Containment and the Gigawatt Call
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
THE ENTERPRISE holds orbit over the yellow planet Daled Four, placing the ship and crew on the cusp of contact and framing the scene's immediate stakes.
Picard records a supplemental captain's log: Anya previously escaped her guards via transformation so the ship has sealed her quarters with a forcefield, and the crew remains unable to communicate with Daled Four.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Not directly observed; inferred defiance and protective instinct from prior context and the fact she required containment.
Functionally stands in for Anya's presence in the narrative: Anya is referenced as having escaped her guards by transforming and now is the subject of a sealed containment forcefield; the guardian's authority is implied though not present on the bridge.
- • Avoid custody or punitive removal by remaining elusive (inferred).
- • Protect Salia and fulfill her guardian duty, even if that requires transformation and evasion (inferred).
- • Transformation and evasion are legitimate means to preserve autonomy (inferred).
- • External authorities (planetary guards/Starfleet) cannot be fully trusted with Salia's welfare (inferred).
Calm, mildly relieved — professional satisfaction at an operational solution while masking awareness of the diplomatic cost.
Records a supplemental captain's log (V.O.) describing Anya's escape and the subsequent sealing of her quarters; listens to sensor reports and exchanges a look with Riker before authorizing actions.
- • Contain any threat posed by Anya to ship safety and discipline.
- • Resolve the diplomatic impasse with Daled Four while protecting crew and political optics.
- • Institutional protocol must be maintained even in delicate interpersonal situations.
- • Returning the passengers to their planet via encoded coordinates is the least risky operational option.
Clinically neutral — focused on converting sensor data into actionable context without emotional coloring.
Manages Operations, analyzes sensor data, reports that the communication originated from a gigawatt source and explains the atmospheric penetration requirement, thereby framing the signal's significance.
- • Provide accurate technical assessment of the signal's origin and power.
- • Clarify the ship's technical limitations to inform command decisions.
- • Empirical sensor data should guide tactical and diplomatic responses.
- • High-power transmissions imply purposeful, non-accidental intent from the planet.
Alert and focused — professionally engaged in the technical interception, confident in his detection role.
At Tactical, adjusts controls to isolate and amplify an incoming carrier; reports detection of an audio signal and later identifies encoded beam‑down coordinates within the carrier.
- • Accurately identify and verify incoming signals threatening or relevant to ship operations.
- • Provide precise tactical information to command for safe execution of any transport operations.
- • Tactical integrity and timely reporting are essential for command decisions.
- • Encoded transmissions must be trusted only after verification and proper analysis.
Relieved and pragmatic — sees a logistical solution and moves quickly to operationalize it.
At a forward station, discusses ship power limitations, responds pragmatically to Data's analysis, and offers to arrange for the passengers to beam down once coordinates are confirmed.
- • Execute a safe and orderly transfer of the guests off the Enterprise.
- • Mitigate diplomatic friction by complying with the planet's signal and returning the passengers.
- • Operational problems should be solved with practical, immediate action.
- • Removing the passengers from the ship will remove a source of ongoing complication.
Calm and attentive — focused on precise operational duties rather than the diplomatic or moral implications being discussed.
Manning Conn at a forward station, executing helm and speed posture while remaining professionally silent as senior officers exchange orders and information.
- • Maintain ship posture and readiness while command considers next steps.
- • Be prepared to execute transport or evasive maneuvers if ordered.
- • Bridge procedures exist to ensure safety irrespective of ongoing debates.
- • Following orders promptly is the correct course of action.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The sealed forcefield around Anya's quarters is explicitly referenced by Picard's log as the containment measure that will hold Anya regardless of assumed form, converting a personal custody issue into a secure, tactical fact aboard the Enterprise.
A gigawatt-class planetary transmission is detected and analyzed; it contains a carrier signal powerful enough to penetrate the atmosphere and, crucially, has beam‑down coordinates encoded within it, thereby supplying the Enterprise with means to transport passengers to the planet and turning a custody matter into an operational mission.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The forward stations/Conn cluster is where Data, Riker and Gibson operate; it concentrates the sensor readouts and tactical data that produce the technical context for the decision to beam passengers down.
The Bridge Tactical Station provides the technical means to detect and isolate incoming carrier signals; Worf's adjustments there directly enable the discovery of the embedded coordinates.
Anya's private quarters are the site of containment — the sealed forcefield mentioned in the log — making them both a place of refuge and a tactical problem; they embody the intimate consequences of Anya's transformations and the ship's attempt to exert control.
Daled Four is the origin point of the gigawatt transmission and the political focal point of the episode; its atmospheric conditions necessitate a high‑power carrier and its encoded coordinates become the plot device that forces Enterprise action.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Worf intercepting a transmission and opening the channel leads to the analysis showing a gigawatt carrier encoding beam-down coordinates — detection prompts a practical solution to transport the guests off the ship."
"Worf intercepting a transmission and opening the channel leads to the analysis showing a gigawatt carrier encoding beam-down coordinates — detection prompts a practical solution to transport the guests off the ship."
"Discovery that the planet can send encoded coordinates causes Riker/Picard to authorize Salia's transport — the planet's signal produces the logistical decision for departure."
"Discovery that the planet can send encoded coordinates causes Riker/Picard to authorize Salia's transport — the planet's signal produces the logistical decision for departure."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"PICARD (V.O.): Captain's log, supplemental. Since Anya's powers of transformation apparently gave her the ability to escape her guards unnoticed, we have sealed her quarters with a forcefield that will contain her no matter how small a form she may take."
"WORF: Captain -- I'm receiving an audio signal."
"DATA: Sir, sensors indicate the communication originated from a gigawatt source on the planet."