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At his interrogation Picard attempts to appeal to Satie's sense of reason and convince her to end the hearings but is met with a thorough nitpicking of his competency and loyalty to Starfleet and the Federation. [[Worf]], who up until this point had sided with Satie in her actions, realizes where the hearing is going and attempts to defend his captain but is also rebuffed with accusations of his father's supposed betrayal to the Romulans. Finally, Picard responds to the accusations laid against him by quoting Satie's father about the dangers of denying basic rights to one man in the name of protection. Enraged, Satie interrupts him in a fit of anger. She verbally attacks Picard for using her father's good name to defend himself, telling Picard that she, "has taken down bigger men than you". Too late, she realizes what Picard has done; by quoting her father, he has goaded her into revealing her state of mind and reasons behind the trials in front of an audience, severely damaging her credibility and causing Admiral Henry to walk out in disgust, putting an informal end to the interrogation.
 
At his interrogation Picard attempts to appeal to Satie's sense of reason and convince her to end the hearings but is met with a thorough nitpicking of his competency and loyalty to Starfleet and the Federation. [[Worf]], who up until this point had sided with Satie in her actions, realizes where the hearing is going and attempts to defend his captain but is also rebuffed with accusations of his father's supposed betrayal to the Romulans. Finally, Picard responds to the accusations laid against him by quoting Satie's father about the dangers of denying basic rights to one man in the name of protection. Enraged, Satie interrupts him in a fit of anger. She verbally attacks Picard for using her father's good name to defend himself, telling Picard that she, "has taken down bigger men than you". Too late, she realizes what Picard has done; by quoting her father, he has goaded her into revealing her state of mind and reasons behind the trials in front of an audience, severely damaging her credibility and causing Admiral Henry to walk out in disgust, putting an informal end to the interrogation.
   
Later on, in the ship's [[Ready Room]], Picard is informed by Worf of the hearings' official cessation, and of Satie's departure from the ''Enterprise''. Though it's not likely that she will ever be trusted with such legal proceedings again, Worf can't help but feel guilty for being deluded into aiding her cause without realizing what she was. Picard, however, sees it as a learning experience; such enemies who cloak their misdeeds with the pretense of serving a greater good are very seductive and very hard to spot, and continual vigilance is needed to be able to spot and stop such threats.
+
Later on, in the ship's [[Captain's ready room|ready room]], Picard is informed by Worf of the hearings' official cessation, and of Satie's departure from the ''Enterprise''. Though it's not likely that she will ever be trusted with such legal proceedings again, Worf can't help but feel guilty for being deluded into aiding her cause without realizing what she was. Picard, however, sees it as a learning experience; such enemies who cloak their misdeeds with the pretense of serving a greater good are very seductive and very hard to spot, and continual vigilance is needed to be able to spot and stop such threats.
   
 
==Log Entries==
 
==Log Entries==

Revision as of 07:25, 14 September 2007

A Starfleet admiral overzealously searches for a traitor on the Enterprise.

Summary

On stardate 44769.2, a dilithium chamber hatch explodes aboard the Enterprise-D and sabotage is suspected. The explosion coincides with news that the Romulans have gained access to information about the Enterprise's chamber, indicating that there's a spy on board. A quick investigation turns up one suspect - a Klingon exchange officer named J'Dan, but he denies any involvement. With little progress in the investigation, Starfleet Command send retired Admiral Norah Satie and her assistants - one of which is a Betazoid - in to help expedite the proceedings.

A more thorough examination under Satie's tutelage reveals a hypospray in J'Dan's room modified to scan and resequence classified information into biological tags for transport on an injected body; J'Dan covers this by the fact that he has Ba'ltmasor Syndrome, which requires weekly injections and - thus - would easily hide the transfer of information. With this evidence against him, J'Dan cops to being a Romulan spy, but adamantly maintains his innocence in the explosion. However, Satie is still unsatisfied; she is convinced that J'Dan couldn't have been working alone, and begins an inquiry into all personnel and passengers on the Enterprise he's come into contact with during his stay. When she questions young medical technician Simon Tarses, she's apparently got her man; her Betazoid assistant senses great fear and guilt from Mr. Tarses, as if he's being consumed by a lie he refuses to come clean about.

Picard is not convinced, though, and refuses to restrict Mr. Tarses' movements based on Betazoid intuition. Before a consensus can be reached, though, he and Satie are called to Engineering by Geordi La Forge and Data; the radiation levels preventing them from entering the chamber - caused by the explosion - have dropped low enough for them to safely enter, and their examination shows no foul play involved. The explosion was caused by metal fatigue along an undetectable defect in a hatch cover installed during the ship's last refit at Earth Station McKinley, thus making it an accident that just happened to coincide with the theft of the chamber's plans and not sabotage.

