Orbiting Data's Lost Home: The Away Team Assembles
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Picard commands Riker to assemble the away team for the surface investigation, while acknowledging Data’s significance in this moment with a warm smile; Riker affirms the weight of their mission to locate the vanished colony.
Bridge crew members Geordi, Worf, and Tasha prepare to leave their stations to join the away team, signaling a shift in ship command as the crew mobilizes for the perilous surface mission.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Concerned about the mysterious desolation and committed to ensuring security during the upcoming surface investigation.
Lieutenant Natasha Yar attentively reviews sensor data on the bridge, reporting the absence of life signs and vegetation on the planet below, expressing concern. She prepares for the away team mission, transitioning from technical duties to field security readiness.
- • Confirm the planet’s environmental readings
- • Prepare for away team security operations
- • The absence of life signals is highly unusual and alarming
- • The away team mission entails real danger requiring vigilance
Thoughtful and hopeful, balancing command responsibility with personal recognition of Data’s complex identity.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard commands with thoughtful authority, ordering the Enterprise into close parking orbit and directing Commander Riker to assemble the away team. He offers a warm, empathetic remark to Data, acknowledging the android's unique emotional predicament and the significance of returning home.
- • Secure a safe orbit for investigation
- • Support Data emotionally while directing mission strategy
- • Data’s origins are key to understanding his identity
- • Leadership requires both operational decisiveness and personal empathy
Puzzled and contemplative, struggling with his synthetic identity and emotional disconnect from his supposed home.
Data studies the planet on the main viewer, reflecting silently on his fragmented, data-based memories versus lived experience. He shares his puzzlement about human concepts, such as 'sweet home' and sneezing, revealing his curious but alien perspective. Later, he joins the away team resolved yet contemplative.
- • Understand his own origins and memories
- • Prepare for the surface mission to uncover truths
- • His memories lack the emotional depth of real experiences
- • Returning to his homeworld is crucial to his self-understanding
Guarded and vigilant, anticipating potential threats on the planet surface.
Lieutenant Worf questions Data about his memories of the colony and prepares to join the away team, maintaining a serious and cautious demeanor consistent with his security role.
- • Clarify the situation regarding the colonists’ disappearance
- • Prepare to safeguard the away team during the mission
- • Security risks are high given the unknown dangers
- • Data’s insights are valuable but limited
Attentive and eager to contribute meaningfully to the unfolding mission.
Wesley Crusher assumes Data’s helm position on the bridge with attentive focus, maintaining operational stability as senior officers discuss mission plans and the planet’s mystery.
- • Maintain helm operations smoothly
- • Support bridge crew during tense investigation
- • Precision in ship handling is vital during critical maneuvers
- • His role is important despite limited experience
Determined and serious about the mission's risks and responsibilities.
Commander William Riker offers Data the helm, then shifts to organizing the away team for the planetary surface mission. He demonstrates determination and tactical prudence, emphasizing the gravity of investigating the vanished Earth colony.
- • Assemble a capable away team
- • Ensure thorough investigation of the colony’s disappearance
- • The missing colony is a critical mystery to solve
- • Effective leadership demands hands-on involvement
Calm and concentrated on his technical duties and mission advancement.
Geordi La Forge reports the ship’s approach into close parking orbit and prepares for the away mission, maintaining professional focus as the technical backbone during the tactical transition.
- • Ensure precise orbital positioning
- • Support away team preparations with technical expertise
- • Technical precision is essential for mission success
- • Coordination between bridge and away team is critical
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The Enterprise Bridge Main Viewer projects an imposing, high-resolution image of the brownish, lifeless planet Data calls home, serving as the focal point for the crew’s observation and Data’s reflective examination. It visually anchors the mystery of the vanished colony and Data’s emotional distance from his origins.
The Enterprise Long-Range Surveillance Sensors provide critical environmental data confirming the planet’s classification as Class M but revealing an absence of life signs or vegetation, deepening the crew’s concern and prompting the away team mission.
The USS Enterprise-D Forward Turbolift Doors mark the entry and exit points for Data and Wesley moving onto the bridge, and for the away team including Tasha, Geordi, and Worf as they prepare to depart the bridge for the surface mission, facilitating critical spatial transition.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Main Bridge of the USS Enterprise functions as the nerve center for this event, hosting the command decisions, sensor monitoring, and the emotional confrontation with Data’s origins. It frames the tension-filled transition from orbit to surface exploration and highlights the interplay of human and android perspectives.
The Close Parking Orbit Around Data's Homeworld serves as the staging area for the Enterprise’s shift from remote observation to direct planetary investigation. It is the orbit from which the away team will deploy, symbolizing a threshold between the safety of the starship and the unknown dangers below.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Worf's questioning of Data about the colony's fate and Data’s response deepen the mystery and set the tone for Data's internal conflict and identity exploration throughout the episode."
"Worf's questioning of Data about the colony's fate and Data’s response deepen the mystery and set the tone for Data's internal conflict and identity exploration throughout the episode."
"Worf's questioning of Data about the colony's fate and Data’s response deepen the mystery and set the tone for Data's internal conflict and identity exploration throughout the episode."
"Picard’s decision to visit Omicron Theta connects emotionally to Data’s complex feelings of belonging and alienation upon arrival, underscoring themes of homecoming and identity."
"Picard’s decision to visit Omicron Theta connects emotionally to Data’s complex feelings of belonging and alienation upon arrival, underscoring themes of homecoming and identity."
"Data's awkward attempt to emulate human sneezing parallels his fragmented memories about the colony's destruction, both highlighting his ongoing struggle with human identity."
"Data’s fragmented memory of a sudden danger connects directly to the discovery of children’s drawings depicting a massive crystal, foreshadowing the colony's destruction by the crystalline entity."
"Data’s fragmented memory of a sudden danger connects directly to the discovery of children’s drawings depicting a massive crystal, foreshadowing the colony's destruction by the crystalline entity."
"Data’s fragmented memory of a sudden danger connects directly to the discovery of children’s drawings depicting a massive crystal, foreshadowing the colony's destruction by the crystalline entity."
"Data’s fragmented memory of a sudden danger connects directly to the discovery of children’s drawings depicting a massive crystal, foreshadowing the colony's destruction by the crystalline entity."
"Worf's questioning of Data about the colony's fate and Data’s response deepen the mystery and set the tone for Data's internal conflict and identity exploration throughout the episode."
"Worf's questioning of Data about the colony's fate and Data’s response deepen the mystery and set the tone for Data's internal conflict and identity exploration throughout the episode."
"Worf's questioning of Data about the colony's fate and Data’s response deepen the mystery and set the tone for Data's internal conflict and identity exploration throughout the episode."
"The command to assemble the away team leads directly to their materialization on the barren planet, marking a clear narrative progression from shipboard to surface investigation."
"The command to assemble the away team leads directly to their materialization on the barren planet, marking a clear narrative progression from shipboard to surface investigation."
"The command to assemble the away team leads directly to their materialization on the barren planet, marking a clear narrative progression from shipboard to surface investigation."
Key Dialogue
"DATA: I could say "home, sweet home, sir... if I understood how the word sweet applies.""
"Riker: Want to take her into orbit, Data?"
"PICARD: Assembling your away party, Commander."
"WORF: You have no memory at all of what happened to them, Data?"
"DATA: My final memory is of great danger, something sudden and not understood... then a blank as if the colonists were gone."
"PICARD: Welcome home, Mister Data."