The hospital facility will be located there,
facing north in that grove of trees.
And the school and the art center will be standing there,
centrally located among the residential pods.
Very good.
At this rate, we can bring the next wave of colonists in
in about six months.
I've gotta tell you, I envy you.
This is a beautiful place to put down roots.
Somehow, Riker, you don't strike me as the kind that puts down roots.
- No? How do I strike you? - As a free spirit.
- As an adventurer. - An adventurer?
Aren't you pioneers all adventurers at heart?
Of course.
But we also have this nesting instinct.
It's exciting to find a new world, but the joy comes in making it a home.
Building houses, having children.
Very interesting.
I'd love to discuss this further with you.
Dinner tonight?
If you wanna share camp rations in my tent, I'd be delighted.
Haven't we gotten you a replicator yet?
No, we haven't.
But I've been saving up my ration of dried chicken curry.
It should go very nicely with that bottle of wine
I happen to know you brought with you.
This is sounding better all the time.
And as you know,
I provide the most memorable desserts.
My favorite part of dinner.
Will, Carmen.
We've been going over the schematics for the hospital.
The location seems fine.
When the Enterprise comes back, we'll get a crew started on that.
Carmen, have you got construction started I didn't know about?
No. What is that?
- Data? - I do not recognize the sound.
I believe it is coming from above.
Will, What is it?
Data? What's our best bet for cover?
Subterranean caverns to the east, sir.
Doctor.
- Will... - Start gathering everyone together.
We've seen this before. We know what it is.
Now get moving.
Subs corrected by awaqeded.
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.
Follow him. Let's go.
- Come on, come on, come on. - Hurry up, come on.
Follow him!
Go! Stay together! Stay together!
This way! This way! This way!
I've got him.
Unh!
Will!
Help us!
Data!
Oh, no. Get back.
Carmen!
Captain, sensors indicate a disturbance
near the outpost on Melona IV.
What kind of disturbance?
I cannot tell. We are still too far away. It could be an electrical storm.
- See if you can contact the colony. - Aye, sir.
Captain, there is no response from Melona colony.
But the disturbance in the atmosphere is increasing.
- How far are we? - At current speed, 27 hours.
- Bridge to La Forge. - La Forge here, Captain.
Are you picking up any readings from Melona?
Yes, sir. Something strange is going on.
There are violent disruptions in the atmosphere.
Ensign, increase to warp 8.
Come on.
Get moving.
Watch your step, but keep moving.
Let's go. Let's go. Keep moving.
Deep into the cave. Come on. Be careful.
Deep into the cave. Keep moving.
How much protection will this cave give us?
The refractory metal in the rock formation
may act as an effective barrier.
Let's seal off this entrance.
Let's hope there's enough air in here.
There's gotta be a ventilation source somewhere.
We need some light.
How are the others?
Just scrapes and bruises, I think. I'll check further. Where's Carmen?
She didn't make it.
She was trying to save an old man who had fallen.
I'm sorry.
I think we're gonna be all right in here.
I'm not sure about the air supply, so stay put, don't move around.
Don't expend any unnecessary energy.
With any luck, we'll be able to wait this thing out.
Riker to Enterprise.
Commander.
The refractory metal in the rock strata
may also interfere with communication.
Data, we've only seen the crystalline entity once before.
How do you know these metals will protect us?
I am not entirely certain they will, sir.
I was afraid you were going to say something like that.
Sir, the disturbance on Melona is becoming more intense.
Keep hailing them. All channels, Mr. Worf.
Captain, the fact that they're not responding
doesn't necessarily mean there's anything wrong.
The atmospheric disturbance could be jamming the signal.
I know, counselor.
Still no response, sir.
Increase to warp 9.
- How long, Mr. Worf? - Six hours.
I've got one man unconscious.
We can't stay in here much longer.
If we open that entrance and it's still out there, we're dead.
If we all stay in here, we're dead.
It has been over an hour since we heard the entity, sir.
It may be gone.
Or it may be waiting out there for us.
Everybody, stay here.
Commander. Commander Riker, are you there?
Lieutenant Worf, I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful sight.
It's good to see you're all right, Commander.
What happened here?
The crystalline entity paid us a visit.
We lost two colonists, but we got the rest in here.
Captain's log, stardate 45122.3.
We have notified Starfleet Command of our intention to pursue
and investigate the crystalline entity.
To that end, we have been joined by Dr. Kila Marr,
a Xenologist who has made studying the entity her life's work.
Welcome to the Enterprise. I'm Commander William Riker.
