Yuta Unmasked — The Tralesta Vendetta Revealed
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Data reveals that the only entry on Volnoth in the Acamarian database is a birth record, hinting at a deeper mystery.
Beverly enters and announces the discovery of another victim, Penthor-Mul, who died of the same microvirus fifty-three years ago.
Data connects Penthor-Mul to the Lornack Clan, revealing that Chorgan, the current Gatherer leader, is also from the same clan.
Beverly explains the microvirus's deadly specificity, suggesting a targeted assassination plot against the Lornack Clan.
Data uncovers the historical massacre of the Tralesta Clan by the Lornacks, hinting at a possible survivor seeking vengeance.
Data reconstructs a photograph, revealing Yuta's face unchanged for fifty-three years, confirming her role in the vendetta.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Indeterminate in scene but likely threatened and defensive once the pattern is revealed.
Chorgan is referenced as the present leader of the Gatherers and a member of the Lornack clan; the link between victims raises the prospect that his clan—and by extension his leadership—are targets or implicated in historical violence.
- • Protect Gatherer interests and clan integrity.
- • Assess whether the Lornack name exposes his people to renewed assault.
- • Clan identity determines political vulnerability in Acamarian-Gatherer relations.
- • Historical atrocities continue to shape current alliances and threats.
Deceased—his image provokes historical memory and moral outrage within the present inquiry.
Penthor-Mul appears as the historical corpse/photographic subject whose trial image, paired with Data's reconstruction, provides the critical visual link to the present victim and to the Lornack clan's violent past.
- • Function as archival proof tying past atrocities to present vendettas.
- • Force contemporary actors to reckon with the consequences of historical violence.
- • N/A — manifested through archival record rather than active conviction.
- • His documented trial and death will inform present judicial and diplomatic interpretation.
Implied enigma and threat — the revelation projects suspicion and moral danger onto her, altering how others will perceive and treat her.
Yuta is identified by Data's reconstruction as the woman half hidden in the courthouse photograph; though not physically present, the revelation implicates her as an unaging operative and reframes her role from retainer to potential immortal assassin.
- • (Inferred) Maintain cover as part of a delegation while potentially carrying out long-term vendetta.
- • Remain embedded within Acamarian political circles to facilitate revenge.
- • If truly unchanged, longevity serves tactical advantage in a vendetta.
- • Embedding within a delegation provides immunity and proximity to targets.
Deceased—represented through records; his status evokes sympathy, outrage, and a need for redress among the living.
Volnoth functions as the recent, deceased victim whose birth record and forensic autopsy catalyze the bridge investigation; his death is the empirical hinge linking present events to archival history.
- • As a victim, retroactively compel investigation into cause of death.
- • Serve as evidence to expose a wider pattern of targeted killings.
- • N/A — represented by records rather than active belief.
- • His recorded identity will help reveal clan-based targeting.
Clinically focused with a hint of urgency as pattern recognition produces a high‑stakes revelation; emotion remains subordinate to analysis.
Data runs targeted database queries, correlates birth, medical, and historical records, locates the courthouse photograph and executes a digital reconstruction that extrapolates the obscured half of the face to reveal Yuta.
- • Find correlations between Volnoth's death and historical records.
- • Produce a clear, verifiable image to identify the unknown figure.
- • Clarify clan affiliations and historical context for command.
- • Databases and image reconstruction can produce decisive evidence.
- • Objective correlations will compel action from command and medical staff.
Controlled vigilance — restrained concern focused on immediate safety and tactical implications.
Worf stands as security presence on the bridge, attentive to Data and Riker's exchange, physically imposing and ready should the revelation demand protective action or alerts.
- • Prepare security protocols if the threat is imminent.
- • Remain alert to orders from command to protect delegations or crew.
- • New intelligence that implies violence requires immediate defensive readiness.
- • Physical security will be necessary if diplomatic tensions turn violent.
Growing alarm and controlled urgency — composed on the surface but sprinting mentally toward tactical and diplomatic consequences.
At an aft station Riker drives the inquiry—orders scans, asks incisive questions, watches the monitor as the photograph is magnified, and reacts with dawning alarm when the reconstructed face is revealed.
- • Determine whether Volnoth's death is connected to earlier cases.
- • Identify any immediate threat to the peace talks and those present.
- • Extract actionable intelligence from archival records and images.
- • Patterns in the records point to a targeted campaign, not random disease.
- • Archival evidence can reveal identity and motive relevant to current security.
Concerned and concentrated — driven by the moral imperative to identify a biological weapon and its targets while managing fear of contagion implications.
Beverly arrives with medical findings, links Volnoth's death to a prior microvirus victim, queries modes of transmission aloud, and reads the historical record; her clinical voice reframes ritual death as engineered murder.
- • Establish whether the same engineered microvirus killed both victims.
- • Understand possible transmission vectors to advise containment and protection.
- • Translate medical evidence into diplomatic and tactical priorities.
- • Medical evidence is the most reliable link between past and present killings.
- • If engineered, the microvirus is a deliberate assassination tool, not an accident.
Quietly alert and concerned — sensing the bridge's rising anxiety and preparing to advise on negotiation fallout and emotional management.
Present at the aft station, Troi listens and offers empathic presence; she monitors the crew's affect and helps hold the emotional tenor steady as the forensic revelation escalates tension.
- • Gauge emotional reaction of principals to the revelation.
- • Provide counsel on how to present this discovery in diplomatic terms.
- • Emotional context will shape diplomatic outcomes as much as evidence.
- • A measured presentation of findings can prevent immediate escalation.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The ship's computer subroutine performs archival searches, image magnification, and the extrapolative reconstruction that completes the half‑hidden face in the courthouse photo, transforming an ambiguous historical image into an accusatory identification of Yuta.
The Acamarian-targeted engineered microvirus is the forensic core of Beverly's report; her identification of another identical victim links Volnoth and Penthor-Mul, reframing what might have been ritual deaths into deliberate biological assassinations and escalating diplomatic stakes.
Volnoth's birth record is retrieved and displayed on the bridge monitor, anchoring identity and clan affiliation, which allows Beverly and Data to correlate the recent victim with historical clan data. The record functions as documentary proof linking Volnoth to the Lornack clan.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Acamar Three functions as the origin of the medical and civil records Data and Beverly tap into: its archives supply the birth entry, the medical report of Penthor‑Mul, and the historical dossier that enable the bridge reconstruction and the linkage of past and present crimes.
The Acamarian Outpost is referenced as the site where Penthor-Mul was captured after a Gatherer raid; that outpost's history contextualizes the trial photograph and ties historical violence to present clan enmities revealed on the bridge.
The Historical Courthouse is the setting of the archived photograph Data reconstructs; its image of Penthor-Mul being led from trial provides the visual evidence that, when extrapolated, exposes Yuta's presence decades earlier and implies her long‑term embedding in Acamarian affairs.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Riker's suspicions lead to Data's investigation into Volnoth and the discovery of Penthor-Mul."
"Data's discovery confirms Yuta's identity as Tralesta, leading to Riker's confrontation with her."
"Data's discovery confirms Yuta's identity as Tralesta, leading to Riker's confrontation with her."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"BEVERLY: "Fifty‑three years ago. A Gatherer named Penthor‑Mul.""
"DATA: "Sir, eighty years ago, the Lornacks massacred a rival clan, the Tralestas. It ended a feud that had lasted for two hundred years.""
"RIKER: "Fifty‑three years... and she hasn't aged a day.""