Brink (episode)

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

As war looms between the Federation and Solum, Gwyn proposes to lead the cadets on an undercover mission to gather intelligence and rescue Ilthuran.

Summary[]

Act One[]

One month before current events, on stardate 61914.3, Vau N'Akat scientists on Solum under Asencia's command cautiously attempt to use a machine to harness the power of the wormhole that is close to their planet. Despite the scientists' warnings, Asencia declares that Vau N'Akat technology must exceed Starfleet's, and increases the power to the machine, which actually appears to make it work better.

Wesley Crusher approaches and uses his Traveler powers to disable the machine, and warns Asencia that heading down this path is a threat to the entire universe. Guards attempt to capture Wesley, but he uses space, time, and thought to make the guards' weapons disappear. However, Asencia redirects the output of the disabled machine at Wesley, knocking him unconscious, and the guards drag him away.

In the present, as the USS Voyager-A and the USS Protostar travel at impulse, Gwyn records a personal log about their new orders to travel to Solum in order to prevent war by dealing with the time-space weapons that Asencia has acquired.

In a conference room on Voyager, Admiral Kathryn Janeway, Captain Chakotay, Commander Tysess, The Doctor, Counselor Noum, and Gwyn discuss their orders. Janeway is set on figuring out how Asencia got the time-space technology, but Tysess worries that their very presence at Solum could ignite the war they want to prevent. Gwyn suggests that she lead her crew, which is technically not Starfleet, down to Solum to get answers, and also to rescue her father Ilthuran. The senior staff agree that the plan would not technically violate their direct orders from Admiral Edward Jellico, and Janeway is eager to offer asylum to Ilthuran as that should help with eventually securing peace with Solum.

Dal R'El, Murf, Rok-Tahk, Jankom Pog, and Zero attempt to eavesdrop on the meeting in the conference room by listening at the door. When the door opens for Janeway and Gwyn to exit the room, the eavesdroppers fall to the floor and make feeble excuses for being there. Janeway ignores them, and reminds Gwyn that she's trusting Gwyn's leadership.

In a different room, the six members of the Protostar crew, now wearing their own clothes rather than Starfleet uniforms, make preparations for their mission. They agree to keep their Combadges hidden, and avoid detection while they search for the time-space weapons and for Ilthuran. They will use a single-use Site-to-site transporter to escape, since Voyager won't be able to beam them out. Maj'el enters and informs them that she resigned from Nova Squadron in order to join their mission, since Wesley Crusher had made it clear that they should all stay together. In a Shuttlebay, Murf and Rok demonstrate an experimental cloak generator that should be able to keep their entire group hidden, but Rok admits that it still has flaws.

The crew of the Protostar are ordered to the Bridge, and arrive in time to witness Voyager's initial scans of Asencia's war efforts on Solum. While Voyager holds position just outside warp-detection range, Janeway reminds the Protostar crew of their mission and how important it is to look out for each other, since Starfleet cannot acknowledge their mission or provide any assistance to them. Rok asks Tysess to Bribble-sit, and the Protostar crew transports down to Solum.

From the hills of Solum overlooking a city, the crew witness Asencia's time-accelerated war factories that Ilthuran had warned them about. As they sneak around the city, witnessing people being scanned by a Drednok, Gwyn laments that her people now live in fear. Under cover of the cloak generator, the crew sneaks around the city, while also grumbling and stepping on each other in the tight quarters within the cloaking field. Receiving a transmission from the Uprising on their Tricorders, the crew make their way to Ilthuran's observatory.

Act Two[]

The crew find that Ilthuran's observatory is in poor shape, and search for clues to where Ilthuran might be. When it appears that Asencia has stepped out of the shadows to capture them, the crew are relieved to find that it is actually Asencia's younger self from this time period. The younger Asencia tells them she does not want to turn into the monster that her older self has become, and that she took the lead of the Uprising when Ilthuran was captured.

The younger Asencia tells them that her older self has captured a Traveler and locked him up in a laboratory so she can steal secrets from his mind; the crew immediately realizes he must be Wesley Crusher. Asencia the younger apologizes for not being able to save Ilthuran, but she does know that he is about to be sent on a prison transport to the Wastes. The crew debate whether to save Wesley or Ilthuran, and Gwyn decides to split the group in order to save both of them, despite Dal's reminder that they're supposed to stay together, and that they only have one single-use emergency transporter to use to escape. Gwyn reasons that if one group rescues Ilthuran and takes the transporter, they can escape, and if the other group rescues Wesley, he'll be able to use his Traveler powers in lieu of the transporter.

