Containment Order and Danilo's Challenge
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Picard refuses Danilo’s handshake and orders the livestock off his ship. Danilo defends the animals as essential to survival while Riker pushes for pragmatism, tilting Picard from anger toward bemused restraint.
Picard pivots to a containment plan, ordering O'Brien to beam everyone to Cargo Hold Seven and route all remaining evacuees there to stop fouling the ship.
Danilo bellows his people back onto the "infernal machine" as Riker smooths the transition and the Bringloidi pack the transporter. Danilo then sweeps Picard into the corridor for a private "little talk" with Worf shadowing.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Fearful resilience—frightened about abandonment but resolute to preserve their cultural means of survival.
The Bringloidi refugees mill and press onto the transporter platform with their animals, anxious and determined, following Danilo's commands and clogging the room with livestock and detritus while reacting to Starfleet orders.
- • Ensure all family members and animals are transported safely
- • Follow Danilo's lead to stay cohesive as a group
- • Livestock are non-negotiable elements of survival and community
- • Their needs justify disorder aboard unfamiliar vessels
Defiant and urgent—prideful about cultural practices while anxious about the animals' survival; masking fear with bravado.
Danilo Odell loudly directs his people and physically engages O'Brien and Picard: pockets a flask, proclaims the animals' necessity, bellows to the Bringloidi, and propels Picard into the corridor for a private confrontation.
- • Prevent Starfleet from separating the Bringloidi from their animals
- • Assert his cultural authority and negotiate terms that preserve livestock
- • Keep his people calm and moving through the chaos
- • Livestock are essential to his people's survival and identity
- • Starfleet officers don't inherently understand Bringloidi values and must be convinced, not merely ordered
- • Bluster and personal presence can sway or at least stall military authority
Flustered and stressed—trying to keep technical competence while internally resentful of the chaotic, unhygienic situation.
Chief O'Brien stands overwhelmed on the platform, staring at a goat sniffing his pants, then acknowledges Picard's order and prepares to execute the transport despite visible consternation at the mess and animals onboard.
- • Execute Picard's transport order efficiently
- • Protect transporter equipment from contamination and damage
- • Get the refugees and animals off the platform without technical failure
- • Transporter systems must be managed tightly to avoid accidents
- • Starfleet personnel must handle messy humanitarian tasks despite personal discomfort
Controlled irritation—determined to maintain shipboard protocol while sympathetic enough not to escalate with violence.
Picard arrives, cuts through the foolishness with a command voice, refuses Danilo's offered handshake, and gives a concise order sending the refugees and livestock to Cargo Hold Seven to re‑establish order aboard the Enterprise.
- • Restore order and hygiene aboard the Enterprise quickly
- • Protect ship and crew from logistical and sanitary risk
- • Contain the cultural dispute so operations can continue
- • Chain of command and shipboard order must be preserved above individual cultural claims
- • Containment solves immediate logistical problems and buys time for more considered solutions
Restrained vigilance—ready to use force but holding to protocol and Picard's lead.
Worf issues a low, menacing rumble at Danilo's insolence, providing visible security muscle that briefly checks Danilo's tone; he follows Picard into the corridor when Danilo propels the captain aside.
- • Protect the captain's authority and personal safety
- • Maintain order through a credible security presence
- • Act as a physical deterrent to escalation
- • Physical presence and controlled intimidation maintain order
- • Security must back command decisions without unnecessary provocation
Amused practicality—prefers de-escalation and getting things done rather than moralizing.
Riker pushes through the second wave with the refugees, murmurs a pragmatic reminder to Picard to avoid argument, and rides the transporter with the Bringloidi—part amused, part functional in smoothing logistics.
- • Prevent needless confrontation that wastes time
- • Ensure the refugees are processed quickly and humanely
- • Support Picard operationally while avoiding political flare-ups
- • Arguments delay problem solving
- • Practical action mitigates tension better than rhetorical moralizing
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The animal lead functions as a crude restraint transferring the goat's tension into human hands; it creaks and transmits animal motion, underscoring the precarious, improvised management of livestock amid ship operations.
Crated chickens, packed with straw, crowd the transporter pad and spill mess onto the floor; they serve as a visual and sanitary justification for Picard's order to move the group to Cargo Hold Seven and embody the cultural stakes Danilo defends.
A piglet is present among the refugees' animals, adding to the logistical squalor and sensory conflict (noise, smell), amplifying O'Brien's exasperation and Picard's decision to clear the transporter area.
Danilo's small hip flask punctuates his performance—he stares at it, then carefully pockets it when confronted by Worf and Picard. The flask is a tactile personal prop that underlines Danilo's earthiness and nervy composure during the confrontation.
A live goat on a short lead sniffs at Chief O'Brien's pants and creates a focal moment of consternation; its presence personifies the tactile, uncontrollable disorder Picard seeks to contain.
The transporter platform is the event's physical heart: smeared with straw and animal waste, it hosts the stampede of refugees and livestock and becomes the staging ground from which Picard orders the move to Cargo Hold Seven.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The corridor outside the transporter room is used as a transition and private space when Danilo physically propels Picard into it for a promised 'little talk.' It functions as an immediate outlet for the confrontation to continue away from the public chaos.
Cargo Hold Seven is invoked as the containment solution: Picard orders the refugees and livestock be moved there to isolate the mess and provide space for the animals while the crew maintains hygiene and operation of the ship.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Routing the evacuees to Cargo Hold Seven leads to the Bringloidi starting a fire there while trying to cook."
"Routing the evacuees to Cargo Hold Seven leads to the Bringloidi starting a fire there while trying to cook."
"Routing the evacuees to Cargo Hold Seven leads to the Bringloidi starting a fire there while trying to cook."
Key Dialogue
"PICARD: "I don't want your service, Mister Odell. I want this damn livestock off my ship.""
"DANILO: "Captain, this damn livestock has fed our children, been company to the old and sick and playmates to the young... ...I couldn't leave them to die. Besides, how can we rebuild without our animals?""
"DANILO: "We've got to have a little talk.""