frame.
Ten minutes per trip.
We should|stick together while we're there.
Very well.
|The first step is to find out why the Enterprise was transferring|power to the Romulan ship.
I think we should begin our search|in the Romulan engine room.
Counsellor, you spent several days|on a Romulan vessel.
You probably know more about|the layouts than anyone.
Perhaps Captain, it might be better|if you stayed here and gave yourself a chance|to recover.
Yes, very well.
I will monitor you from here.
|Just remember, ten minutes, no more.
Yes, Captain.
Geordi, there should be|a power-utilisation monitor.
Data.
This is highly unusual.
The crew is not at battle stations.
The ship is on evacuation alert.
Is that why the Romulans|were being transported? Take a look at this.
There's an energy feedback|returning through the beam.
It probably overloaded our engines|and caused the breach.
Perhaps they tried to destroy|the Enterprise.
I don't think so.
According to this, the Romulans were|trying to shut down the transfer.
Whatever happened, this looks|less and less like a Romulan attack.
Why don't we look|at their engine readouts? Geordi, the engine core|is completely inactive.
That's impossible.
The Romulans use a quantum|singularity as their power source.
Once it's activated,|it can't be shut down.
Let's take a closer look.
I think we've found the problem.
It appears to be a highly focused|aperture in the space-time continuum.
Its energy signature matches|that of the temporal fragments.
However, it is approximately|1.
2 million times as intense.
This may be the origin|of the temporal fragmentation.
- What are those dark spots?|- I'm not certain.
They exhibit a complex bioelectric|pattern.
Very possibly organic.
Organic? From a molecular configuration,|it appears The aperture is beginning|to fluctuate.
I believe - There is an energy build-up.
|- Check main distribution matrix.
The matrix is clear.
It's the power transfer|from the Enterprise.
Systems are beginning to overload.
Notify the Enterprise|to shut down the power transfer.
Their power interlocks|won't disengage.
We'll have to do it.
|Disconnect the transfer.
- There is no pressure.
|- Shut down all systems.
I believe my tricorder emissions|caused the aperture to activate.
I suggest we avoid exposing it|to further energy emissions.
When time resumed, did you observe any activity that|might suggest what they were doing? They may have been ejecting|their engine core.
I thought I heard something|about a power transfer.
An energy feedback.
Yes.
They were trying to stop|whatever was happening here.
Mr La Forge,|can you determine what's happening? I think so, Captain.
Wait.
Something's not right here.
Data, was this man always here? He's in neural shock.
- We must get him to the runabout.
|- He's dying.
He'll be alive|in the other time frame.
Maybe we can save him later.
Is the Romulan still alive? Yes, but I am getting unusual readings|from his bioscan.
I am not certain he is a Romulan.
His cellular structure does not|conform to any known species.
His bioelectric patterns|are in a state of temporal flux.
I do not believe he is native|to our time continuum.
You said you found organic matter|in the aperture.
- Correct, sir.
|- I'd like to look at those readings.
This is a biospectral analysis|of the aperture.
The organic readings|originated from these dark spots.
They appear to contain|some sort of energy patterns.
Can you isolate one and magnify? They look like cellular clusters.
Its bioelectric patterns are|similar to those of the alien's.
However,|they are significantly less complex.
Its cellular structure|appears to be in mitosis.
Data, this could be|some sort of embryo.
It is possible.
If I could scan|the aperture, it might be possible Captain? Must save - No.
|- Who are you? This body is not mine.
It was necessary to assume it|to exist in your time.
- Why are you here?|- We had to come to save them.
- They were in danger.
|- Who were? Our young.
They will die in the gravity well.
|It is artificial.
Artificial gravity well?|Do you mean the Romulan engine core? Yes.
Our young are trapped.
We must get them out,|return them to our time.
His molecular structure|is destabilising.
How were your young trapped? We must use a natural gravity well|to incubate our young.
We thought the Romulan core|would suffice.
It did not.
I believe the aliens mistook|the artificial singularity in the Romulans' engine|for a natural one, a black hole.
They used it as a nest.
That's what deactivated|the warbird's engine core.
The Romulans sent out|a distress call.