Rok, Murf, Zero, and Gwyn use the cloak generator to approach the lab where Wesley is being held, but as they get closer, the cloak generator fails and they are seen by the guards at the front door. Rok and Gwyn manage to incapacitate they guards while they still have some element of surprise. Rok realizes the cloak generator isn't working because of gravimetric distortions coming from the lab, and Gwyn quickly leads them inside.

Dal, Jankom, Maj'el, and the younger Asencia go after the prison transport that will carry Ilthuran, arriving just as Ilthuran is locked behind a force field on the train. Dal suggests they steal the whole train, but Maj'el suggests a more realistic approach, and knocks a guard unconscious with a Vulcan nerve pinch. Dal cuts a hole through the floor of the train with his Phaser; Ilthuran is delighted to see him again.

Act Three[]

Dal leads Ilthuran and two members of Solum's council (which had been dissolved by Asencia) off the prison transport. The younger Asencia takes the council members to go and seek refuge with the Uprising. As Ilthuran thanks the crew of the Protostar and goes with them, Dal worries that Gwyn's group might not be as successful in their rescue attempt.

In the lab, Gwyn's group locates Wesley but runs into a guard. As Gwyn struggles against him, the guard's weapon accidentally destroys the controls to the door they need to go through, but also makes a small hole in the wall. Murf enters the room through the hole, but before he can open the door from inside, a group of Vau N'Akat guards approaches the group waiting outside. Zero and Gwyn fool the guards using the incapacitated guard's body as a puppet, and whatever Gwyn says to the guards in the Vau N'Akat language, they laugh and turn around. Murf opens the door to let them into the lab.

They find Wesley and free him from the collar of Asencia's machine. When he tells them that he facilitated events on Solum so that Asencia would invent the technology they needed to send the Protostar back through the wormhole, the group is rather upset that Wesley planned all along to get captured and allow Solum to start a war, since it resulted in everyone being put in grave danger and almost dying. Wesley nitpicks their wording and claims that it all worked out okay in the end. Due to Asencia's machine forcibly extracting secrets from his brain, Wesley is unable to use his space-time powers to bring them all back to Voyager, so he reveals a fail-safe he had planned, and has Rok punch a hole in the wall for them to escape the lab.

Once they reach the surface, Wesley finally realizes that not all seven of them are here, and berates them for splitting up, when he had been telling them all along to stay together. Now, Wesley doesn't know what the future holds. Gwyn feels that she made the wrong choice when trying to rescue both Wesley and Ilthuran. Dal's group approaches, momentarily giving them hope, but they soon realize the Vau N'Akat have them all cornered.

Asencia (from the future) praises Gwyn for allowing her to learn of Ilthuran's attempt to overthrow her, allowing her to take steps to avoid that future and instead create a future where she is in control. While Asencia is distracted, relishing in preparing to shoot Ilthuran, Gwyn signals to Dal, who throws the site-to-site transporter to Wesley, allowing Voyager to beam up both Wesley and Ilthuran, derailing Asencia's immediate plans.

After materializing on Voyager, Wesley collapses and tells Janeway that they are all in danger, and warns that even he doesn't know what will happen anymore.

Log entries[]

"Personal log, stardate 62083.5. Returning the Protostar to Tars Lamora will have to wait. Voyager's set a course for Solum. We've been ordered to find and neutralize the time-space technology that attacked us, to prevent all-out war with Starfleet. The fate of my home world and the Federation now hang in the balance."

- Gwyn

Memorable quotes[]

"What if there is another way? Let me go. Starfleet can't go in, but I'm not Starfleet, and neither is my crew. We can gather intel on her weapons without raising alarms."
"Who invited the kid to the adult table?"
"The admiral. She won't give up on a peaceful solution. Neither will I. And as a native of Solum, it's my right to return to help them."
"Dangers aside, that technically wouldn't violate Jellico's direct orders, or the Prime Directive."

- Gwyn, Noum, and The Doctor

"Sounds like they're playing... poker."

