Placing beam-out marker.
Return transport, 1 4 minutes, 40 seconds.
Is your view any better, Geordi?
Not too bad. A lot of charged-particle precipitation.
- I can compensate. - Communicators are dysfunctional.
Tricorders?
Readings only valid within five metres.
Good thing we didn't bring Data. We'd be unscrambling his circuits.
Commander!
Picking up something on the positron scan.
Over here! Some electrically conductive objects.
Recognize those markings, Worf?
Yes, sir. Romulan.
What the hell are they doing in a Federation sector?
Picking up traces of ultritium residue.
An explosive device must have destroyed the craft
after it crashed.
Let's spread out. 25-metre radius.
Our window back closes in 1 2 minutes.
Commander!
Cmdr Riker!
- Four minutes to beam-up. - Where is he?
Wait here.
Worf!
Cmdr Riker!
Geordi!
Worf! Cmdr Riker!
Hold your position, Mr. Worf.
Worf!
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.
Captain's log, stardate 43349.2.
An unidentified distress signal has uncovered a crashed Romulan vessel
on the surface of Galorndon Core, a Federation planet.
They have recovered one survivor.
But Lt Cmdr La Forge did not report back with the away team
and is still missing.
- Get him to sickbay. - Post a guard at all times.
He's not going anywhere, Lieutenant.
Sorry. There's no way to lock in.
Keep trying, O'Brien.
The storm's creating thousands of ghosts.
Beam those ghosts back! One may be Geordi.
- Permission to lead another team. - Denied.
When we get a window in the storms. The crash site?
The Romulan craft is a loss.
There's nothing to salvage unless you use tweezers.
No others?
You couldn't see two metres in front of yourself.
It is the last place one would expect Romulan encroachment.
On the other hand,
Galorndon Core would provide ideal cover
for the opening move of a new offensive.
I doubt they were there for the climate.
We thought it would be like working on Vulcans.
But there are subtle differences. Too many.
- Can you treat him? - He has damage to vital areas.
He needs a transfusion of compatible ribosome’s to recover.
I'm setting up a schedule to test the crew.
- We can't use the replicator? - It's too complex.
- Will he survive? - I can't answer that yet.
Will he survive long enough to tell us what he was doing?
It's an important consideration.
I can bring him around for a few minutes.
But there is one serious complication.
His brainwaves indicate early neural-pathway degeneration.
- Head injury? - No obvious cranial trauma.
I'm guessing the magnetic fields on the surface
slowly broke down his synaptic connections.
Will that affect Geordi?
He'll be conscious for a minute.
You are on board the Federation Starship Enterprise.
We're treating your injuries.
How long were you down on Galorndon Core?
Do you understand me?
I... will not answer questions.
We need to know if there are other survivors.
I am alone.
I will not answer any questions.
Do you have a mothership to advise of your condition?
The only answer he gives is that he was alone.
Which suggests that he wasn't.
Something, anything, to cut through the storm.
Some way to get a signal through to him.
A neutrino pulse! We could build a portable neutrino source
and send it to the surface as a beacon.
A neutrino pulse would send particles up through the atmosphere
and be detected by Geordi's visor.
He can show himself by modifying the pulse.
Make it so.
Captain.
I have a new transmission on a parallel frequency.
- From the surface? - No, from inside the Romulan zone.
We should be able to view the transmission.
On screen.
Tomalak to Pi.
We have received your distress signal. Respond.
If you can hear me,
we are entering the Neutral Zone now.
We will reach you in six hours.
Mr. Worf, hail the Romulan vessel.
Hailing frequencies open, sir.
Romulan vessel, this is Capt Jean-Luc Picard
of the Federation Starship Enterprise.
The frequency is open, sir.
Cmdr Tomalak, we have intercepted your transmission.
You are not to enter Federation space.
Capt Picard, my apologies.
Had I known you were near,
I would have advised you before crossing the Neutral Zone.
Indeed?
I am sure you will understand.
One of our ships had a navigational error
and crashed on Galorndon Core.
A slight navigational error?
Nearly half a light year past the Neutral Zone?
I assure you, no aggression was intended.
Commander.
We have recovered one of your survivors.
He is on board your ship?
He is being treated for severe injuries.