This new development doesn't seem to placate Satie or her assistants, who still believe Mr. Tarses as being a co-conspirator with J'Dan. Another inquiry against Mr. Tarses is launched, this time open to the public, and he is barraged with numerous accusations to try and establish his guilt, including a lie that the explosion was caused by corrosive chemicals that he had access to, and the exposure of the lie Mr. Tarses himself tried to kept hidden - that he put false information about his parentage in his admission form, stating that his grandfather was Vulcan when in fact he was Romulan. Overwhelmed, Mr. Tarses clams up, and the ruthlessness of the accusations convince Picard that Satie is engaging in drumhead trials, going on a xenophobic witch-hunt for Romulan and other enemy conspirators she can convince herself of locating. After talking with Mr. Tarses and establishing that his lying on his application was the only misdeed he did, Picard confronts Satie and demands that the hearings be put to rest, threatening to go over her head and complain to Starfleet Command if necessary, only to be rebuffed; Satie has been in full contact with Starfleet Command since the get-go, and they fully approve of her methods. In fact, the next interrogation will have Starfleet Security Admiral Thomas Henry as a witness. In other words, the interrogations can't and won't be stopped, and will in fact expand. Unfortunately, because of his outspokenness against them, Picard is called to the stand next.

At his interrogation Picard attempts to appeal to Satie's sense of reason and convince her to end the hearings but is met with a thorough nitpicking of his competency and loyalty to Starfleet and the Federation. Worf, who up until this point had sided with Satie in her actions, realizes where the hearing is going and attempts to defend his captain but is also rebuffed with accusations of his father's supposed betrayal to the Romulans. Finally, Picard responds to the accusations laid against him by quoting Satie's father about the dangers of denying basic rights to one man in the name of protection. Enraged, Satie interrupts him in a fit of anger. She verbally attacks Picard for using her father's good name to defend himself, telling Picard that she, "has taken down bigger men than you". Too late, she realizes what Picard has done; by quoting her father, he has goaded her into revealing her state of mind and reasons behind the trials in front of an audience, severely damaging her credibility and causing Admiral Henry to walk out in disgust, putting an informal end to the interrogation.

Later on, in the ship's ready room, Picard is informed by Worf of the hearings' official cessation, and of Satie's departure from the Enterprise. Though it's not likely that she will ever be trusted with such legal proceedings again, Worf can't help but feel guilty for being deluded into aiding her cause without realizing what she was. Picard, however, sees it as a learning experience; such enemies who cloak their misdeeds with the pretense of serving a greater good are very seductive and very hard to spot, and continual vigilance is needed to be able to spot and stop such threats.

Log Entries

Memorable Quotes

"Sir, the Federation does have enemies! We must seek them out!"
"Oh, yes. That's how it starts! But the road from legitimate suspicion to rampant paranoia is very much shorter than we think. Something is wrong here, Mr. Worf. I don't like what we have become!"

- Worf and Picard


" ' With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.' Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie as wisdom and warning… The first time any man's freedom is trodden on we’re all damaged."

- Picard quoting Judge Aaron Satie


"How dare you! You who consort with Romulans! Invoke my father's name in support of your traitorous arguments! It is an affront to everything I hold dear. And to hear his name used to subvert the United Federation of Planets. My father was a great man... his name stands for principle, and integrity... you dirty his name when you speak it! He loved the Federation! But, you captain, corrupt it! You undermine our very way of life! I will expose you for what you are! I've brought down bigger men than you, Picard!"

- Admiral Satie, losing all of her credibility


"We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. And then, before you can blink an eye, suddenly it threatens to start all over again."

- Picard, to Worf


"Mr. Worf, villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well-camouflaged."

- Picard


"…she, or someone like her, will always be with us – waiting for the right climate in which to flourish. Spreading fear in the name of righteousness. Vigilance, Mr. Worf; that is the price we have to continually pay."

- Picard, to Worf

Background

Links and References

Guest Stars

Co-Star

Uncredited Co-Stars

References

amino acid; Ba'ltmasor Syndrome; Battle of Wolf 359; beard; Betazed; Betazoid; blood; Borg; Cochrane, USS; communicator; Constitution of the United Federation of Planets; Crewman; Cruces system; Delb II; deoxyribose suspension; dilithium articulation frame; dilithium chamber; dilithium chamber hatch; drum; drumhead trial; Earth Station McKinley; elm; emergency confinement field; encephalographic polygraph scan; Excelsior class; exobiologist; Federation Uniform Code of Justice; hyposyringe; interrogation room; isolation door; isolinear optical chip; judge; Klingon-Federation Alliance; Klingon High Council; lemon; Marcus; Mars Colony; mass spectrometer; matter-antimatter reaction assembly; medical technician; microtomographic analysis; Mogh; neural parasite (24th century); neutron fatigue; Oberth-class; Officer Exchange Program; optical chip reader; outpost; petaQ; Prime Directive; protein; Qo'noS; radiation; roach; Romulan; Romulan Neutral Zone; Satie, Aaron; sabotage; security clearance; Seventh Guarantee; shuttlecraft; spy; starbase; Starfleet; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Security; sub-micron fracture; Tarkanian; tea; T'Pel; United Federation of Planets; Vulcan; witch

External links

Previous episode:
"Qpid"
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 4
Next episode:
"Half a Life"