The Dauphin
When sixteen-year-old Salia returns to claim a fragile leadership on a planet split by perpetual day and night, Ensign Wesley falls in love; aboard the Enterprise her shape‑shifting protector Anya clashes with Starfleet, forcing choices about duty, identity, and freedom.
The Enterprise escorts Salia of Daled Four and her governess Anya from Klavdia Three to the divided world where Salia is expected to assume a unifying role. Captain Picard treats Salia with the respect due a head of state and grants her admiralty quarters, while the bridge crew notes oddities: Troi senses emotional dissonance, Data reports scant records, and Data explains the planet’s extraordinary environment — Daled Four does not rotate, producing constant day on one hemisphere and night on the other. Geordi uses the ship’s impulse window to perform overdue deuterium conduit maintenance, and Wesley Crusher, smitten the moment he meets Salia, can barely hold a conversation about superconducting magnets.
Wesley pursues Salia with comic, eager earnestness: Geordi teases him, Worf offers blunt Klingon courtship advice, and Guinan coaches him on the right opening words. Salia responds with curiosity and wonder; in the holodeck and Ten-Forward she and Wesley share intimate, tender moments — Thalian chocolate mousse, the Rosseau Five holoscape, talk of travel and discovery. Salia confesses fear: she deeply desires freedom yet is bound to a responsibility she never chose. Wesley offers a naive, ardent solution — stay on the Enterprise — and Salia’s impulse to remain collides with the weight of fate.
Anya proves far more than a stern governess. In Sickbay she erupts when Dr. Pulaski treats a contagious patient, Hennesey; Anya insists on destroying him to protect Salia and, in a furious metamorphosis, transmutes into a roaring, monstrous form. Worf struggles against the creature until Picard orders restraint; Anya reverts and Picard forbids further contact, confining her and ordering security. Pulaski identifies Anya as resembling rumors of “allasomorphs” — beings capable of altering molecular structure — and Picard places a forcefield on Salia’s quarters to contain any further transformations.
Despite Picard’s orders, Salia slips into Wesley’s life. Their courtship deepens, and Wesley believes love can rewrite destiny. Anya intervenes angrily, warning that those not of Salia’s kind threaten her duty; she transforms violently more than once to menace Wesley and to frighten him away. In Wesley’s quarters both women reveal startling truth: in the chaos of confrontation each transmutes into fearsome shapes — Anya as a monstrous protector, Salia unexpectedly transforming into an even more terrifying form to defend herself. The shocks expose that Salia shares the same protean nature as Anya; she is not merely a fragile beautiful girl but a being with powers and a role that transcends simple human form.
Picard confronts the dilemma of command: protect the ship and crew while respecting the sentient rights of a ward and her protector. Data and Troi frame the stakes: Salia must reach Daled Four to perform a political role that might end centuries of conflict rooted in cultural division (day versus night). As the Enterprise reaches orbit around Daled Four, dense yellow clouds absorb outgoing signals just as Klavdia Three’s atmosphere once distorted communications; sensors detect a gigawatt carrier from the planet encoding beaming coordinates powerful enough to penetrate the troposphere. The planet requests Salia’s arrival.
At the transporter, Wesley makes a final, heartbreaking stand. He rushes in with Thalian chocolate mousse and offers one last embrace; Salia returns his love with tenderness but insists that she cannot arrive on Daled Four disguised as a humanoid. She steps onto the pad and, in a moment staged as luminous and sensual, she transmutes into her true, radiant form — an elegant, light-based protean being — and beams down. Anya leaves as well, taking a moon within range of the ship’s transporter.
Wesley experiences crushing loss and a first lesson in love’s complexity. Guinan consoles him: future loves will differ; the memory will remain. Captain Picard orders the course set for Aldebaran Zeta; Wesley resumes duty at Conn, watching Daled Four recede on the viewer. The arc resolves the central conflicts: Salia accepts duty and reveals her authentic nature; Anya fulfills her role as guardian and protector; Wesley grows from starry‑eyed adolescent to a young officer scarred by love but ready to continue exploration. Thematically, the story sharpens a struggle between individual desire and imposed destiny, between parental protection and autonomy, and between appearance and essence — culminating in an image of pure light that defines who Salia truly is and what she must become.