And his craft?
Destroyed... deliberately. After the crash.
I'm sure you are prepared to rendezvous in the Neutral Zone.
I have a team on the planet. We have to beam them up.
And then you will return my officer?
Are there any other Romulans to recover from Galorndon Core?
No. It was a one-man craft.
Captain.
We will be at the Federation border in roughly five hours.
We will expect you to rendezvous at that time.
Counsellor?
There is great hostility behind his smile.
He'll stop at nothing to complete his mission.
Including the Neutral Zone border.
Captain, I see no reason to return the Romulan.
He should be held and interrogated.
We have every right to detain him.
Without evidence of intent, it will not be simple.
It obviously wasn't pilot's error. It demands a response.
But we must measure our response carefully,
or history may remember Galorndon Core
along with Pearl Harbor and Station Salem One
as the stage for a bloody preamble to war.
I want him off the drugs. They're not doing anything.
- Dr Crusher to Picard. - Go ahead.
My patient is not responding to treatment.
You haven't found a compatible ribosome donor?
The lab is still processing the tests.
Early results indicate
humans have many bio-rejection factors.
I've also ruled out the Vulcans.
I think I'll try old-fashioned medicine.
Keep the fever down and let the body heal itself.
Keep me advised. Picard out.
The neutrino beacon is aboard a class-3 probe.
Well done, Ensign. Mr. Worf, launch the probe.
Aye aye, sir.
Probe has reached the surface, sir.
The neutrino stream is strong.
Sensors are tracking the probe despite the interference.
A stationary neutrino source!
Wesley Crusher. Thank you, Wesley!
- You are my prisoner! - Right.
Congratulations.
Surely a strategic triumph for the Romulan Empire.
Stay there!
My shoes are full of sand.
I hate that. Don't you?
Name and rank.
Lt Cmdr Geordi La Forge. I don't think I got yours.
A Romulan ship will arrive shortly.
- You will accompany me on board. - I don't think so.
We heard your message, too, and well, the fleet's in.
The sky's full of Federation ships.
- You're lying. - I never lie with sand in my shoes.
Get up!
Seriously, the only way out of here is for you to put that thing down.
When there's a window in the storm...
Are you OK?
- You gotta be kidding. - Sit!
Welcome to Galorndon Core,
where no good deed goes unpunished.
Yes, Doctor?
Lieutenant, good. Come in. Please sit down.
We have found a compatible ribosome match for the Romulan.
But only one.
You.
That is impossible. I am a Klingon.
Different species, yes.
But many humanoids have comparable cell structures.
And you have what this Romulan needs.
There's absolutely no risk to you.
You understood that was the purpose of the testing?
I have no objection to tests.
You have an objection to being a donor?
Yes.
I understand your feelings about the Romulans,
but this is not the time.
If you had seen them kill your parents, you would understand
it is always the time for those feelings.
This Romulan didn't murder your parents.
And you are the only one who can save his life.
Then he will die.
I sure wish you'd put that away.
- You're afraid of dying! - You bet.
- Who isn't? - I'm not.
- Right! - To die serving my people...
The Romulan path to glory.
You can be sarcastic now.
But in a few millennia, when humans are extinct
and the Romulan Empire spans the galaxy...
You really believe that stuff, don't you, Commodore?
You may address me as Centurion Bochra.
Bochra?
Good, solid Romulan name.
- What's the matter? - Nothing.
Wrong. Your heart rate just shot way up.
It translates radiation into neural impulses. It allows me to see.
Without it, you're blind?
Yeah.
- How did this happen? - I was born that way.
And your parents let you live?
What kind of question is that? Of course they did!
No wonder your race is weak.
You waste time and resources on defective children.
Whoa!
I must be having some sort of... polarity shift.
Diagnostic insists everything's fine.
Your body temperature's gone up almost another point.
- What are you saying? - I don't know.
It must be this place, all that electromagnetic soup.
It's wreaking havoc on our nervous systems.
Your metabolism's messed up, so's my interface with the visor.
- We gotta get out. - Sit down.
- Bochra. - Sit down!
What is that?
It's just background fluctuation. He hasn't found it yet.
Then he must be hurt. Or dead.
When does our next window open up, Data?