- Commander. Dr. Kila Marr. - We're glad you're here.
You were on the surface during the attack?
- That's right. - Remarkable.
You and your group are the only known beings
ever to survive an assault by the crystalline entity.
- We were lucky. - I should say.
And your android, he was there too?
Lieutenant Commander Data was there, yes.
Well, shall we get started?
I'd be glad to show you to your quarters.
Commander, a chance to talk to survivors so soon after an attack?
I've been waiting years for this. I don't wanna waste a moment more.
And when we came out of the cave, there was nothing left.
Everywhere we looked there was complete devastation.
Trees gone, nothing.
That's typical. It could take years for anything to grow again.
Doctor, I ran a full spectrographic analysis,
section by section.
Trace elements confirm it is the same entity
which destroyed the colony at Omicron Theta.
The crystalline entity seems to function
like a gigantic electromagnetic collector.
It needs a lot of power to keep going,
so it strips every form of life from the worlds it encounters
and converts it all into energy.
There was no vegetation, no insects. Not even soil bacteria. It left nothing.
Except witnesses, for the first time in 11 recorded attacks.
Now, why, I wonder, did it spare your group?
It didn't spare everyone, doctor. If you'll check your records,
you'll find that two of the colonists did not survive.
My point is that until now, there have never been any survivors.
Doctor, the cave in which we hid was made of rock
which contained heavy concentrations of kelbonite and fistrium.
We surmise that the entity was unable to penetrate that barrier.
I would like to do interviews with each of the survivors.
Collect as much specific detail as I can from their observations.
Of course.
And I'd like to inspect the remains of Melona colony as soon as possible.
Commander Data, you will accompany the doctor to the surface.
- Yes, sir. - If you don't mind, Captain,
I'd prefer to choose my own team.
There's no one on this ship with more knowledge
of the crystalline entity than Commander Data.
- He originated on Omicron Theta. - I am aware of his origins.
I'm very much aware that his brother, Lore,
worked with the crystalline entity.
Led it to Omicron Theta, where it killed every living thing.
I don't think it's unreasonable that I should prefer to make another choice.
You may request additional team members,
but in the best interest of this investigation,
I think you should work with Commander Data.
As you wish, Captain.
Well?
I don't think you need an empath to sense that woman's feelings.
There's hostility that she seems to have transferred from Lore to Data.
Perhaps you shouldn't have forced them together so soon.
If her discomfort is going to affect her judgment or her objectivity,
I need to know now.
Doctor, there is evidence of residual bitrious matter in the soil.
It was not present before the entity's attack.
Doctor?
Dr. Marr, you have made it clear that my presence disturbs you.
However, I do not see how we can achieve our task
if you continue to ignore me.
Commander, I can hear everything you say to me.
If there's anything worth my response, you can be sure I will not be silent.
Then I do not understand your lack of interest
in the bitrious filament I mentioned.
It's old news to me.
I found evidence of bitrium on the last three attack sites.
It seems to be a residual that the entity produces
after it absorbs living matter.
I'm actually more interested in this cave.
It still amazes me
that your group was spared.
As I have speculated, the presence of refractory metals...
Refractory metals, yes, I know.
On two separate occasions, settlers sought refuge in caves.
Some of them deeper than this one.
They perished anyway.
Were those caves laced with kelbonite or fistrium?
The tunnels on Forlat III had strong deposits of kelbonite, yes.
Hm. Then perhaps the combination of the two metals
- prevented the entity from... - Perhaps it was you.
I do not understand.
Maybe it was your presence
that made the entity pass over the people in this cave.
Did that occur to you?
I cannot see what effect my being here would have had...
If you had been in contact with the entity,
if that's the reason Melona was attacked,
it surely wouldn't have killed its ally.
You believe that I lured the entity here?
- Did you? - No, doctor.
Because Lore betrayed the colonists on Omicron Theta,
you believe that I am capable of the same behavior.
You are mistaken, doctor.
My programming is distinctly different from Lore's.
You don't understand. I am accusing you of collaborating with that monster.
I do understand.
And I am attempting to explain to you it is impossible.
It's amazing.
You can't feel anything, can you? Nothing I say to you hurts you.
That is true, doctor.
I'm getting a slight elevation
on monocaladium particulates in this cave wall.
- Are you making note of it? - Yes, doctor.
My son died on Omicron Theta.
He was 16 when the colony was attacked.
That is the reason I have become an expert on the crystalline entity.
I have spent my life studying it,
tracking it, and hoping one day to find it.
And if I learn you have been helping that thing in any way whatsoever,
I will see to it that you are disassembled piece by piece.