Events in This Episode
The narrative beats that drive the story
The USS Enterprise, a beacon of exploration, glides through the inky expanse, its mission clear: retrieve Salia of Daled Four, a young leader destined to unite a fractured world. As Geordi La Forge initiates vital deuterium conduit maintenance, pulling the ship from warp, an air of anticipation settles on the bridge. Captain Picard, embodying Starfleet's diplomatic grace, prepares to welcome Salia and her governess, Anya. Anya's initial communication, a voice both distorted and imperious, immediately signals a formidable presence, demanding their transport with an unsettling directness. Salia, a vision of youthful regality, materializes on the transporter pad, her wide eyes devouring the ship's wonders, a nascent curiosity bubbling beneath her composed exterior. Yet, Anya, stern and unyielding, swiftly curbs Salia's enthusiasm, denying her a ship tour and asserting her absolute authority. At this pivotal moment, Ensign Wesley Crusher, a superconducting magnet in hand, crosses paths with Salia. Their eyes lock, a silent, potent spark igniting an instant, profound attraction. Wesley, utterly captivated, struggles for words as Salia, with a hint of playful danger, acknowledges his magnet. Anya's swift, possessive intervention shatters their connection, pulling Salia away. Wesley, left reeling but resolute, stares after her, a fierce determination hardening his youthful features. This initial encounter establishes the core romantic tension and the formidable protective barrier Anya erects around Salia, setting the stage for Wesley's relentless pursuit and the unfolding drama of duty versus desire.
As the Enterprise drops out of warp the routine becomes urgent: Geordi reports that the deuterium control conduit needs overdue adjustments and will take time, immediately removing warp as an …
After the Enterprise drops out of warp, Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge reports overdue deuterium conduit work that will disable warp for hours. Picard and Riker weigh mission tempo against …
The Enterprise magnifies a hostile, glowing world and answers a distorted hail. Anya — crisp, commanding — demands Salia be beamed aboard; Picard immediately elevates the girl to head-of-state status …
A distorted carrier breaks through the static and an imperious voice — Anya — bluntly demands that Salia be beamed aboard. Picard immediately reframes the encounter as a matter of …
The Enterprise receives a distorted hail: Anya adamantly demands Salia be beamed aboard. Picard immediately elevates Salia to head-of-state status and grants admiralty quarters, converting a possessive demand into a …
On the Enterprise bridge a brief, electric encounter ignites: sixteen‑year‑old Salia's curiosity lands on Ensign Wesley's superconducting magnet, and a shy, flirtatious exchange instantly hooks Wesley. Before anything can develop, …
Wesley, newly self-conscious after his encounter with Salia, is interrupted in his reverie when Data enters and calmly answers his questions. Data lays out Salia's origin—an orphan born of rival …
Wesley, newly self-conscious after his encounter with Salia, admires himself in the mirror and allows a private daydream to bloom. Data arrives with the cold facts that Salia is the …
On the bridge Picard and Riker set the ship’s immediate course for Daled Four and hold the Enterprise on reduced propulsion while La Forge completes critical engineering adjustments. Troi interrupts …
On the bridge Picard, Riker, Worf and company are forced to reassess the neat diplomatic picture. Troi interrupts with an unsettling empathic read: the passengers’ emotions don’t align with their …
Wesley, now acutely self-aware, plunges into the ship's computer, desperate for information on Salia. Data reveals the tragic backstory: Salia, born of feuding factions on Daled Four, orphaned, and raised in isolation on Klavdia Three, carries the immense burden of uniting a planet scarred by centuries of conflict. Troi, sensing a profound emotional dissonance from Salia and Anya, voices her unease, hinting that their true natures lie concealed beneath their outward forms. Data further illuminates Daled Four's stark reality: a world locked in perpetual day and night, its hemispheres breeding disparate, warring cultures. This fragile child, it seems, holds the fate of a world in her delicate hands. Meanwhile, Geordi, a knowing grin playing on his lips, relentlessly teases Wesley about his all-consuming infatuation, urging him to act. Wesley, a whirlwind of insecurity and eagerness, seeks counsel from Worf, who offers a comically brutal Klingon courtship strategy, then from Data, whose scientific analysis only deepens Wesley's frustration. Picard, attempting a diplomatic gesture, arranges a ship tour for Anya, hoping Salia will join. But the facade cracks: Salia, in her quarters, confides her deep frustration and lack of choice to a "teenage girl" (Anya in a subtle, protective guise). As Salia expresses a longing for freedom, the "animal" in her room quivers, shakes, and violently transmutes into Anya, the governess, who sternly forbids Salia from leaving, cementing the iron grip of duty over burgeoning desire.
