Drema Four
Detailed Involvements
Events with rich location context
Drema Four is the off-world subject of the diagnostic sweep; seismic and volcanic telemetry from this planet provide the evidentiary basis for the bridge's alarm and for Data's determination that the problem is catastrophic and possibly tied to a dilithium lattice anomaly.
Not directly seen but implied as catastrophic—sensors suggest violent geological upheaval and imminent planetary threat.
Source of the crisis driving the plot; the planet is the object of scientific inquiry and moral consequence.
Represents an external moral test that forces Starfleet's Prime Directive into sharp relief.
Remote; direct access requires transport or intervention which may violate regulations.
Drema Four is described in Data's confession as the planet undergoing severe geological stress; its failing crust and civilization are the subject of the moral crisis that transforms abstract policy into an immediate humanitarian emergency.
As portrayed in report: catastrophic, smoldering, and emergency‑charged—implied by Data's alarming references.
Object of concern and the ethical focal point motivating the potential violation of policy.
Represents the human (or sentient) face of abstract rules—turning Prime Directive theory into lives at risk.
Not accessible without Starfleet intervention and subject to Prime Directive constraints.
Drema Four is the endangered world referenced throughout Data's confession; its geological instability is the factual core of the moral dilemma, converting abstract policy into imminent humanitarian crisis and catalyzing Picard's decision to convene his senior staff.
Described indirectly as violent, unstable, and catastrophic—smoldering, shuddering, and dangerous (as per synopsis and Data's report).
Source of the inciting crisis and the object of possible Starfleet intervention.
Embodies the collateral human cost that challenges the Prime Directive's absoluteness.
Unclear from the scene; implicitly protected by Prime Directive non-interference unless formally waived.
Drema Four functions as the offstage locus of catastrophe Data describes: a planet suffering accelerating geological collapse whose inhabitants (including Sarjenka) are in immediate peril. It is the concrete object of ethical conflict and the technical problem Picard's crew may be asked to solve.
Smoldering, unstable, and urgent — a planetary-scale emergency implied through Data's report.
Source of humanitarian crisis and the focal location for potential intervention that would conflict with Starfleet noninterference policy.
Embodies the human cost that personal attachments and curiosity bring to bear on abstract policy.
By Prime Directive norms, off-limits to interference without careful authorization; physically accessible by the Enterprise but morally restricted.
Drema Four functions offstage as the crisis locus whose geological catastrophe and failing communications create the ethical dilemma; its failing environment and the child's signal convert abstract policy into real human urgency for the crew assembled in Picard's quarters.
Not physically present but evoked as desperate and catastrophic — smoldering tectonic fury implied by sensor reports and the child's terror.
Remote subject of rescue and the narrative source of the Prime Directive dilemma.
Embodies the consequences of noninterference: a civilization on the brink whose fate questions Starfleet morality.
Physically remote and dangerous; current subspace conditions impede simple rescue.
Drema Four is the off-stage site of catastrophe whose failing communications and geological collapse drive the debate; it exists as both a technical readout and the unseen human theater where Sarjenka's life hangs in the balance.
Implied as chaotic and catastrophic: smoldering tectonics, intermittent signals, and an urgent atmosphere of imminent destruction.
Remote locus of humanitarian crisis and the objective anchor for the moral decision being made aboard the Enterprise.
Embodies collateral consequence—the distant world whose inhabitants test Starfleet's principles and humanity.
Physically inaccessible from orbit due to planetary catastrophe and lack of subspace radio; contact is limited to tenuous scans.
Drema Four is the threatened world whose dilithium lattices are tearing it apart; it is both the scientific puzzle and the human moral emergency that forces Picard's decision to authorize direct contact to save a child.
Smoldering, violent, and collapsing — the planet registers as an active catastrophe with seismic chaos and radioactive contamination.
Crisis site and moral focus; location of the endangered child and the subject of both engineering remediation and immediate rescue efforts.
Represents the stakes of intervention — a civilization's fragility and the ethical pressure that compels violation of noninterference.