There is no indication, no way to predict.
- Incoming Romulan transmission. - They're early.
The Romulan war bird should be 29 minutes from the Neutral Zone.
Close enough, however, to see that we are not there.
On screen.
Picard. I'm approaching the Federation border.
The Enterprise is not to be found. Why?
My away team is unable to leave the surface because of the storms.
And my officer?
- He is alive. - His life remains in jeopardy?
Yes.
And yet you will not permit me
into your precious Federation space to retrieve him?
If the point is not clear, let me make it again.
Romulan warships do not enter Federation space
unless they are to do battle.
But a mission of mercy?
A mission to recover one of your officers,
who has been caught on a Federation planet
for reasons as yet unknown.
- I have already explained. - I rejected your explanation!
Territories!
You would measure territories
against a man's life?
I am singularly impressed by your concern for a life.
Do not risk more lives by leaving the Neutral Zone!
Picard out.
Bochra.
You're in bad shape. My vision's worse.
There's a beacon to get us to my ship, but not if I can't find it.
I cannot surrender to the Federation.
Then stay here and die!
If the situation were reversed,...
..would you not die to avoid capture?
I don't know. I might.
If I thought the stakes were high enough.
But they'd have to be pretty high.
I guess I'd make a lousy Romulan!
I no more wish to die than you do.
Bochra.
There are times when it's necessary to die for one's ideals.
Do you believe this is the time?
Come on. Let's go find that beacon.
Whoa!
What is it?
Everything's gone blank.
I'm blind.
Come.
Worf.
You are busy. Forgive my intrusion.
For what it's worth, I understand your bitterness.
With respect, sir, you cannot.
I am asked to give the blood of my mother and father
- to those who murdered them! - You blame all Romulans?
- Yes. - For ever?
What if the Federation made peace with the Romulans?
Impossible.
That's what your people said a few years ago about humans.
Think how many died in that war.
Would you and I be here now
if we hadn't let go of the anger and blame?
Where does it end, Worf?
If that Romulan dies,
does his family carry the bitterness on another generation?
Then you believe I should?
What I believe... doesn't matter.
My Starfleet training tells me one thing.
But everything I am tells me another.
- Lt Worf to sickbay. - Acknowledged.
Lieutenant, his life is coming to an end.
I thought it important for you to see him again.
It's not too late to change your mind.
Come close to me, Klingon.
Let me die with my hands at your throat.
There is a substance within my cells which you need to survive.
Then you've come to hear me beg for my life?
No.
I would rather die
than pollute my body with Klingon filth!
I've lost almost all feeling in my legs.
My synapses must be turning to jelly.
The visor's fine. I just can't see a thing.
How do we locate the beacon?
We don't.
Do all humans give up so easily?
We're lost, unless you've got something that can smell neutrinos.
We have the sensor device you are carrying.
Tricorder? It's not set up to detect neutrinos.
Your eye device does. Connect them.
They don't speak the same language.
Besides, I'd never be able to get an accurate sampling.
Wait a second.
I wouldn't need an accurate sampling, just a pointer.
A neutrino Geiger counter.
No, it's still not possible.
- You cannot do it? - Under normal circumstances, maybe.
Here? No way.
- Why? - Because I can't see!
Adapting the neural output of the visor can't be done by touch.
Then l... will be your eyes.
The storm is subsiding. We should have a window in an hour.
There's still no indication he's found the beacon.
- Assemble a team. - Sir.
The Romulan warship has crossed the border.
It is in Federation space and heading towards us.
Belay that order, Number One.
Red alert.
Make sure the limiter matches the output range.
Not so fast.
Now, place the neural output pods
in contact with the tricorder scanner heads.
- Ready. - Let her rip.
Bearing three-five-zero.
We did it! The first Federation-Romulan co-venture.
The storm may be breaking.
With any luck, there'll be an electromagnetic window opening up.
At which point, I'll be your prisoner.
- Can you walk? - I don't know.
Well, let's find out.
Come on.
- OK, let's go. - Straight ahead.
To the right.
Come.
- You wished to see me? - Yes, Lieutenant.
- I assume you know what it's about. - Yes.
The Romulan vessel will reach us within the hour.
If our patient dies,...