In Salia's private quarters an unnervingly mature teenage governess strips choice from a frightened sixteen‑year‑old: leadership is explained as inheritance — 'in your blood' — and framed as obligation, not …
Salia confronts the cold mechanics of duty: a strangely dressed teenage girl (Anya in juvenile guise) offers only ritual answers — "You will know" — when Salia demands concrete preparation …
Geordi flags an anomalous energy depletion at the deuterium conduit and calls to Wesley, who is distractedly daydreaming about a girl recently beamed aboard. Wesley almost drops a delicate fiber‑optic …
In Main Engineering Wesley's daydream about Salia literally causes a safety scare when his mis-set probe triggers a resonant-field warning. Geordi catches him, punctures the infatuation with wry, almost paternal …
A comic, exposing exchange on the bridge — Worf’s blunt Klingon courtship coaching and Data’s clinical, biological reduction of romance — pushes Wesley from adolescent infatuation toward action even as …
Light bridge banter about courtship and Wesley's infatuation turns into decisive action when Picard arranges a formal tour and escort for Anya. Elated, Salia resolves to go — until her …
In Ten-Forward Riker stages an impromptu courtship demonstration with Guinan as the stand‑in, turning flirtation into a miniature lesson for an anxious Wesley. The exchange is part comic, part intimate: …
In Ten-Forward Riker stages a playful, theatrical coaching session—recruiting Guinan to play the enamored stranger—so he can teach Wesley how to approach Salia. The demonstration peels back Riker's swagger to …
Anya, her shape-shifting power now a stark reality for Salia, vehemently bars her from the Enterprise tour, asserting her ancient authority and the unyielding demands of Salia's destiny. Meanwhile, Wesley, a storm of romantic inexperience, seeks guidance from Riker and Guinan in Ten-Forward. Riker, with a theatrical flourish, engages Guinan in a dazzling, poetic dance of flirtation, utterly eclipsing Wesley's earnest pleas for practical advice. Frustrated and still adrift, Wesley retreats, his path to Salia shrouded in uncertainty. Yet, destiny intervenes; as Wesley hesitates outside Salia's quarters, she emerges, her eyes locking with his, an unspoken invitation. Inside, amidst the mundane hum of the food dispenser, they share a moment of exquisite tenderness, savoring Thalian chocolate mousse and exchanging dreams of distant worlds. Salia, her guard momentarily lowered, confesses her profound yearning for freedom, a life beyond the suffocating weight of her predetermined role. Wesley, his heart ablaze, impulsively offers her a radical escape: stay on the Enterprise. This audacious proposition ignites a profound internal conflict within Salia, a collision between fate and individual desire. The fragile intimacy shatters as the narrative violently shifts to Sickbay. Anya, witnessing Dr. Pulaski treating a contagious patient (Hennesey), erupts in a primal fury, demanding the patient's immediate destruction to safeguard Salia. When Worf attempts to intervene, Anya, consumed by her protective instincts, undergoes a terrifying metamorphosis, transmutes into a raging, monstrous creature, and lunges towards the vulnerable patient, unleashing chaos.
A small, sensory moment becomes a catalytic emotional turning point. Over Thalian chocolate mousse—Wesley's patient, hands‑on teaching and Salia's delighted first taste—two guarded people lower their shields. Salia admits, almost …
A small, intimate moment at the food dispenser becomes a catalytic turning point: nervous, fascinated Salia tastes Thalian chocolate mousse and, through sensory wonder, confesses her hunger for life beyond …
In Sickbay Dr. Pulaski delivers a clinical diagnosis — Andronesian Encephalitis linked to a disrupted transporter filter — and insists the ship's systems make widespread infection unlikely. Anya, driven by …
In Sickbay a routine medical diagnosis explodes into violence: Dr. Pulaski identifies Hennessey with contagious Andronesian Encephalitis, and Anya — driven by an ancient, custodial mandate to protect Salia — …
A violent struggle in Sickbay escalates from procedural dispute to physical crisis: Worf is overpowered when Anya's monstrous form rips away his phaser and lunges for infected patient Hennesey while …
In Sickbay the creature abruptly reverts to Anya, exposing a terrifying truth: Starfleet faces not a mindless monster but a sovereign, shape‑shifting protector whose priorities clash with medical ethics. Dr. …
After a violent struggle in Sickbay, the monstrous guardian transmutes into Anya and tensions erupt between Starfleet protocol and a ferocious protective instinct. Picard asserts command—ordering Anya confined to her …
