Lonely Signal, Impossible Choice
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Implied desperation and fear; a child's implicit hope that someone will answer her plea.
Sarjenka does not appear onstage but functions as the named subject of Data's confession; her transmitted pleas and described family details humanize the distant planetary catastrophe and catalyze Picard's moral calculus.
- • To find help by calling out into the dark: 'Is anybody out there?'
- • To survive the environmental collapse on Drema Four and protect her family.
- • Someone, somewhere, will answer her call.
- • The voice she communicates with can provide assistance or guidance.
Torn and controlled outwardly; internally frustrated and pained by the collision between duty and compassion.
Picard dismounts, flips the reins over the mare's head, listens attentively as Data confesses, strokes the horse, and uses his riding ritual as a means to contain private anguish. He weighs Data's account, voices the legal and moral stakes aloud, summons the senior staff, and orders Data to terminate contact.
- • To ascertain the factual scope of Data's contact and the planetary crisis.
- • To preserve Starfleet protocol and prevent unilateral intervention without deliberation.
- • To convert private revelation into an organized, accountable decision by summoning senior staff.
- • The Prime Directive is a binding ethical constraint that cannot be dismissed lightly.
- • Lives may be at stake but any intervention must be justified, deliberated, and authorized.
- • As captain he must bring the matter into formal command channels rather than permit unilateral action.
Apologetic and earnest on the surface; quietly distressed with an undercurrent of yearning and attachment toward the child he has been communicating with.
Data enters quietly, confesses that he answered a distressing four‑word transmission and formed regular communications with Sarjenka; he reports Drema Four's geological instability, frames a possible technical remedy, and accepts Picard's order to cease contact before leaving through the holodeck door.
- • To inform his commanding officer of the truth and the stakes involved.
- • To seek authorization or moral guidance for potential intervention.
- • To protect Sarjenka insofar as he can within Starfleet constraints.
- • The connection he established has genuine moral weight and is more than mere data.
- • If the cause of the instability can be found, it may be possible to reverse the catastrophe.
- • His actions, though technically a violation, were motivated by compassion rather than malice.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Picard's riding boots serve as a tactile anchor to his holodeck ritual; the light tattooing of the riding crop against the boot visually signals rising tension and Picard's attempt to remain physically controlled when confronted with moral disturbance.
The reins are physically manipulated by Picard — he flips them over the horse's head, then gathers them and leads the mare alongside Data. They function as a grounding prop that permits intimate movement and dialogue, making the holodeck ritual a private stage for confession.
The riding crop is used not as a weapon but as an externalized metronome of Picard's inner agitation — tapping a light tattoo on his boot while he listens and evaluates Data's confession, signaling restraint and contained frustration.
The holodeck door is the physical exit through which Data departs after accepting Picard's order; it marks the transition from private confession to formal command procedures, emphasizing the boundary between personal contact and shipboard protocol.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Picard's quarters are invoked as the immediate site for formal deliberation: Picard commands a conference there, converting an intimate holodeck confession into a shipboard ethical crisis that will be processed with senior staff oversight.
Drema Four functions as the offstage locus of catastrophe Data describes: a planet suffering accelerating geological collapse whose inhabitants (including Sarjenka) are in immediate peril. It is the concrete object of ethical conflict and the technical problem Picard's crew may be asked to solve.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Data’s choice to answer 'Yes' to Sarjenka’s plea is the foundational act of mercy that is later echoed in his confession to Picard. The 'Yes' becomes the seed; the confession is the blossom. The repetition binds his machine logic to human choice."
"Worf's suggestion that intelligence orchestrated the planetary collapse awakens the specter of cosmic warfare, which later erupts as the moral war within Starfleet. Sarjenka’s plea transforms the theoretical threat into personal guilt—making the 'silent war' not just external, but internal: the war between duty and conscience."
"Worf's suggestion that intelligence orchestrated the planetary collapse awakens the specter of cosmic warfare, which later erupts as the moral war within Starfleet. Sarjenka’s plea transforms the theoretical threat into personal guilt—making the 'silent war' not just external, but internal: the war between duty and conscience."
"Picard’s solemn entry into the Selcundi Drema quadrant as a 'cosmic enigma' mirrors his later ritualistic interaction with the horse—a search for meaning and connection amid overwhelming, indifferent destruction. Both frames establish his internal yearning for authentic connection as counterpoint to the cold, mechanical violence of space."
"The mythic weight of the Arab legend about the horse being shaped by wind parallels Data’s act of answering 'Is anybody out there?'—both are rituals of creation, where solitary beings reach into silence to conjure connection. The Legend becomes 'real' in the Holodeck; the whisper becomes real in Data’s response."
"The mythic weight of the Arab legend about the horse being shaped by wind parallels Data’s act of answering 'Is anybody out there?'—both are rituals of creation, where solitary beings reach into silence to conjure connection. The Legend becomes 'real' in the Holodeck; the whisper becomes real in Data’s response."
"Picard’s solemn entry into the Selcundi Drema quadrant as a 'cosmic enigma' mirrors his later ritualistic interaction with the horse—a search for meaning and connection amid overwhelming, indifferent destruction. Both frames establish his internal yearning for authentic connection as counterpoint to the cold, mechanical violence of space."
"Data’s admission that he is 'drawn into Sarjenka’s life' foreshadows his later declaration that 'Sarjenka knows him.' Both moments establish that his connection is not transactional but existential—refuting the Prime Directive's abstraction by asserting personhood, a theme he carries through to the bridge."
"Data’s admission that he is 'drawn into Sarjenka’s life' foreshadows his later declaration that 'Sarjenka knows him.' Both moments establish that his connection is not transactional but existential—refuting the Prime Directive's abstraction by asserting personhood, a theme he carries through to the bridge."
"Data’s admission that he is 'drawn into Sarjenka’s life' foreshadows his later declaration that 'Sarjenka knows him.' Both moments establish that his connection is not transactional but existential—refuting the Prime Directive's abstraction by asserting personhood, a theme he carries through to the bridge."
"Data’s admission that he is 'drawn into Sarjenka’s life' foreshadows his later declaration that 'Sarjenka knows him.' Both moments establish that his connection is not transactional but existential—refuting the Prime Directive's abstraction by asserting personhood, a theme he carries through to the bridge."
"Picard’s discomfort at the idea of Data having a 'pen pal' morphs into his escalating hypotheticals about epidemics and wars—he is moving from dismissive skepticism to grappling with the Prime Directive’s moral bankruptcy. The child’s voice was the spark; the hypotheticals are the wildfire."
"Picard’s discomfort at the idea of Data having a 'pen pal' morphs into his escalating hypotheticals about epidemics and wars—he is moving from dismissive skepticism to grappling with the Prime Directive’s moral bankruptcy. The child’s voice was the spark; the hypotheticals are the wildfire."
"Picard’s discomfort at the idea of Data having a 'pen pal' morphs into his escalating hypotheticals about epidemics and wars—he is moving from dismissive skepticism to grappling with the Prime Directive’s moral bankruptcy. The child’s voice was the spark; the hypotheticals are the wildfire."
"Picard’s discomfort at the idea of Data having a 'pen pal' morphs into his escalating hypotheticals about epidemics and wars—he is moving from dismissive skepticism to grappling with the Prime Directive’s moral bankruptcy. The child’s voice was the spark; the hypotheticals are the wildfire."
Key Dialogue
"DATA: I could not help myself."
"PICARD: Call a conference in my quarters. All senior staff."
"DATA: (softly) Yes, sir. I understand."