The Enterprise responded, and found the warbird suffering|from an apparent engine failure.
They attempted a power transfer.
Power transfer.
|Must stop power transfer.
Rupture time, destroy our young.
When the power transfer came|into contact with the alien nest, I believe it disrupted|the space-time continuum.
- Did you attack the Enterprise?|- Yes.
Had to stop power transfer.
- Are there any others like you here?|- One other.
Do you know where he is? Could he|help us restore normal time? I estimate the breach will consume the Enterprise|in seven hours, two minutes.
Is it possible to lock on|to the core, beam it into space? No, sir.
We would have to surround|the core with an isolation field.
We cannot generate a field|of that magnitude from the runabout.
Mr Data, when you scanned|the aperture with your tricorder, it caused time to move forwards|and then back again.
- Correct, sir.
|- What if we reverse that process? Cause time to move backwards|and then forwards? We might be able to run time back to|before the warp-core breach occurred and then find a way|to prevent the power transfer.
- When time goes forward|- The breach never happens.
I could remodulate|the tricorder's emissions.
It should be possible|to control the aperture.
Make it so.
If this works, we may not have much|time to prevent the power transfer.
We'll have to decide precisely|what to do the very instant|that time moves backwards.
Captain's log, supplemental.
After placing the tricorder|on the Romulan ship, we returned to the Enterprise.
I have reached Engineering.
|Standing by.
Acknowledged.
|Counsellor, are you in position? - Ready, Captain.
|- Alright, Mr Data.
Initiating tricorder emissions.
- Captain?|- Go ahead, Mr Data.
The core breach has been reversed.
Be ready to stop the power transfer.
Aye, sir.
You must stop.
Specified energy systems|have been initialised.
The power transfer|can now be engaged.
Do not initiate that power transfer.
Sorry, I have.
We must shut it down.
The transfer beam|is at saturation, sir.
It can't be disengaged.
Computer, level-three containment|field around the warp core.
Containment field activated.
- Damage report.
|- Shields down to 27 percent.
Captain? No time to explain.
|Continue the evacuation.
La Forge is in the Romulan|engine room.
Beam him to sickbay.
Step back, now.
It's alright.
He wasn't firing at me.
There was an alien here|who had taken Romulan form.
- The Doctor got in the way.
|- Where is she? Status, Mr Data? I was attacked by another alien.
|I was unable to prevent the transfer.
It cannot be disengaged.
|A core breach is again imminent.
Can we move the ship? The feedback from the transfer beam|would tear us apart.
Patch me into the navigational|control of the runabout.
Got it.
I'm bringing the runabout in.
Mr Data? The core breach has been prevented.
Data, it appears that|severing the power transfer has not only prevented the breach but it has restored space-time|to normal.
The alien who attacked me|has vanished.
The warbird has vanished as well.
Judging from|the residual temporal fluctuations, I believe they returned|to their continuum.
Captain? It's going to take a little time|to explain, Number One.
Captain's log, stardate 46945.
3.
We successfully evacuated|the crew of the Romulan ship.
We're on course to the|Neutral Zone to bring them home.
Come in.
- Where's that cat of yours?|- Sleeping, sir.
Why do you ask? No reason.
I've worked out the new|rotation schedules.
Crosscheck them.
Notify the department heads.
- Your shift begins at 2300 hours.
|- Understood, sir.
What are you doing? Recent events compel me to study how humans perceive|the passage of time.
For example,|I have heard people comment that time seems to pass slowly in|one instance or quickly in another.
In reality, the actual passage|of time remains fixed.
I suppose it depends|on how people perceive time.
Every situation is different.
|It depends on how you feel.
I have been testing the aphorism|"a watched pot never boils".
I have boiled the same amount|of water 62 times.
In some cases,|I have ignored the kettle.
In others,|I have watched it intently.
In every instance, the water reaches|its boiling point in 51.
7 seconds.
It appears I cannot perceive time any differently|than my internal chronometer.
- Why don't you turn it off?|- Sir? People do not have|internal chronometers.
Why don't you see|what happens if you turn yours off? Thank you.
I will try that.
Just don't be late for your shift.