| The Next Generation | |
| 93 | |
| The Nth Degree | |
| 44704.2 | |
Cyrano de Barclay! The geek from Hollow Pursuits is back, and this time he is acting in a play with Beverly. Amazingly it is not on the holodeck, but with real live people. I smell character development.
The Enterprise has been ordered to the Argus array, a large telescope at the edge of space, wherever that might be. It isn't working, and the interstellar fix-it crew have been given the repair job. Near the array they discover a strange object, and so Geordi and Reg Barclay shuttle out to have a look. What?!? Why?!? For a close range scan they tell us. Does this mean that a shuttle has better sensors than the Enterprise?
The object is being unfriendly and not responding to the scans until... they probe it with positrons. It obviously takes offence as it flashes out a large burst of radiation. The radiation knocks out the shuttles computers, as well as Reg. It's a good thing that life-support is not handled by the computers isn't it.
After they get back to the ship, the object approaches the Enterprise. Maybe it just wants to play. Picard isn't happy with this new playmate, and orders the Enterprise to leave the area - backwards! After getting up enough power they execute a perfect bootlegger turn and sprint for warp, phasers firing all the time. I could have told them that is wouldn't work, it's too early in the episode. It doesn't. The probe matches their warp velocity and forces them back into normal space.
It looks like the Enterprise is going to be rogered by the hostile space probe when Barclay somehow manages to improve the shields by 300%. This allows them to photon torpedo the sucker in a passing patch of noisy vacuum. No-one is quite sure how Reg did it, but as he saved the ship, no-one really cares...
It is now time to get back to the matter at hand, fixing the Argus array. Geordi says he can do it in two weeks. Reg proposes a parallel attempt, but Data says it will take seven weeks. Reg retorts that he can have it done in two days! Oh dear, yet another alien entity has invaded a member of the crew. When was the last time? Last week!
In 10-Forward Reg chats up Deanna, and she looks like she is close to "going for a walk with him". Later he is found by Geordi on the holodeck, talking physics with Einstein! Clearly he has changed, but it doesn't yet seem to be to the detriment of the crew. Bev estimates his IQ at 1200-1450, and says that he is possibly the most advanced human being who ever lived. Just what we need - a super-intelligent ego-maniac. The one thing I am glad of is that it didn't happen to Riker!
Speaking of the bearded git, he hears the Barclay made a pass at Deanna, and wants to know how successful it was. Deanna just smirks. Full marks to the Betazoid!
The mood is returned to a sombre state as the Argus reactors are finally going critical, despite all of their best efforts. They have 10 minutes to say goodbye to it. Barclay sprints to the holodeck, and asks for a neural scan interface. When the computer says there is no such thing he says: "That's ok, here's how you build it."! Looks like Federation tech just took a major leap forwards.
Picard orders the Enterprise away from the array, but as usual, it is having engine trouble. Maybe they should have bought an import. The main computer is not responding to any input, and as there are only a few seconds left before detonation it looks like we can say goodbye to the crew. But wait, what voice from yonder speaker sounds? It is Barclay, and he is in the computer! More specifically he is the computer. His consciousness has expanded into it and he can't fit it all back in his body. Riker's ego knows just how he feels.
After disabling the communications interfaces in Picard's ready room, the rest of the crew meet to discuss how to remove Reg from the system. The problem is that it will kill him if they just disconnect him. The problem with conspiracies is that they just don't work...
Barclay has a new idea, he knows how to beat warp! He starts altering subspace to throw them to the centre of the galaxy. Picard orders him to stop. "I'm sorry Jean-Luc, I'm afraid I can't do that". Yet again another direct order is ignored. I wonder why Picard bothers. He then orders Worf to disconnect Barclay. That is easier said than done, as Reg has put of an impenetrable force field in the holodeck that the phasers can't penetrate. I would just have beamed the whole area into space.
The Enterprise is slurped through the altered subspace into the centre of the galaxy. Who do you think they meet? The same person that Kirk did - God! Well not really, the being is not divine, but just another nosy space race. They, like the Federation, want to explore the galaxy, but want to do it from the comfort of their lounge chairs. They bring the aliens to them!
The computer is returned to normal, and Reg explains how he was reprogrammed for this mission. Unfortunately he can't remember how his did everything, so the tech is lost. After 10 days with the aliens, the Enterprise returns home, and we return to 10-Forward. Deanna goes for that walk with Reg.