The monstrous Anya, a whirlwind of primal rage, grapples with Worf in Sickbay, her terrifying form intent on eliminating the perceived threat to Salia. Captain Picard storms in, his command cutting through the chaos, ordering security to hold fire. Anya, momentarily subdued, reverts to her human guise, leaving the crew stunned. Dr. Pulaski, shaken but professional, identifies Anya as an "allasomorph," a mythical shape-shifter, confirming the extraordinary nature of Salia's protector. Picard, his fury barely contained, confines Anya to her quarters under strict guard, forbidding any further transformations, yet he acknowledges the fierce, maternal instinct driving her actions. Simultaneously, unaware of the escalating danger, Wesley and Salia escape into the ethereal beauty of the holodeck. Amidst spectacular shooting stars and the synchronous orbits of Rosseau Five's moons, their bond deepens, a shared wonder painting their faces. Salia, vulnerable and yearning, confides her deep-seated fear of the isolation awaiting her on Daled Four, a life devoid of choice. Wesley, swept up in the intoxicating current of their connection, passionately urges her to defy fate and remain on the Enterprise. His words spark a desperate hope within Salia, a collision of individual desire against an imposed destiny. Their tender moment is brutally interrupted as Anya, her fury reignited by Salia's absence, confronts them. Picard, his voice stern and laced with tension, orders Wesley to retreat. Anya, flanked by her guards, reclaims Salia, whose despairing glance at Wesley speaks volumes of her entrapment, sealing the chasm between their burgeoning love and her inescapable duty.
In the holodeck Wesley and Salia stand transfixed beneath a shower of shooting stars. Their conversation moves from catalogued knowledge to urgent longing: Salia admits she has learned about life …
On the holodeck Wesley shifts the program to a breathtaking Rosseau Five to give Salia a taste of the life she longs for. As the moons synchronize and a chord …
In Ten-Forward beneath a hushed starry backdrop, a charged intimacy crackles between Wesley and Salia. Guinan — with chocolate mousse and a conspiratorial nudge — catalyzes Wesley's courage; he impulsively …
In Ten-Forward, the romantic mood between Wesley and Salia pivots into a clarifying confession: Salia explains the suffocating duties awaiting her on Daled Four and that her position will strip …
In Ten-Forward, Wesley converts a tender, almost-holodeck intimacy into a reckless proposal: he asks Salia to stay on the Enterprise instead of returning to her appointed duties on Daled Four. …
Salia flees down the corridor in a state of stunned grief—wiping tears as if crying is both new and forbidden—until Wesley catches up and pleads for answers. Her confession (she …
Wesley seizes a rare, combustible hope when Salia admits she longs for a different life and briefly softens to the idea of staying with him. Their private, charged promise is …
With warp capabilities restored, the Enterprise surges towards Daled Four, the planet of Salia's destiny. Captain Picard, his duty paramount, summons Wesley, laying bare Anya's true identity as an allasomorph and protector. He delivers a stark command: abandon his pursuit of Salia for the safety of the ship and crew. Wesley, his heart heavy, reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, within her forcefield-sealed quarters, Salia confronts Anya, her adolescent rebellion flaring against the chains of duty. She fiercely asserts her right to choose her companions, challenging Anya's rigid control. Anya, unwavering, reiterates Salia's predetermined role, emphasizing the dangers of those "not her kind" who threaten to derail her mission. The Enterprise finally reaches Daled Four, a world shrouded in dense, signal-absorbing yellow clouds, eerily mirroring Klavdia Three. Data reveals that these hostile conditions are, in fact, vital for Salia's species' survival. Despite Picard's explicit orders, Salia, seizing a moment of Anya's slumber, slips away, drawn by an irresistible pull to Wesley. Their reunion in his quarters is charged with desperate longing, culminating in a passionate, forbidden kiss. The intimacy shatters as Anya, a monstrous, roaring form, bursts into the room, intent on menacing Wesley. But the true shock arrives when Salia, to Wesley's utter disbelief, transforms into an even more terrifying, primal monster, defending herself against Anya. The revelation is seismic: Salia shares Anya's protean nature, her delicate humanoid facade merely a temporary guise. Both women revert, leaving Wesley reeling, his dream shattered. Worf and security arrive, securing the two shape-shifters with a forcefield, leaving Wesley adrift in a sea of confusion and profound sadness, the weight of Salia's true identity crushing his romantic ideal.
