The Thorn Exposed — A Network Awakens
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Geordi tests a human-specific response by offering his hand; the vine snaps, Data intercepts with lightning reflexes, and a mean thorn shows—confirming the likely weapon that struck Riker.
As Data restrains the vine, Geordi uses a pinpoint phaser to cut free the thorn, triggering the surrounding vine network into violent motion; he hails O'Brien and secures the sample, calling for immediate transport.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Alert and prepared (implied) — positioned to execute orders rapidly when called.
O'Brien is invoked off-screen by Geordi to stand by and energize the transporter — his presence is implied as the technical backstop for immediate specimen removal though he takes no visible action in the scene.
- • Prepare the transporter to receive and secure a potentially hazardous biological sample if instructed.
- • Follow procedural safeguards for beam-up and containment (implied).
- • Transporter procedures and rapid response can be relied upon to quickly remove samples.
- • Containment protocols must be ready when dealing with unknown organisms.
Clinically composed though alert — a measured concern informed by analytical recognition of risk, focused on preserving the sample and protecting his human partner.
Data performs calculated scans, lifts and holds the vine when it strikes, turns it so the thorn is visible, and exerts physical restraint as surrounding vines convulse — offering clinical commentary and a stabilizing presence for Geordi's extraction.
- • Prevent the vine from harming Geordi while preserving the specimen intact.
- • Gather clear physical evidence to link the organism to Riker's wound.
- • Maintain observational control to inform medical and transporter teams.
- • The organism reacts differently to biological stimuli than to android forms.
- • Containment and controlled sampling are crucial to prevent escalation.
- • Objective data must guide the crew's next steps, not speculation.
Focused determination with measured caution — outwardly confident, masking an urgency to find concrete evidence linking the plant to Riker's wound.
Geordi leads the tactile investigation: scanning with his VISOR, deliberately provoking the vine, adjusting his phaser for a pinpoint cut, calling O'Brien on his communicator, and initiating transport once the vine is severed and the network reacts.
- • Obtain a definitive physical sample linking the vine to Riker's injury.
- • Secure the specimen quickly for medical analysis and containment.
- • Coordinate transport support to remove the sample to Sickbay.
- • The vine is the likely source of Riker's injury and must be tested.
- • Human physiology will provoke the organism in ways Data's form might not.
- • Quick, decisive action will preserve evidence and limit spread.
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The medical tricorder (used by Data in the scene) provides diagnostic context: it identifies the vine as rhizomatous and the area as lacking animal life, framing the vine as forensic evidence rather than background flora.
The Surata IV rhizomatous vine is the central physical actor: it appears dead, is provoked by Geordi, lashes toward his hand, and then becomes the trigger for the entire escalation when Data holds it and its network reacts to the thorn being cut.
Geordi's VISOR provides the initial sensory prompt—thermal variations—that make him suspicious of the vine and informs his decision to provoke it; its augmented feed underlies the investigative procedure though it is not the primary tool in the extraction.
Geordi's pinpoint phaser is used with surgical intent to sever the thorn cleanly; its focused beam enables sample extraction but the contact with living tissue agitates the rhizome network, turning a proof-of-concept into a containment crisis.
Geordi's portable communicator is the coordination conduit: he touches it to call O'Brien to stand by and later slaps it to confirm the transporter energize command, turning the field operation into an immediate shipboard response.
The mean-looking thorn is the evidentiary object: exposed under the vine when Data turns it over, it is the target of Geordi's pinpoint phaser cut and the immediate biological cause the crew links to Riker's wound and the ensuing network reaction.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Picard's order to get a sample leads Data and Geordi to isolate the hostile vine."
"Picard's order to get a sample leads Data and Geordi to isolate the hostile vine."
"The vine’s deliberate attack (exposed thorn) yields Data’s report that Riker was intentionally infected."
"The vine’s deliberate attack (exposed thorn) yields Data’s report that Riker was intentionally infected."
"The thorn’s invasive attack rhymes with Armus physically engulfing Riker—alien threats breaching bodily boundaries."
"The thorn’s invasive attack rhymes with Armus physically engulfing Riker—alien threats breaching bodily boundaries."
Key Dialogue
"GEORDI: "Perhaps it likes humans more than androids.""
"DATA: "If you are correct, you are placing yourself in grave danger.""
"GEORDI: "O'Brien! Stand by!""