Neutrality as Leverage: Ral Undercuts Riker
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Devinoni Ral subtly probes Riker's discomfort, offering faux sympathy to undermine his confidence in the negotiations.
Riker counters Devinoni's ploy by asserting his understanding of the negotiation rules, subtly challenging Devinoni's condescension.
Devinoni emphasizes the fluidity of negotiation rules, positioning himself as a master of adaptability, while Riker draws a parallel to starship command.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Cautiously attentive and methodical — protective of Barzan's interests while open to persuasive argumentation.
Bhavani presides over the meeting, invites Riker to add to Mendoza's presentation, briefly exchanges a look and a subtle nod with Ral that betrays a momentary receptive reaction before she composes herself and listens closely.
- • Weigh offers in Barzan's long-term interest, preserving sovereignty and neutrality.
- • Maintain procedural fairness while gathering information to inform her decision.
- • Barzan's survival depends on careful, sovereign choice rather than patronizing aid.
- • Negotiators may use charm or spectacle, so she must read actions, not just words.
Curious and reserved — open to persuasion but protective of long-held neutrality as an identity.
The Chrysalian delegates sit around the table, observing the exchange; their attention shifts from Riker's technical presentation to Ral's appeal to neutrality and centuries of peace, marking them as the audience whose sympathies are being courted.
- • Protect Chrysalia's autonomy and the peace their society values.
- • Select the option that maintains their neutrality and long-term stability.
- • Neutrality and ten generations of peace are core to Chrysalian identity and must be preserved.
- • External powers may offer benefits, but promises can carry hidden obligations or threats to sovereignty.
Coolly calculating and outwardly cordial; masks strategic intent with disarming warmth.
Devinoni Ral watches Riker, feigns solicitousness to unsettle him, reframes the negotiation as a moral question of Chrysalian neutrality and history, praises Riker's proposal, then deliberately turns off the viewscreen to remove Riker's visual evidence and seize rhetorical control.
- • Shift the debate from technical evidence to an appeal about Chrysalian identity and long peace.
- • Undermine the Federation's procedural authority and create a space where emotional persuasion trumps charts.
- • Rules are adaptable tools—negotiation is as much theatre as law.
- • Delegates can be swayed more effectively by moral framing and personal rapport than by data alone.
Guarded professional confidence with an undercurrent of irritation — secure in procedure but sensitive to rhetorical challenge.
Riker stands to present, calls up a complex graph on the viewscreen, summarizes the Federation offer and stresses Starfleet protection; sits after presenting, visibly composed but unsettled when Ral reframes his points and the viewscreen is turned off.
- • Communicate the concrete benefits of the Federation proposal clearly to the delegates.
- • Anchor the negotiation in documented, procedural terms (technology, scientists, Starfleet protection).
- • Rules, data, and institutional guarantees are the correct basis for negotiation.
- • Starfleet's security guarantee is the most persuasive and responsible offer for the wormhole's future.
Disturbed and exasperated — senses manipulative intent and the ethical cost of the rhetorical maneuver.
Deanna Troi reacts audibly (a groan) when the viewscreen is turned off, signaling empathic alarm and moral concern at Ral's removal of evidentiary support and the shift to emotional persuasion.
- • Protect the integrity of the negotiation by alerting others to manipulative tactics.
- • Preserve procedural and emotional safety for Riker and the crew in a charged diplomatic setting.
- • Deceptive emotional influence can corrupt fair negotiation outcomes.
- • Her empathic sensitivity is a professional duty to reveal when someone is being manipulated.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Observation Lounge viewscreen displays the complex graph Riker calls up to illustrate the Federation proposal; it functions as evidentiary authority until Devinoni Ral intentionally turns it off, removing the visual anchor and shifting the meeting from empirical demonstration to rhetorical framing.
The Federation Proposal is the substantive subject of the presentation; referenced by Riker and illustrated on the viewscreen, it is rhetorically reframed by Ral's appeal to Chrysalian values, which diminishes the proposal's procedural authority in the eyes of the delegates.
The waist-high meeting table physically organizes delegates and negotiators, anchoring the assembly's choreography; it frames who speaks, who leans in, and who is observed, making the room's power shifts visible when attention and posture change.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Devinoni's manipulative tactics in negotiations parallel his later manipulation of Goss."
"Devinoni's manipulative tactics in negotiations parallel his later manipulation of Goss."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"DEVINONI: Commander, I appreciate what a difficult position this is for you. If you don't understand something, I hope you won't be embarrassed to ask me..."
"RIKER: I think I have an idea what the rules are."
"DEVINONI: That's what makes it so interesting... the rules of the game change to fit the moment."