With engineering repairs complete the bridge pivots from diagnosis to pursuit: Picard demands speed, Riker orders maximum practical warp, and the Conn and Ops lock in course and ETA. Gibson …
On the bridge, operational urgency and intimate consequence collide. The Enterprise guns for Daled Four at warp 8.8 (ETA three hours, nine minutes), then Captain Picard quietly issues a formal …
Salia confronts Anya in the privacy of her quarters, ripping away the polite barrier and demanding permission to have a friend. Anya answers from duty: outsiders are a danger who …
In Salia's quarters a private argument becomes a decisive rupture: Anya slams the door, shifting from guardian admonition to an uncompromising command — she will deliver Salia to Daled Four. …
The Enterprise drops out of warp and assumes a standard orbit above Daled Four. Picard orders hailing frequencies opened even as Data reports the planet's dense, signal‑absorbing yellow troposphere — …
Coming out of warp above Daled Four, the bridge watches Data reveal that the planet’s troposphere is absorbing signals and visually mirrors Klavdia Three. Picard orders a magnification; yellow, swirling …
The Enterprise orbits Daled Four, its atmosphere finally yielding a powerful, encoded signal requesting Salia's immediate arrival. Anya, her protective mission fulfilled, prepares for her own departure to a nearby moon. In a poignant farewell with Salia, she reflects on her guardianship, expressing a quiet hope that Wesley's naive belief in "anything is possible" might, in fact, hold a kernel of truth for Salia's future. Wesley, unable to let go, intercepts Salia in the corridor, his pain raw. He challenges her "humanoid disguise," but Salia, her voice laced with genuine emotion, insists her current form is real, a vessel for her true feelings, and confesses her love for him. At the transporter, Wesley makes a final, desperate stand, offering a dish of Thalian chocolate mousse—a sweet memory of their shared intimacy. They share a tender, heartbreaking embrace, a silent acknowledgment of their impossible love. Then, Salia, with profound grace and purpose, declares she cannot arrive on Daled Four disguised as a humanoid. She steps onto the pad and, in a moment of breathtaking, luminous sensuality, transmutes into her authentic, radiant, light-based protean form. Wesley, utterly mesmerized, orders her beamed down, witnessing her true essence ascend to her destiny. Later, in Ten-Forward, a heartbroken Wesley grapples with his crushing loss. Guinan, ever the fount of wisdom, offers solace, explaining that while this love is unique and irreplaceable, future loves will come, each different, each shaping him anew. Wesley, scarred by his first profound loss but visibly matured, returns to his post at Conn. As Daled Four recedes on the viewer, he engages warp, embracing the vast unknown, a young officer forever marked by love's complexity but ready to navigate the infinite possibilities of exploration and self-discovery.
A lonely, hesitant Wesley is jolted when Salia quietly slips into his quarters, asserting her right to be there and closing the distance between them in a shy, charged near‑kiss. …
A tender, near‑kiss between Wesley and Salia is violently ruptured when Anya bursts in — first as a roaring, monstrous guardian and then by triggering Salia's own, more terrifying metamorphosis. …
Salia slips into Wesley's quarters and a tender, forbidden moment blossoms into a kiss — until Anya bursts in, having morphed into a monstrous guardian. Wesley instinctively shields Salia as …
Aboard the Enterprise Picard records a supplemental log explaining that Anya has eluded her planetary guards by transforming, so the crew has sealed her quarters with a forcefield that will …
On the bridge a crackling transmission from Daled Four interrupts a tactical watch: Worf brings the audio up, Data confirms the carrier is a gigawatt-level emission capable of penetrating the …
Worf and two sentries stand at a bluish forcefield and formally announce the Enterprise's arrival, turning Salia's private chamber into a ceremonial threshold. His presence militarizes the moment while Anya …
In Salia's quarters a ceremonial boundary becomes a personal rupture: Anya formally relinquishes her guardianship, explaining that her sternness was preparation and that her duties are done. She confesses she …
At the transporter pad, a formal diplomatic send‑off collapses into a private, wrenching reckoning. Riker halts the beam when Wesley bursts in with Thalian chocolate mousse — a small, desperate …
Wesley bursts into Transporter Room Three with a dish of Thalian chocolate mousse, interrupting a formal send-off to offer Salia a final, sensory memory. Their quiet, charged exchange—an embrace, a …
Wesley relieves Ensign Gibson at the Conn, accepts Riker's plotted course for Aldebaran Zeta, and obeys Picard's order to set speed. He executes warp six point five, fingers on the …
Wesley returns to the bridge, relieves Ensign Gibson at Conn and assumes the helm as the wedge-shaped world of Daled Four hangs on the main viewer. He lingers, staring at …