Troi Calls Devinoni — The Negotiation Unmasked
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Devinoni intervenes, offering Goss perpetual access to the wormhole, defusing the threat.
Troi exposes Devinoni's manipulation, revealing the staged confrontation to sway the negotiations.
Devinoni acknowledges Troi’s revelation with a grin, admitting his deception.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Excited and focused — energized by the discovery of a real signal and the chance to contribute crucially.
Wesley monitors external sensors intently, reacts excitedly to a faint transmission, calls the captain's attention, and provides the technical lead that turns a diplomatic resolution into a new operational emergency.
- • Identify the source and content of the faint transmission
- • Alert command to any immediate danger or rescue opportunity
- • That sensor anomalies demand immediate examination
- • That his technical input can materially affect the outcome
Resolved and sober — convinced neutrality suits Barzan's long-term survival despite the messy public exposure.
Premier Bhavani steps onto the bridge, announces her decision to award the wormhole to the Chrysalians, acknowledges Riker's representation, and listens to Troi's accusation with a pragmatic bearing before the shuttle transmission interrupts.
- • Secure Barzan's survival and sovereignty
- • Choose a guardian for the wormhole that minimizes future exploitation
- • That Chrysalians' neutrality better serves Barzan than Ferengi control
- • That political decisions must be guided by long-term stability over immediate pressure
Calmly smug — unconcerned publicly, confident his dealmaking outweighs reputational damage.
Devinoni Ral stands calmly beside Bhavani, downplays Troi's interjection, feigns innocence, then gives a knowing, casual shrug when Troi names him — exposing his cool, manipulative composure as he accepts the political win despite moral exposure.
- • Secure the wormhole award for his patrons
- • Minimize operational consequences of his manipulations
- • That emotional manipulation is a legitimate tool in high-stakes bargaining
- • That the ends (control of wormhole) justify morally dubious means
Defensive and performative — trying to maintain a posture of ruthless resolve even as his role in the setup is exposed.
Goss appears on the viewscreen as the ostensible aggressor, protests loudly that he was tense and prepared to fire, and then goes silent after the viewscreen is cut, attempting defensive bellicosity to save face.
- • Retain Ferengi leverage and public credibility
- • Avoid blame for the staged incident if possible
- • That shows of force secure negotiation leverage
- • That he must appear willing to sacrifice to achieve Ferengi aims
Firm, concerned — prioritizing crew safety while absorbing a humiliating diplomatic exposure.
Picard moderates the crisis, orders the viewscreen muted, listens to Troi's revelation with tightening concern, and immediately pivots to receive an emergent shuttle transmission, juggling diplomacy and emergent technical threat.
- • Protect Enterprise lives and shuttles
- • Maintain procedural order while responding to sudden developments
- • That command must balance moral clarity with operational safety
- • That the ship's chain of command and sensors must be trusted to resolve immediate danger
Alert and professional — focused on factual tactical updates rather than the moral argument being made.
Worf reports technical status crisply — confirming Ferengi forward launchers are shut down — and executes Picard's orders to lower alert, providing procedural containment to the suddenly politicized scene.
- • Accurately report ship and external threat status
- • Follow command directives to protect the ship
- • That clear, timely tactical information reduces risk
- • That obedience to command preserves ship safety
Protective and frustrated — relieved the immediate missile threat is neutralized but angered by the deception and its risks to crew.
Riker presses the tactical implications, confronts Goss about shuttle vulnerability, signals Worf to reestablish contact, and watches the negotiation collapse into an ethical confrontation after Troi's charge.
- • Ensure shuttlecraft and crew are protected
- • Hold accountable those who endangered Federation assets
- • That deceptive tactics that endanger lives are unacceptable
- • That direct action and pressure are necessary to protect his crew
Resolute and conflicted — determined to do the right thing despite shame and personal exposure.
Troi stands forward on the bridge, breaks protocol by publicly revealing her conflict and Devinoni Ral's secret use of empathic influence, forcing the moral truth into the open and shifting the room's power dynamics.
- • Expose manipulation and protect the Enterprise's integrity
- • Resolve her conflict of interest and restore honest negotiation
- • That withholding information because of personal entreaty is morally wrong
- • That revealing the truth now will prevent political and human harm
Urgent and attempting control — focused on reestablishing contact and conveying shuttle status despite interference.
Geordi is the voice on the coms — 'Shuttle nine to Enterprise' — indicating he is piloting or connected to the shuttle; his garbled transmission becomes the new operational clue the bridge must parse.
- • Restore clear communications with Shuttle Nine
- • Ensure shuttle and crew safety while relaying precise telemetry
- • That direct comms are the fastest path to assessing shuttle condition
- • That the wormhole's behavior may be altering communications and must be accounted for
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Observation Lounge viewscreen (used here on the bridge) displays Goss, then is muted and cleared on Picard's order; its presence shapes the public nature of the confrontation and its muting collapses theatrical distance between delegates and crew.
Ferengi forward missile launchers are the specific tactical hardware named by Worf; their shut-down is the concrete evidence that the immediate kinetic threat has been removed and that Goss's on-screen menace may have been performative.
Ferengi missiles are the implied catalyst for the crisis — referenced as a threatening, armable force that justifies aggressive posturing; their implied presence forces tactical responses and legitimizes the staged scare Troi exposes.
Shuttle Nine functions as the emergent technical clue: Wesley and Geordi relay broken transmissions from it, and a tiny visual of the shuttle appears from the wormhole, converting the moral-political moment into an immediate life-and-death operational problem.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Main Bridge is the event's stage: a command center where diplomatic theatre collides with tactical reality. It concentrates authority, witnesses Troi's public revelation, houses sensor-readouts that catch the shuttle signal, and forces in-the-moment decision-making.
The aft turbolift functions as the ceremonial threshold through which Premier Bhavani and Devinoni Ral enter, converting their physical arrival into formal punctuation that elevates the scene's stakes and visibility.
Planet Barzan is the political stake around which the entire negotiation revolves; Bhavani's presence and decision are driven by Barzan's urgent need and survival calculus.
The Barzan Wormhole is the contested strategic objective and immediate environmental hazard; it is the reason for shuttle operations, the focus of the staged intimidation, and the locus of the new transmission/visual anomaly Wesley detects.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Devinoni's confession of his empathic abilities foreshadows Troi's eventual exposure of his manipulation."
"Riker's warning about the shuttlecraft danger escalates to Troi sensing Goss's deception."
"Riker's warning about the shuttlecraft danger escalates to Troi sensing Goss's deception."
"Riker's warning about the shuttlecraft danger escalates to Troi sensing Goss's deception."
"Riker's warning about the shuttlecraft danger escalates to Troi sensing Goss's deception."
Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"GOSS: "If the Ferengi cannot have the wormhole, no one will...""
"DEVINONI: "On behalf of the Chrysalians, I am prepared to offer the Ferengi free access to the wormhole in perpetuity...""
"TROI: "I agree. Entirely. Devinoni asked me not to tell anyone about his empathic powers... which he uses to manipulate competitors in a negotiation.""