Okay, doctor, we've input all the data you collected on the surface.
Just a minute. I have some cellulose readings from soil samples
that weren't included.
You handle that unit like a veteran, doctor.
One thing about spending your life gathering information,
you learn your way around computers.
Hydrocarbons slightly elevated.
Bitrious filaments in trace amounts.
Lanthanides, nitrates, all normal.
Nothing different.
Everything falls within the parameters I established at the other attack sites.
Were you expecting a different result this time, doctor?
I've never surveyed a site so soon after an attack.
I thought maybe I'd find something new,
something that would make a difference.
Doctor,
have you ever scanned your samples for gamma radiation?
Why would I do that?
We are seeing high-energy reactions that may show up in a gamma scan.
And if they do, we might find a pattern, a kind of marker
left behind by the entity. It's a good idea, Data.
Frankly, I just don't see what that would get us.
If the entity left a residual trace of antiproton
in the samples we collected,
a gamma-radiation scan would reveal that.
Getting that readout now, Data.
If we try a logarithmic scale, we will have better resolution.
- There it is. See it? - Yes.
Doctor?
A sharp spike at 10 keV.
Another.
A pattern.
So we know the entity leaves antiprotons behind.
If it also deposits antiprotons in space as it travels, can we detect them?
Sure, we can set the ship's lateral sensors for gamma radiation.
Well, let's get to it, shall we?
It seems I owe you thanks, Commander.
The thanks actually go to a Dr. Clendenning of Omicron Theta,
who did the first experiments with gamma scans.
I never read that. It wasn't in any of his records.
That is correct. But I possess much of his knowledge.
He was working on new detectors
at the time of the attack on Omicron Theta.
I'd heard you'd been programmed with the experiences of the colonists,
but, frankly, I find it hard to believe.
Bridge.
It is true, doctor.
The contents of their logs and journals were transferred into my memory cells.
The man who created me also experimented
with scanning the synaptic patterns of the colonists' temporal lobes
and programming them into my neural nets.
- You possess their thoughts? - To some degree.
Dr. Soong hoped to provide me with an amalgam of the colonists' memories.
Interesting.
There. A spike at 10 keV.
And again. It's the same pattern we saw in Engineering.
Mr. Data, can you project a course from it?
Yes, sir. There are two possible destinations.
The Brechtian Cluster and the Argos system.
- ls either populated? - Yes, sir.
The Brechtian Cluster has two inhabited planets.
Ensign, set a course for the Brechtian Cluster.
Captain, I've done some preliminary estimates
on a firing pattern we need in order to destroy the entity.
The photon torpedoes will require some reprogramming.
But with your permission, I'll give the calculations to Lieutenant Worf.
Reprogram the torpedoes, Mr. Worf.
But let's hope we don't have to use them.
I beg your pardon?
If we can possibly avoid firing on it, then I would hope...
Aren't you going to kill it?
Perhaps you should join me in my Ready Room.
I don't understand.
Why are we pursuing the entity if not to destroy it?
We're not hunters, doctor, nor is it our role to exact revenge.
What do you propose? We track it down, greet it warmly,
and ask it if it would mind terribly not ravaging any more planets?
I don't deny that it may be necessary to fire on it,
but I look on that as a last resort.
Why? Why not just kill it?
I want to try to communicate with it.
What?
We know from our own experience that our shields will protect us.
So long as we're in no danger, I will make every effort to communicate.
To what end?
If we can determine what its needs are,
we might find other sources to supply it.
Its needs are to slaughter people by the thousands.
It is nothing but a giant killing machine.
Doctor, the sperm whale on Earth devours millions of cuttlefish
as it roams the oceans. It is not evil, it is feeding.
The same may be true of the entity.
That would be small comfort for those who have died to feed it.
We're not talking about Cuttlefish, we're talking about people.
I would argue that the crystalline entity
has as much right to be here as we do.
Now, Commander Data has some theories
on how we might communicate.
Please confer with him.
Come in.
- Am I disturbing you? - Not at all, doctor.
Commander, there's something I want to say.
You have been helpful to me and kind.
And I repaid you with accusations.
And I realize I may have been wrong.
That is very gracious of you to say, doctor,
but I have not been injured by you.
Captain Picard has told me
you've done work in trying to establish communication with the entity.
That is true.
I have experimented with producing vibrations in crystals
by means of graviton pulses.
- Like tapping on a crystal goblet. - Exactly.
I will call up the results I have achieved thus far for you to study.
All right.
