Channel Severed — The Waiting Game
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Grebnedlog kills the channel; on the Enterprise, Pulaski, Troi, and Riker gauge whether the message landed and brace under shared fear as the gambit locks in.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Worried and pragmatic — focused on the practical implications for Geordi's safety and the medical readiness of the team.
Pulaski moves close to Riker after the line is cut and clinically asks whether Geordi understands the plan; she is concerned for both Geordi's comprehension and medical status and seeks clarity to prepare appropriate response.
- • Ensure Geordi comprehends risks and the team's intentions
- • Prepare medical triage or intervention if rescue becomes necessary
- • Keep command informed of physiological risk to the hostage
- • That clear understanding by the hostage reduces harm
- • That medical preparedness can mitigate the cost of risky operations
- • That command must coordinate with medical judgment
Acquisitive and pleased, buoyed by the prospect of gaining valuable technology and convinced by validation from the Enterprise crew.
Reginod echoes the Pakled appetite for technology, repeats that Geordi 'is smart' and helps interpret Geordi's words for Grebnedlog; his reactions assist the captors in accepting the staged narrative.
- • Confirm Geordi's technical value and secure access to technology
- • Support Grebnedlog's decisions by providing translation/validation
- • Obtain tangible rewards for his ship through acquisition
- • That technology equals power and status
- • That confirming Geordi's skills will legally/operationally justify appropriation
- • That the Pakleds' simple language masks deliberate acquisitiveness
Analytic and deliberately formal, attempting to emulate human affect to make the ruse convincing despite internal literalness.
Data delivers formal, oddly intimate farewells designed to sound personal and credible, participating in the ruse by offering precise, affect‑light lines that bolster the deception and unsettle the Pakleds' assessment.
- • Support Riker's bluff by providing believable testimony
- • Use his unemotional delivery to lend credibility to emotional statements
- • Stabilize bridge morale through procedural composure
- • That consistent, truthful‑sounding statements (even when performative) will influence Pakled judgment
- • That his participation can materially affect the captors' decisions
- • That maintaining protocol and clarity helps the team under stress
Resolute and severe, channeling Klingon moral strictness as a means of protecting ship and crew through shame and consequence.
Worf addresses Geordi with blunt severity from the bridge, condemning any transfer of classified weapons knowledge as treason and invoking dishonor — a psychological deterrent aimed at dissuading cooperation with the Pakleds.
- • Discourage Geordi from divulging weapons knowledge
- • Signal to captors that cooperation would have severe moral/legal consequences
- • Preserve Starfleet honor and security protocols
- • That dishonor and treason are powerful deterrents even to opportunistic captors
- • That blunt moral clarity will help protect crew members from coercion
- • That personal threats (honor-based) can influence individual choice under pressure
Calm and authoritative outwardly, but tense and morally burdened beneath the surface, willing to risk deception to safeguard his crew.
Riker leads the bluff from the bridge, deliberately praising Geordi and staging sentimental farewells to convince the Pakleds of Geordi's weapons expertise; he maintains command composure while calculating tactical options and accepting moral risk.
- • Convince the Pakleds that Geordi is a weapons specialist to satisfy their demands
- • Buy time and reduce immediate danger to the hostage
- • Prevent escalation that would endanger the ship or crew
- • That a well‑executed bluff can manipulate the Pakleds' crude acquisitiveness
- • That preserving crew life can justify ethically dubious tactics
- • That senior staff must embody authority to keep the situation controlled
Alert and concerned; emotionally engaged with the hostage and focused on translating feeling into operational information.
Troi reads the emotional tenor of the exchange and reports that Geordi is afraid, using empathic insight to flag operational risk and influence Riker's stance toward rescue and caution.
- • Ensure command accounts for the hostage's emotional state in decision making
- • Prevent underestimation of the psychological pressure on Geordi
- • Provide emotional data to inform bridge tactics
- • That emotions are actionable intelligence
- • That acknowledging fear can alter tactical choices
- • That the bridge should weigh empathic signals alongside technical assessments
Anxious and resigned on the surface, attempting calm pragmatism while masking fear and trying to think tactically under duress.
Battered and under coercion, Geordi pleads to speak, offers access to the Enterprise computer banks, accepts the staged praise and farewells with awkwardness, and endures Worf's warning while trying to stall and buy time for rescue.
- • Buy time for the Enterprise to act and find a rescue option
- • Protect the ship's classified systems by avoiding giving usable access
- • Maintain his own survival and minimize harm to the crew
- • That engaging the Pakleds through dialogue can delay or defuse their intentions
- • That he can subtly sabotage or delay any real transfer of sensitive data if required
- • That the Enterprise will attempt to rescue him
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Enterprise forward viewscreen displays the live image of the Mondor bridge and is the visual conduit for the staged bluff; it gives the Pakleds a face to evaluate and then goes black when the Pakleds terminate the connection, leaving the Enterprise staff in charged silence.
The Enterprise Main Computer Banks are invoked as the bargaining chip — their protected memory storage is described by Geordi as time‑consuming to access; they function narratively as the high‑value resource that motivates the Pakleds and the reason the crew must bluff.
The Pakled hailing frequency is engaged via the Mondor console to permit the face‑to‑face exchange; it is the ephemeral communication channel that enables the ruse and, when cut, escalates psychological tension by creating complete silence between the ships.
The idea of 'phaser and photon weaponry' is rhetorically deployed by Riker and Data to inflate Geordi's value; though not physically transferred, weaponry functions as the bait in the deception and the moral anchor for Worf's treason warning.
The Pakled analog dial is the physical control Grebnedlog manipulates to open and later sever the hailing link; it functions as the tangible pivot for the encounter, enabling the live viewscreen and then violently terminating dialogue to create dramatic uncertainty.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Mondor Bridge is the cramped, opportunistic stage where Geordi is held and the Pakled leadership manipulates the exchange; it contains the analog console and provides the physical act of severing communications, functioning as the antagonist stronghold in miniature.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Geordi entices the Pakleds to open a channel by offering access; the viewscreen negotiation begins."
"Geordi entices the Pakleds to open a channel by offering access; the viewscreen negotiation begins."
"Geordi entices the Pakleds to open a channel by offering access; the viewscreen negotiation begins."
"Geordi entices the Pakleds to open a channel by offering access; the viewscreen negotiation begins."
"Worf’s coded ‘twenty‑four levels of awareness’ sets the countdown cue for the later firing sequence."
"Worf’s coded ‘twenty‑four levels of awareness’ sets the countdown cue for the later firing sequence."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"RIKER: Speaking of time, Lieutenant, this may be your time. I shall personally miss you."
"DATA: You will always be in my memory."
"WORF: Any classified weapons knowledge you share with your captors will be considered treason."