Two‑Minute Scan: Kargan's Verdict
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
KARGAN admits no repair exists and narrows possible origin to the Enterprise; Riker insists there was no direct contact, but the bridge's hostility hardens as suspicion shifts toward him and his ship.
The TACTICS OFFICER runs the board and reports that the Enterprise directed an intense, two‑minute scanning beam at that hull sector—an ambiguous technical fact that the officer calls a possible weapon and that Riker cannot explain.
KARGAN abandons forensics and orders immediate military action—engage cloaking, set intercept course—and erupts, declaring the Enterprise must be attacked and destroyed, catapulting the situation toward open warfare.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Openly furious and suspicious; his anger functions as both personal conviction and command performance intended to unify crew resolve.
Presides over the bridge, interrogates Riker, frames the encounter as hostile once the tactics readout is delivered, orders the ship to cloak and change course, and vocally vows to destroy the Enterprise—turning caution into declared war.
- • Protect the Pagh and its crew from perceived attack.
- • Assert Klingon dominance and respond to any provocation with force.
- • Eliminate uncertainty by translating evidence into decisive action.
- • An intense scan directed at our hull equals hostile intent.
- • Delay or indecision would be catastrophic for ship survival.
- • Honor and strength are proven through immediate, aggressive response.
Sober and urgent—practical about the technical timeline yet aware of how that timeline forces tactical choices.
Reports the scientific diagnosis: a space organism is consuming the hull and the structural integrity window is under eight hours; his briefing injects urgency and frames time as the enemy.
- • Convey the severity and immediacy of the hull threat.
- • Ensure command understands the limited repair window and takes appropriate measures.
- • Shift focus from speculation to concrete survival decisions.
- • Technical facts (the organism) demand immediate action.
- • The ship's safety requires prioritizing structural integrity over politics.
- • Evidence-based assessments will compel leadership to act.
Alert and increasingly alarmed; cautious data-driven posture shades quickly into suspicion once the logs are read as hostile.
Runs a tactical check at his station, reports that Enterprise sensors conducted an intensive two-minute scan of the affected area, and suggests the scanning could be a weapon—turning technical telemetry into prosecutable evidence.
- • Present clear tactical evidence about external activity.
- • Protect the ship by identifying potential threats.
- • Support command decisions with sensor-backed justification.
- • Sensor logs are credible and actionable evidence.
- • An intense directed scan can be an offensive act.
- • Command requires immediate intelligence to form an appropriate response.
Non-sentient; functions as an indifferent physical threat whose existence drives human/alien choices.
Manifested as a haze and eaten-away plating around a small hole in the Pagh's hull; its presence creates a hazardous cavity and provides the factual catalyst for the bridge crisis.
- • (Biological imperative) Consume available material.
- • Enlarge the breach and destabilize hull integrity.
- • Not applicable (non-sentient organism).
- • Operates according to chemical/consumptive behavior rather than intention.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Enterprise-style science station imagery is invoked as the baseline for what Riker calls 'normal procedure'; while not physically present on the Pagh, the concept of a science console frames Riker's defense and professional language.
The Pagh cloaking system is the immediate tactical lever Kargan orders engaged; its invocation converts suspicion into an offensive posture and signals the ship's withdrawal from transparent diplomacy to covert aggression.
The corridor-mounted monitoring display projects hull-integrity overlays and scan thumbnails, flickering as the organism advances; bridge officers lean on its readouts to validate the scope and timeline of damage.
The hollowed hull cavity is referenced by ship scientists and Klag as the specific structural condition that mitigates instant decompression but establishes a short survival window—its partial sealing buys minimal time and intensifies the need for action.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"The Pagh’s tactical log showing an 'intense scanning beam' from the Enterprise (ad1788...) is interpreted as hostile and causes Kargan to abandon analysis and order immediate military action (2c28c5...), escalating toward ambush."
"The Pagh’s tactical log showing an 'intense scanning beam' from the Enterprise (ad1788...) is interpreted as hostile and causes Kargan to abandon analysis and order immediate military action (2c28c5...), escalating toward ambush."
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"TACTICS OFFICER: The Enterprise did conduct an intensive scan of this vessel."
"TACTICS OFFICER: My logs indicate that the Enterprise directed an intense scanning beam at this specific area for a duration of two minutes."
"KARGAN: Intend? There is only one response. We intend to attack the Enterprise and destroy it!!"