Commander,
just what kind of memories do you retain of the colonists?
I do not possess the minute-to-minute remembrances of each person.
Although the more intense recollections
are contained in my memory banks.
Do you have any of my son's memories?
Marr. Raymond.
Called Renny. Yes, I do.
I see.
And his journals?
Yes.
I was wondering, uh...
Do you know...?
Did he blame me?
Blame you?
For... For going away. For leaving him on Omicron Theta.
There are no records of any blame against you.
I left him with friends.
I chose to pursue my own career.
I planned to go back, but things kept interfering.
And I kept thinking, "I'll go next month."
But there weren't any more "next months."
There are no records of any negative thoughts about you.
His personal journals indicated that he was proud
that you were such a fine scientist.
He was?
What else do you know?
Commander Data, Dr. Marr, report to the Bridge immediately.
We are being chased by an unidentified entity
traveling at warp speed.
A distress call from a ship called the Kallisko.
It's being pursued by an unknown object.
Sensors indicate a crystalline structure of indeterminate matter.
How strong are your shields, Captain?
We are a transport ship. Our shields are minimal.
- Do you carry weapons? - Only low-level particle phasers.
Do you know what this being is?
Kallisko, change course. Take evasive action.
- Do whatever you can to outrun it. - We are under attack!
Captain, notify our people on Boreal III.
Mr. Worf, try to reestablish.
I cannot, sir. There is no response.
The crystalline entity is moving away, sir.
Ensign, set a course for the Kallisko.
Mr. Riker, prepare an away team.
Captain's log, stardate 45125. 7.
An away team, led by Commander Riker,
has conducted a thorough survey of the alien ship Kallisko
and has returned to the Enterprise to report.
Pretty much as we expected, sir. No survivors.
Not a trace of anything that was ever alive.
Not even a seed in their greenery storage.
Warp and impulse engines are down, sir, but they can be restarted.
A skeleton crew could take the ship to a starbase.
No, we don't have time for that now.
Mr. Worf, send a message to the nearest starbase.
- Ask them to dispatch a crew. - Aye.
Mr. La Forge, make certain that we're still picking up
the gamma-radiation patterns of the entity.
- Aye, sir. - Have you and Commander Data
made any progress in finding a means of communication?
I believe so. There are some things to iron out.
Please, keep working at it. We may need it soon.
Deck 17.
Doctor,
you have seemed preoccupied since we surveyed the Kallisko.
I've found it easy...
to talk to you, commander.
- Do you mind if I tell you something? - Not at all.
After hearing the screams of those men,
I found it hard not to think about my son.
About what happened to him.
I've read stories, uh,
about soldiers in the battlefield, you know, wounded, dying,
and they call out for their mothers.
And I've often wondered if my son called out for me.
If he died wondering why I didn't come to him.
Come.
It's still headed for the Brechtian Cluster.
- We've reestablished our course. - Very well.
Oh, one thing, Number One.
Starfleet will be notifying Carmen Davila's parents of her death
and returning her personal effects. Would you care to enclose a letter?
Yes, sir. I'd like that very much.
ls there something more, Number One?
- Permission to speak freely, sir? - Of course.
I've been thinking maybe Dr. Marr is right.
Maybe we should destroy the entity.
- Why do you think that? - It's already killed thousands.
It will undoubtedly continue to kill unless we stop it.
I don't want those deaths on my conscience.
Are you sure that that's it, Number One?
Or are you being influenced by personal feelings?
With all due respect, sir, I'm not a raw cadet.
I've lost people on missions before.
If we take time to try to communicate with this thing,
we may lose our chance to destroy it.
And I don't think we can risk that.
I think I'll go write that letter to Carmen's family.
We should program the Bridge science station
to vary the emissions we direct toward the entity.
I'll write a subroutine
that will allow us to change the frequency of the graviton beam.
Data,
you told me you carried some of my son's memories.
That is correct, doctor.
What can you tell me about Renny? What were those thoughts?
Was he happy at all on Omicron Theta?
I have some vivid memories of sporting events.
He played Parrises Squares with a group of his schoolmates.
Renny started Parrises Squares when he was young. Too young, really.
But the older children kept asking him to play,
and I couldn't keep him away.
- He had this natural gift. - Yes.
He was pleased to have won a championship emblem.
He wrote me about that. He was so proud.
I'm characterizing pulse widths in nanoseconds.
- Sound right to you? - Yes, doctor.
Your son's most intense memories
revolve around a young woman named Janina.
A girlfriend?
I never knew about that.
Of course, the last person he would tell would be his mother.
What was she like?