Under observation from orbit; surface access is dangerous and effectively restricted until a plan is implemented.
Drema Four is the smoldering subject of the briefing: its failing crust, dilithium lattices, and radioactive plumes drive the ethical and technical stakes. It is both a distant object of study and the immediate scene of human jeopardy.
Chaotic and catastrophic on the surface — smoldering, shuddering, tectonically violent.
Crisis locus and moral referent that motivates intervention and anchors the scene's urgency.
Represents the intersection of scientific anomaly and human suffering that challenges Starfleet orthodoxy.
Orbital observation only—surface entry would be hazardous and restricted to specialized teams.
Drema Four functions as the off‑scene crisis location—the smoldering planet whose failing dilithium lattices and endangered inhabitants (notably Sarjenka) generate the ethical problem. It is the destination Data requests permission to reach and the object of the resonator plan's intended effect.
Implied as violently unstable and catastrophic: smoldering, rupturing, and urgent—the source of moral pressure on the crew.
Target destination for transport and the objective for the resonator deployment; practical locus of humanitarian need.
Represents the human face of abstract policy—the 'someone' that turns rules into moral choices.
Severely hazardous environment; transport is considered risky and ordinarily restricted by non‑interference rules.
Drema Four is the absent but driving location: a smoldering planet with rupturing crust and crystalline lattices whose catastrophe and Sarjenka's silence compel Data's request and Picard's concession. The planet exists as the moral and technical target of the crew's choices.
Not physically present in the scene but imagined as catastrophic: smoldering, volatile, and urgent.
Destination for transport and the object of engineering intervention; the reason the ready room debate has material stakes.
Embodies the human face of remote crises that challenge non-interference policies.
Inherent danger to beamed personnel; access limited by environmental hazards and ethical constraints.
Drema Four functions as the external, active antagonist: a volcanic, ash-choked world whose eruptions and a crawling river of molten rock make habitation impossible, forcing Data's evacuation decision and grounding the Prime Directive dilemma in immediate mortal peril.
Hostile and elemental — ash-filled skies, spurting volcanoes, and advancing molten flows create urgency and futility.
Source of imminent physical threat motivating the rescue and the ethical breach.
Represents an indifferent natural force that challenges institutional rules and compels compassionate action.
Drema Four functions as the broader antagonistic environment whose seismic and volcanic fury has driven an evacuation; the planet's instability provides the external pressure that forces Data's moral decision and frames the scene as part of a planetary catastrophe rather than an isolated incident.
Hostile and volatile on a planetary scale, with ash-filled skies and active lava flows increasing urgency and danger.
Environmental antagonist whose imminent geological collapse necessitates immediate evacuation and catalyzes the ethical crisis.
Represents natural forces indifferent to sentient suffering and the limits of non-interference policies.
Drema Four functions as the dangerous, collapsing environment that creates the ethical crisis: seismic ruptures, ash fall and rivers of molten rock are the proximate threat that forces Data's choice to rescue Sarjenka and implicates the Enterprise in a potential Prime Directive violation.
Hostile and catastrophic — convulsing, ash‑filled air; rupturing plates and active lava flows create urgent danger.
Source of imminent existential threat and the reason for emergency evacuation.
Embodies a civilization in environmental collapse and the moral complexity of intervention when an entire world is at risk.
Planetary surface is hazardous and effectively restricted by environmental conditions; access is limited to immediate survivors and rescue teams.
Drema Four is the threatened planet whose destabilized dilithium lattices prompted the resonator experiment; it is the object of the ship's intervention and the unseen community whose lives are at stake, made personal by Sarjenka's voice.
Smoldering, rupturing, and geologically violent as implied through telemetry and thermographic imagery.
Subject of the rescue experiment and the moral problem that forces Starfleet into potential rule-breaking.
Represents distant populations whose suffering challenges Starfleet doctrine; the planet’s danger converts abstract policy into immediate human suffering.
Uninhabitable and dangerous to direct entry; interaction limited to probes and remote intervention.