- Dal's failed attempt at eavesdropping

"Remember, your mission is to collect intel on Asencia's weaponry, then get out safely with Ilthuran. Under no circumstances do I want you to engage with the Vau N'Akat."
"Understood."
"If caught, Starfleet will disavow your actions. For better or worse, you're on your own. So look out for each other."

- Janeway and Gwyn

"Uhh, Commander? One last question. Could you Bribble-sit for us? Don't worry, he's potty-trained...ish."

- Rok, giving Bribble to a less-than-enthused Tysess

"I've seen that look before. What's the matter?"
"My last trip to Solum ended in disaster. What if I make it worse?"
"Or, what if you make it better? This is your mission, so you make the hard calls, and we'll follow."
"Engage."

- Dal and Gwyn, just before transporting down to Solum

"There's two of her?! Gah! Of course there's two. I hate time travel!"

- Dal, after meeting the younger version of Asencia

"Phew, that was too close."
"Remind me to brush up on my puppetry."

- Gwyn and Zero, after successfully fooling the Vau N'Akat guards with a bit of improvisation

"My brain feels like it went through ten rounds as a Nausicaan punching bag."

- Wesley, after being freed from Asencia's painful machine for extracting a Traveler's secrets

"Wait, you planned to get captured and almost start a war with Solum?"
"Well, I mean, almost doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence."
"I lost my body! We nearly died!"
"Once again, nearly, a synonym for almost, so don't worry, it all works out for the best. Once the timeline is restored, Solum and its people will be led into a better future by, uh-- oh, oh help me out here. The guy, you know the guy. You've-- we-- you know the guy! Uh, Ilthuran! Ilthuran."
"First, we have to get out of here. Now's a good time to use your powers and send us back to Voyager."
"Great idea, let's give it a shot. Okay. [breathes deeply] [falls down, groans] Oh, my mind is a bit, um... frazzled, frazzled. I can't concentrate enough to shift space-time."

- Rok, Wesley, Zero, and Gwyn upon freeing Wesley from Asencia's machine

"How are we supposed to save anyone if we can't escape?"
"Well, it never hurts to have a fail-safe, so, Rok, a little tap, if you would."
[Rok punches the wall and a gaping hole opens]
"You really did plan everything."
"After you."

- Rok and Wesley

"Wait. Wait, where are the others?"
"Others?"
"The one with the purple dingle-dangle, the, uh – the – the – the little one who argues, and that, um – the Vulcan."
"They went to save Ilthuran."
"What? No! No! No, no, no! Th – th – this was not part of the stratagem."
"I split the crew. It was the only way to save you and Ilthuran."
"No! No, no, no, no, no! From the very beginning, I've been telling you, you have to stay together!"
"We thought you meant team spirit, unified in our purpose!"
"No, I meant never separate!"
"I wasn't going to let my father die. You said Solum needs him."
"Ilthuran would've been safe if you'd sent the Protostar through the wormhole. He would've led the overthrow of Asencia. But now I have no idea. We're on the wrong path. The future is uncertain. I am lost."
"I – I made the wrong choice."

- Wesley, Gwyn, and Zero, after Wesley discovers that the others aren't present

"Definitely not part of my plan."

- Wesley, after the group is captured

"Say your goodbyes!"
"I'm sorry. I wish we could have left here together. But sometimes, you make the hard call."
[Dal throws the emergency transporter and Wesley catches it]
"Two to beam up!"
"No!"

- Asencia, Gwyn, and Dal, while the latter two derail the former's plans for Wesley and Ilthuran

"Ilthuran. And... Wesley Crusher?"
"I know, I should really stop dropping in like this."
"Where are the others? Are they –"
"In danger. We're all in danger. And I don't know what happens next."

- Wesley and Janeway, after Ilthuran and Wesley beam to Voyager alone

Background information[]

Title[]

Story and script[]

Preproduction[]

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Cast and characters[]

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Continuity[]

Dal mentioning "peace among worlds" is likely an in-joke reference to the Rick and Morty episode "The Ricks Must Be Crazy". ^{(citation needed • edit)}
Dal guessing that the senior staff is playing poker is likely an in-joke reference to the command crew of the USS Enterprise-D doing just that a number of times in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The site-to-site transporter appears to be the same kind used by an alternate timeline Tom Paris in Star Trek: Voyager's "Non Sequitur".