He enjoyed her kindness,
her gentleness, her physical attributes.
There.
Now we can vary all the parameters directly from the Bridge.
Yes, doctor.
Could you do something for me?
It would mean a lot.
I would be happy to be of help.
You see, all I have left of Renny,
the only connection I have of him, is there, inside your head.
I was wondering if you would talk to me in his voice.
I know you have the ability to sound like other people, isn't that right?
That is true, doctor, but what would you have me say?
Maybe something from his journals.
Many of his journal entries
took the form of letters to family and friends.
I could access one of those.
I took my last exam today.
I think I did all right on everything except cellular biology. Heh.
I know you think it's important, Mom,
but I don't see how I'm ever gonna use that stuff.
In a couple of weeks,
a bunch of us are going on an archaeological dig in the mountains.
The Wallaces said it would be all right as long as we had adult supervision.
So don't worry, Mom,
they're looking out for me.
They're really great people, and I like them a lot,
but they're kind of serious.
They don't have your sense of humor, Mom.
Mom...
l miss you.
Captain's log, stardate 45129.2.
We are still in pursuit of the crystalline entity.
Data and Dr. Marr are prepared to attempt communication
with the being when we intercept it.
I will admit to some uncertainty about the prospect.
It could prove to be a scientific triumph,
or a catastrophe.
Commander, the Brechtian Cluster is now five light-years away.
Are we still picking up the entity's pattern?
Yes, commander.
But sensors have not yet locked on to its exact whereabouts.
Captain, we are reasonably sure
it's between here and the Brechtian Cluster.
If I start emitting the graviton beam now,
it may serve as a lure, a kind of beacon.
Make it so.
We'll start with a pulse width of five nanoseconds.
Frequency, one pulse per second.
Commencing graviton emissions...
now.
- No change in sensor readings. - Let's ramp the frequency.
Emissions now at ten pulses per second.
Sir.
What is it? Do you have something?
A large mass, approaching at warp speed.
- Full stop. - Aye, sir.
Doctor, continue emitting the signals. Mr. Worf, on-screen.
Shields up.
Magnify.
It's beautiful.
What's it doing? Checking us out?
Possibly. Just as we're checking it out.
Dr. Marr, do you wish to change the frequency?
Dr. Marr?
Yes, yes, proceed, commander.
Changing to 20 pulses per second.
- Is it responding to us? - Let's test that.
Ramp the frequency again, commander.
Emissions now at 30 pulses per second.
Captain, I'm reading a transmission from the entity.
A series of graviton pulses.
It's working. That's a response to our signal.
Remarkable.
Captain, there is a pattern emerging from the signals.
It's trying to communicate with us.
I believe so, sir.
But it will take some time to decipher the patterns.
Then it's possible.
Communication.
Understanding.
Let me try something else. A continuous graviton beam.
All graviton pulses from the entity have stopped.
Maybe it doesn't like what we're doing.
Doctor, return to the intermittent signal.
Doctor? Dr. Marr?
Dr. Marr, we must return to the intermittent signal.
- Counselor? - Something's very wrong, Captain.
The entity is beginning to resonate. Vibrations are increasing.
Dr. Marr, stop the transmission. That is an order.
Dr. Marr, do you hear me?
It's for you, Renny.
I did it for you.
Mr. Data, shut down the transmission.
Vibration amplitude is increasing. It can't last much longer.
I cannot stop the graviton signal, Captain.
Dr. Marr has isolated the access code.
Maybe I can create an override sequence, shut it down from here.
The amplitude is still rising, Captain.
Resonance is approaching critical.
I can override her program, but it's gonna take some time.
Mr. Worf, will you escort the doctor to her quarters?
Yes, sir.
It will never hurt anyone again.
Perhaps I should escort the doctor, sir.
- Fine. But don't leave her unattended. - Please come with me, doctor.
Of course.
I will stay with you, doctor.
How long will you live, Data?
There has been no predetermined limit placed on my existence, doctor.
I'm glad.
As long as you're alive, he'll be alive.
I need your help, Data.
In what way, doctor?
Like you did before.
Tell me
that you understand, Renny. Yes.
That you know I did it for you
because I love you.
Because I wanted to give you peace at last.
I do not find such a file in your son's journals, doctor.
However, from what I know of him,
by his memories and his writing,
I do not believe he would be happy.
He was proud of your career as a scientist.
And now you have destroyed that.
You say you did it for him,
but I do not believe he would have wanted that.
Yes.
I believe your son would be very sad now.
I am sorry, doctor, but I cannot help you.