Drema Four is the endangered world whose reduced tectonic stress is the metric of success; it is the unseen but emotionally present location that transforms cold data into a rescue with human faces.
Off-screen but evoked as a place of recent cataclysm—smoldering, dangerous, and now stabilized just enough to prevent immediate destruction.
Objective of the rescue operation and the moral fulcrum that compels the crew to act.
Embodies the stakes of the Prime Directive conflict: an entire society endangered by natural catastrophe and the cost of intervention.
Uninhabitable and off-limits to landing teams due to ongoing geological instability (implied).
Sarjenka's private room on Drema Four serves as the stage for a clandestine, intimate act of mercy. It contains the bed, the wall that opens onto the volcano, and the hush of sleep; it converts abstract ethical debate into an emotionally specific moment.
Quiet, intimate, slightly tense — a hush broken only by the stone's song and distant anxious voices offstage.
Sanctuary for private consolation and the site of a secret, brief intervention.
Represents the human scale of the Prime Directive dilemma — the individual life that makes abstract rules painful and urgent.
Practically private; not openly accessible — presence is limited to Data and the child, with others represented only by offstage voices.
Events at This Location
Everything that happens here
Data converts the bridge from passive observer to urgent investigation: he orders a full read on Drema Four's volcanic and tectonic activity, the viewscreen flooding with diagnostic data that implicates …
In a quiet holodeck meadow Data pulls Picard into a confession: eight weeks earlier he answered a four‑word distress call and has since formed a clandestine relationship with a child, …
Data quietly confesses to Picard that he answered a four‑word distress signal — “Is anybody out there?” — and has since formed a regular, intimate correspondence with a child named …
On the holodeck Picard learns that Data answered a terse transmission — "Is anybody out there?" — and has developed a forbidden, personal bond with Sarjenka, a child on Drema …
In Picard's quarters a formal, escalating debate over the Prime Directive becomes painfully personal. Picard, Riker and Worf argue the necessity of absolute non‑interference while Pulaski, Geordi and Troi press …
A formal Prime Directive debate in Picard's quarters collapses into a visceral moral emergency when Data, having formed a forbidden bond with a native child, refuses to abstract her into …
An urgent technical breakthrough and a gut‑wrenching moral decision collide. Wesley’s Ico-gram exposes massive, perfectly aligned dilithium lattices whose piezoelectric conversion of heat into tectonic force is ripping Drema Four …
Faced with incontrovertible science and an immediate human cost, Picard reluctantly authorizes a violation of Starfleet's Prime Directive. After Wesley and the survey team identify dilithium lattices as the planet's …
Worf and Hildebrant present a practical engineering fix — convert Class One probes into harmonic resonators, house them in torpedo casings, and have the Enterprise remotely tune frequencies to shatter …
During a terse ready-room briefing about a technical fix for Drema Four, Data interrupts to demand permission to beam down after losing contact with Sarjenka. His calm, logical reframing — …
Data materializes in Sarjenka's ash-choked room and methodically surveys the ruined childhood detritus—star pictures, a broken transmitter, a lute. Tremors and a molten river outside make the danger immediate. When …
Data materializes in Sarjenka's ash-choked bedroom, discovering the wreckage of a child's life and the transmitter she saved. When the luminous, terrified girl recognizes him and collapses into his arms, …
Data materializes in an abandoned child's room on Drema Four, reads catastrophic seismic activity outside and encounters Sarjenka — a luminous, terrified child who has returned for her transmitter. Their …
Six resonator-equipped probes reach Drema Four and activate a harmonic sequence that Data monitors with clinical awe. Sensors soon report a planetwide reduction in tectonic stress; Wesley’s plan is vindicated …
The harmonic resonator system takes effect and the immediate geological threat to Drema Four abates. On the bridge the crew exhales; Wesley declares success while Data becomes the child’s emotional …
Data materializes in Sarjenka’s darkened room carrying the sleeping child, tucking her in with delicate, mechanical tenderness. He presses the previously silent Elanin Singer Stone into her palm; it begins …