Stars, Trust, and the Cost of Mercy
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Sarjenka, terrified, asks what is happening, and Data explains the plan to silence the planet’s quakes and volcanoes, transforming abstract science into a promise of safety.
Sarjenka, desperate for her family’s fate, triggers Data’s hesitation—and a conscious pivot from clinical explanation to emotional truth: 'They will soon be safe.'
Sarjenka, awestruck, asks if they did it for her—and Data’s silent reaction, followed by his gesture to show her the stars, crystallizes the human cost of their intervention.
Data taps the console to shift the viewscreen from Drema Four to the stars, guiding Sarjenka’s wonder—and she vows, 'Someday, I’m going to be here,' sealing her irreversible bond with the ship.
Picard orders Data to take Sarjenka to Sickbay—Data’s hesitant 'Must we?' captures his resistance to erasing her memory, and Picard’s flat 'Yes' seals her fate.
Sarjenka runs to Data, clinging to his hand with absolute trust—and they exit together, leaving Picard alone to face the ethical void their victory created.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
From anxious and terrified for her family's safety to awed and comforted by the sight of the stars and Data's reassurance; relieved but still worried about loved ones.
A frightened native child who asks about her family, watches the bridge in wonder when Data shows her the stars, trusts Data enough to run to him and take his hand, and exits toward Sickbay clinging to the android.
- • Discover whether her family is safe.
- • Seek comfort and safety in a figure she trusts (Data).
- • Understand the strange environment of the ship and its people.
- • Data is a protector whom she can trust implicitly.
- • The adults around her can and will help keep her family safe.
Relieved, proud, and excited—his successful contribution to the rescue validates his technical competence and judgment.
Reports timing on the expected results and celebrates when sensors show reduced tectonic stress; visibly validated by the experiment's success and relieved that his calculations were correct.
- • Provide accurate timing and technical support for the resonator experiment.
- • See the plan succeed and have his scientific input recognized.
- • Ensure the planet and inhabitants are saved as a result of the team's actions.
- • Correct application of resonant physics will stabilize Drema Four.
- • Timely, confident technical calls can save lives and earn trust from senior officers.
Resolute but heavy: his decision carries both relief at the mission's success and the private weight of having authorized a Prime Directive breach for a child's safety.
Maintains command perspective—queries Wesley about timing, listens to reports, and ultimately issues the order to take Sarjenka to Sickbay. He then removes himself physically by going to the Ready Room, bearing the moral weight of the decision.
- • Confirm the resonator experiment's effectiveness through sensor reports.
- • Ensure the child's immediate well-being by placing her under medical supervision.
- • Contain the ethical consequences within command processes and take responsibility for the decision.
- • Command decisions must balance Starfleet law with humane considerations.
- • Medical custody (Sickbay) is the appropriate immediate safeguard for a traumatized child.
Calm and methodical during diagnostics; quietly tender and hesitant about violating policy when asked to remove Sarjenka, yet resolute in comforting the child.
Operates the bridge displays and consoles, announces resonator activation, interprets sensor readouts, then switches focus to Sarjenka—comforting her, showing the starfield, offering his hand, and finally complying with Picard's order to take her to Sickbay.
- • Bring the resonator experiment to fruition and confirm reduced tectonic stress.
- • Provide immediate reassurance and safety for Sarjenka.
- • Comply with Captain's orders while reconciling his emergent empathy with Starfleet rules.
- • Scientific intervention can reduce immediate harm and save lives.
- • A sentient child in distress warrants immediate comfort and protection despite protocol complications.
- • Obedience to command is required, but moral obligations to a child are compelling.
Practical and unsentimental: focused on the mechanics and success metrics rather than the ethical undercurrent.
Provides tactical confirmation—reports the torpedoes reached their targets—serving as a procedural anchor while the science plays out. He remains focused and matter-of-fact, contributing to the bridge's operational rhythm.
- • Ensure the torpedoes and resonators function as intended.
- • Maintain bridge discipline and operational clarity during a high-stakes moment.
- • Mission parameters and procedures are the correct baseline for action.
- • Clear, timely reporting reduces risk and supports command decisions.
A wave of collective relief, tempered by attentiveness as senior officers make decisions affecting the child's fate and the ship's protocols.
The bridge crew collectively shifts from taut attention to visible relief as sensor readouts change; they act as a unified operational body reacting to both technical confirmation and the human drama unfolding.
- • Monitor and confirm the experiment's technical success.
- • Support command decisions through disciplined reporting and readiness.
- • Maintain shipboard order while the ethical ramifications are processed by leadership.
- • Accurate sensor information is the basis for sound command choices.
- • Crew cohesion and disciplined procedure reduce risk during crises.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Aft Bridge Station Console is used by Data to change displays (invoke the starboard view) and by officers to monitor sensor arrays; it physically mediates the moment when scientific readouts are translated into emotional comfort, enabling Data to replace the planet image with the stars for Sarjenka.
The Selcundi Drema survey probes function as the sensor targets whose telemetry confirmed the resonator effect; Data announces that sensors locked on probes and uses their readings to declare reduced tectonic stress, making the probes the essential evidentiary devices for the experiment's success.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Enterprise Main Bridge is the operational stage where the technical solution is monitored and the ethical drama plays out: diagnostics, dialogue, displays, and the child's emotional arc converge here, turning procedure into a communal moral event.
The Ready Room functions as Picard's private retreat immediately after he issues the order; his exit there signifies a need for solitary reflection and the private consideration of the moral burden he has accepted.
Drema Four is the endangered world whose reduced tectonic stress is the metric of success; it is the unseen but emotionally present location that transforms cold data into a rescue with human faces.
Sickbay is designated verbally by Picard as the immediate refuge for Sarjenka; it functions as the medical and custodial space where the child will be assessed, treated, and kept safe from further harm or political complications.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Picard’s framing of Wesley as steel to be tempered directly foreshadows the moral forge he himself undergoes: Sarjenka is the fire that tempers Picard’s rigid adherence to law. Both are trials that demand sacrifice of innocence—Wesley’s boyhood, Picard’s moral certitude."
"Picard’s framing of Wesley as steel to be tempered directly foreshadows the moral forge he himself undergoes: Sarjenka is the fire that tempers Picard’s rigid adherence to law. Both are trials that demand sacrifice of innocence—Wesley’s boyhood, Picard’s moral certitude."
"When Sarjenka reveals she returned alone to hear Data’s voice, it confirms that she doesn't just see him as a savior—she sees him as her friend. This exact same emotional truth is what makes the neural erasure so monstrous: she doesn’t just need saving—she needs remembering."
"When Sarjenka reveals she returned alone to hear Data’s voice, it confirms that she doesn't just see him as a savior—she sees him as her friend. This exact same emotional truth is what makes the neural erasure so monstrous: she doesn’t just need saving—she needs remembering."
"When Sarjenka reveals she returned alone to hear Data’s voice, it confirms that she doesn't just see him as a savior—she sees him as her friend. This exact same emotional truth is what makes the neural erasure so monstrous: she doesn’t just need saving—she needs remembering."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"WESLEY: It's working. We did it!"
"DATA: There, there are your stars."
"PICARD: Data, take Sarjenka to Sickbay. DATA: Sir, must we?"