Silent Override: Danar in Engineering
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Danar infiltrates Engineering, incapacitates Geordi and crew, and begins overriding security systems.
Data detects Danar's intrusion in Engineering and alerts Picard and Riker.
Picard orders Data to subtly stall Danar's override attempts.
Danar continues manipulating isolinear chips, unaware of Data's countermeasures.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Calm and authoritative on the surface; quietly burdened by the moral consequence of allowing a dangerous man to work unhindered for the sake of evidence and understanding.
On the bridge, Picard listens to Data's report and gives a precise, morally fraught order to stall the intruder rather than trigger an immediate alarm, prioritizing controlled observation over immediate capture.
- • Preserve evidence of Danar's method to expose Angosia's culpability
- • Contain the situation without causing a political incident or unnecessary casualties
- • Knowing how Danar operates is crucial to winning the broader diplomatic/political argument
- • A surgical, controlled response will minimize long‑term harm even if it risks short‑term danger
Clinically calm and curious, with a hint of purposeful calculation — focused on execution and the value of observation for information gathering.
Data detects the override attempt, diagnoses the tactic as subsystem bypasses, and offers a surgical technical solution: reroute bypasses covertly so Danar is unaware and can be observed in the act.
- • Implement a covert reroute to stall Danar without triggering alarms
- • Preserve subsystem integrity while allowing controlled study of the intruder's method
- • Technical control can be leveraged to shape tactical outcomes
- • Observing an adversary in the act yields intelligence superior to an immediate, blind arrest
Alert and prepared, showing disciplined focus without rhetorical flourish — primed for action.
Worf's com voice acknowledges Riker's alert; he stands ready as the tactical responder, prepared to move on Riker's instruction and engage the intruder physically if needed.
- • Respond quickly to the intruder's location
- • Secure engineering and neutralize threats to the ship and crew
- • Immediate physical response is often the best way to protect shipboard safety
- • Orders must be followed to maintain discipline and effectiveness
Urgent and businesslike — concerned about ship safety, but trusting command decisions and moving quickly to mobilize a response.
Riker relays the intrusion to Worf without hesitation, converting Data's technical detection into an immediate tactical call; he functions as the operating link between bridge awareness and security response.
- • Ensure security forces are alerted and can intercept the intruder
- • Protect the captain and crew from immediate physical danger
- • Rapid notification to security will improve chances of containment
- • Protocol and chain of command must be followed even under surprise intrusion
Unconscious; from a narrative perspective, his incapacitation generates urgency and personal risk for crew members who must protect one another.
Geordi is incapacitated and sprawled unconscious at an engineering console nearby; his condition demonstrates the intruder's capacity for lethal or disabling force and raises stakes for containment and rescue.
- • (Immediate goal while conscious would have been) maintain engineering operations and safety
- • (Implied) recover and assist fellow crew once conscious
- • Engineering systems are mission‑critical and must be defended (implied)
- • Crew safety is paramount (implied)
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Main Engineering is the physical stage for the intrusion: a technical crucible of consoles, isolinear racks, and reactor access. It is where Danar demonstrates tactical skill, where crew lay disabled, and where the ship's vulnerabilities are exposed and tested.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
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Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"DATA: Sir -- someone in Engineering is attempting to override the security system lockout."
"PICARD: Data -- I want you to stall Danar. Allow him to think he's succeeding."
"DATA: As he bypasses each subsystem, I can reroute it without his knowledge."