Object

Uxbridge World Watertable

A subsurface reservoir of groundwater beneath the razed Uxbridge world: diffuse, unseen, and measured only by failing wells and rationed taps. Not a visible artifact but a palpable constraint — engineers and officers reference its declining depth and purity as they assess the couple's ability to remain self-sufficient. Crew members react to its data with urgency and moral worry, treating the watertable as the literal lifeline that keeps the intact house habitable amid planetwide devastation.

2 appearances

Purpose

To store and supply groundwater for drinking, irrigation, and basic domestic use on the Uxbridge world; functions as the community's primary potable resource.

Significance

Frames the Uxbridges' survival status and the crew's aid decision: the watertable's depletion explains resource-driven fragility, justifies surveillance and assistance, and raises ethical stakes about intervention versus abandonment in the face of limited planetary resources.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S3E3 · The Survivors

Observation Lounge: The Uxbridge Enigma

The tainted watertable is referenced as a critical constraint undermining the couple's long-term self-sufficiency; it frames urgency and moral responsibility in the debrief.

Before: Watertable beneath Rana Four is contaminated and declining, providing limited, compromised water to the Uxbridge household.

After: Remains tainted and a significant factor in the Enterprise's plan to provide assistance while monitoring the household's viability.

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S3E3 · The Survivors

Counselor's Dissonant Waltz

The tainted watertable is raised by Riker as a limiting resource; it explains how the couple might be physically vulnerable despite having power, shaping the crew's assessment of their self-sufficiency.

Before: Watertable beneath the site is tainted and declining, measured by away-team sensors.

After: Still tainted and recorded as a pressing constraint informing the decision to render assistance and maintain surveillance.

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