| The Next Generation | |
| 86 | |
| The Wounded | |
| 44429.6 | |
The Enterprise is conducting a mapping survey. At least this means they are going where not-many-people-have-been-recently. I really think that the Federation ought to rethink the Enterprise's charter. Oh well, the sector they are in is near the Cardassian border. The Cardassians have only recently formed a peace treaty with the Federation. Why? I bet it's so they can get bit-parts in TNG episodes.
O'Brien, now happily married, doesn't look that happy. It's probably because his bride wants him to eat seaweed. Uggh. At least he doesn't have to spoon down many mouthfuls of the aquatic flora as the ship goes to red alert and sounds like it has been fired upon.
I often wonder why alien ships bother to attack the Enterprise. They seem to fall into exactly two categories, either (a) then could destroy it at a whim - like the Borg; or (b) they don't have a chance. These guys are definitely in the later group. Picard requests Worf to knock out only the shields and weapons systems.
The attack wasn't prompted by anything the Enterprise had done. In fact since Wesley has gone, the likelihood of them being attacked has dropped significantly. However in the absence of the annoying Ensign, the actions of another Federation officer, Captain Ben Maxwell, are enough to cause the aliens to try and beat themselves to death on the Enterprise. It seems that Ben has been a naughty boy as has been indiscriminately blowing up Cardassian ships. He even went as far as obliterating a science station. What a great statesman. I think that Starfleet should make him an admiral for it. Unfortunately they don't agree with me, and neither do the Cardassians. Starfleet goes as far as ordering Picard to find Ben and his ship, the Phoenix, and to preserve the peace at any cost.
Now we desperately need a social link to the Enterprise so that we can try and make this a social issues episode. Who can we use? It shouldn't be one of the major characters, but one of the minor ones would do just fine. Lets make it O'Brien since he has been featured recently. Excellent!
O'Brien once served with Maxwell and has no love for the Cardassians as they forced him to kill one of them. He now hates them for what they made him do. To be sociable Picard requests that several Cardassian observers be present on the Enterprise, so they can be sure that the Federation is doing all it can to find the renegade. O'Brien goes as far as being rude to them. You would think with the number of alien races he has seen that a few more deformities on the forehead wouldn't worry him.
Eventually Maxwell's ship is detected, but it is too far away for the Enterprise to be able to intercede. Picard flatly refuses to give the Phoenix's prefix codes to a Cardassian warship near it. Instead, like a true gentleman, he politely asks Maxwell to stop being unfriendly. Maxwell, being a ruthless bastard, ignores him. This really seems to irk Picard, and as it appears that the Phoenix is about to destroy another Cardassian supply ship, he sends off the prefix codes. It doesn't make any difference. The Cardassian warship brings down the Phoenix's shields, but since they fall into category (b) above, they still get blown up, as does the supply ship. The Cardassian batting average is not looking good at the moment...
Worf stomps onto the bridge, dragging one of the Cardassian aides by his... I suppose it is an ear. "Daddy, daddy, the nasty BEM was trying to access weapons information. Can I rip his lips off?". Is this supposed to instil a sense of distrust in these aliens? Who cares, lets get back to the plot. The miscreant is taken off and confined. One down, two to go.
We finally get a good look at the Phoenix, and I must say it is quite an impressive ship. I think it is one of the Federation's sports models because it has an enormous spoiler on the roof. Maybe Maxwell is saving up for the skirt kit. Maxwell beams over and Picard requests a little chat. Maxwell claims that the Cardassians are rearming for war and that the science station he destroyed was not that at all, but rather was a military outpost. Picard gives him the usual line about Starfleet policies on starting wars without permission, and Maxwell retorts calling Picard a fool and a bureaucrat. All his posturing won't save him though, as Picard uses Starfleet authority to order Maxwell and his ship to StarBase 211. Still trying to be nice, he gives him the option of either captaining it himself to save face, or having it towed and being thrown in the brig.
In a completely unexpected move on the part of the Phoenix, it scarpers. Who didn't guess that this was going to happen? The crew of the Federation flag-ship of course. The Phoenix makes an attack run at yet another Cardassian supply ship, but this time stop just short. He hails Picard and says that his proof is there. All Picard needs to do is beam over an inspect the ship and his actions will be vindicated.
Of course Picard won't do this, and is left with the possibility of having to fire on a Federation vessel to save the Cardassian supply ship. At $10 per week he would be paying for the damage for a long time, so he lets O'Brien try beaming over to Maxwell to try and talk him out of it. Wait a minute, doesn't the Phoenix have its shields up? Of course it does. So how is O'Brien going to manage to get over there? Easy, he invokes the new-tech-that-only-works-once-but-is-needed-in-this-episode rule of TNG. He beams over while their shields are recycling. Pretty clever stuff.
Instead of a logical discussion, the two ex-ship-mates have a sing-a-long. After a few rousing choruses Maxwell realises he isn't going to win and gives up. Meanwhile Picard calls the chief Cardassian observer in to see him, and bluntly states that Maxwell was right. He even goes so far as to say that he didn't board the ship as he didn't want to start the war, but in the future "we'll be watching".