..it may be just the excuse the Romulan commander needs
to start an incident.
The death of a Romulan officer at the hands of the Federation.
- Think of it. - I have.
So, there is no question that he is more valuable to us alive than dead.
I understand.
Lieutenant,...
..sometimes, the moral obligations of command are less than clear.
I have to weigh the good of the many
against the needs of the individual,
and try to balance them as realistically as possible.
God knows, I don't always succeed.
I have not had cause to complain, Captain.
Lieutenant, you wouldn't complain even if you had cause.
If you order me to agree to the transfusion,
I will obey, of course.
I don't want... to order you.
But I ask you. I...
..beg you to volunteer.
I cannot.
Lieutenant.
Sir?
That will be all.
- Picard to Dr Crusher. - Go ahead.
Do not continue to enlist the cooperation of Lt Worf.
I won't have to, Captain.
The Romulan has died.
We've found it!
Now we alter its signal so the Enterprise knows we found it.
- Will that be difficult? - Not with your help.
The scanners are showing a window.
- Expected duration? - Nine minutes, 40 seconds, sir.
No change in the beacon's signal.
Romulan ship approaching. Bearing 354, mark 287.
On screen.
Entering phaser range.
- We are being hailed, sir. - On viewer.
You have one chance to escape destruction, Picard.
Return my officer at once.
You have entered Federation space despite my warning.
You forced the situation!
I will not leave without him.
He is dead.
Then he... is but the first to fall, Picard.
The Romulan ship is powering its forward disruptor.
All shields to maximum.
Aye, sir.
Lock phasers on target.
Phasers locked... and ready.
The signal from the beacon is modulating.
It's Geordi.
But our shields are up.
Lower them and the Romulans will strike.
The electromagnetic window is closing. Three minutes remain.
Transporter room, lock onto the beam and stand by.
Standing by.
The window is allowing intermittent readings.
There are ghost images but we are picking up two life forms.
Another Romulan?
I cannot say.
The interference prevents an accurate reading.
But that's a likely hypothesis.
If Cmdr La Forge has located a second survivor...
Lieutenant.
- Hail the Romulan vessel. - Aye, sir.
- They are ignoring our hail. - Repeat the hail.
They have no way of knowing how accurate our sensors are.
Put on your best poker face, Number One.
Open a frequency.
Cmdr Tomalak.
It would appear our away team has located
a second man from your one-man ship.
We're preparing to beam them up.
After which, we will return the survivor to you.
No acknowledgement, sir.
Commander, both our ships are ready to fight.
We have two extremely powerful
and destructive arsenals at our command.
Our next actions will have serious repercussions.
We have reason to mistrust one another
but even better reason to set those differences aside.
Of course, the question is, who will take the initiative?
Who will make the first gesture of trust?
The answer is, I will.
I must lower our shields
to beam those men up from the planet's surface.
Once the shields are down,
you will have the opportunity to fire on us.
If you do, you will destroy not only the Enterprise and its crew,
but the ceasefire that the Romulans and the Federation now enjoy.
Lieutenant, lower the shields.
Leave the hailing frequency open.
Yes, sir.
Shields down.
Mr. O'Brien, transport La Forge and the Romulan to the bridge.
Aye, sir. Energizing.
- Security to the bridge. - Belay that order. Shields up.
No one is going to harm you.
You have my word on that.
Well, Commander?
If he has been in any way mistreated...
I have given them no information, Commander.
But I have not been mistreated.
In fact,...
..this human saved my life.
Tomalak.
How is it possible that you didn't know of the second Romulan?
A simple misunderstanding, Capt Picard.
I was misinformed as to the size of the craft.
I assure you, I intended no deception.
Of course not.
You doubt my good faith?
My faith would be strengthened by a gesture from you.
Such as powering down your disruptors.
Disruptors powering down.
Thank you. Cancel red alert, Lieutenant.
We shall return your officer and escort you to the Neutral Zone.
That is acceptable.
- Good to have you back. - Good to be back.
Actually, I have Centurion Bochra to thank for it.
Indeed?
Cmdr La Forge
and Lt Worf,
escort our guest to transporter room one.
Yes, sir.
Come on.
- Close call. - Too close, Number One.
Brinkmanship is a dangerous game.

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