May 10th, 1993, "Suspicions"
Fiver by Derek
The Episode
CRUSHER: You'd better go to Sickbay. I think Doctor Selar's on duty.
Selar really got the shaft in TNG. The planned romance arc with Worf never would've worked, but there were other things that she could've done. Furthermore, I'm insulted at the idea at the time that you can't recycle actors. DS9 did it all the time and nobody complained. Selar and K'Ehleyr were completely different people.
CRUSHER: That's why I went to the Altine Conference. I'd heard about a new subspace technology developed by a Ferengi, a Doctor Reyga.
GUINAN: A Ferengi scientist. Hmm.
CRUSHER: His invention was based on metaphasic fields, but his methodology was completely unorthodox.
I'm all for characters having interests beyond their profession, but this one never made much sense. Her interests in the theatre or dancing made sense, this one doesn't. I suppose as someone who likes to command the ship every so often she'd me more up to date on the latest tech than Troi or Guinan would, but that still doesn't translate.
I do like Doctor Reyga, though. It's always good to see Ferengi that aren't driven by profit.
CRUSHER: Yes. I hoped I could be a facilitator. I thought if I invited scientists from various cultures to board the Enterprise, I could sit them and down help them understand the value of his ideas.
GUINAN: Like a scientific diplomat.
I'm curious about how Crusher has the "pull" to assemble these scientists. It stands to reason that in the scientific community she would be more well-known than Pulaski or Selar, but not to this level. It's sad to think that these guys are using her to get more widespread recognition. Not everyone gets to do experiments on the Enterprise, after all.
CRUSHER [OC]: Kurak was a warp field specialist on the Klingon Homeworld. I don't think Klingons regard scientists very highly. She always seemed a little defensive.
This seems odd. I wouldn't expect Klingons to respect ALL scientists, but anything to do with starship engineering would be the exception, wouldn't it? If you can make the ships go faster or use less power for speed that could be diverted to weapons, that would be something worth honoring.
CRUSHER: Doctor Reyga has offered to demonstrate his invention. He's outfitted one of our shuttles with his metaphasic shield.
REYGA: I will take it into the corona of the star Vaytan.
CHRISTOPHER: That star has a superdense corona. The shuttle would be subjected to particularly intense radiation. Perhaps it would be wise to choose a star of lesser magnitude.
T'PAN: I agree. My own research into solar energy transfer suggests that Vaytan's corona is extremely unstable.
REYGA: What better way to test my invention? I'm not concerned. The shield will hold.
Yeah, this seems foolhardy. There has to be a "safer" (in whatever context you could apply that word in this situation) star around.
REYGA: Well, if there's anything I'm used to, it's scepticism. After all, a Ferengi scientist is almost a contradiction in terms. No, don't deny it. I know how the Ferengi are regarded.
Thank goodness that we're not going to bother with this plot point beyond acknowledging it. Far too much time could've been wasted on the Ferengi proving himself as a legitimate scientist.
For that matter, why would engineering be something that the Ferengi look down on? You need ships to reach potential customers, and getting there faster would mean getting an edge on your competition. If anything I would expect a Ferengi from a rival science coalition to be sneaking around trying to sabotage or steal the prototype shuttle.
JO'BRIL [on viewscreen]: I am one million kilometres from the star's corona. Proceeding at three quarters impulse. I should reach it in approximately three minutes.
I was about to do the math, but the Memory Alpha page for Impulse Engine did it for me. The speed he's quoting is an order of magnitude smaller than the "full impulse=1/4 times the speed of light" standard used elsewhere in the TNG era. Oops.
RIKER: What's going on, Mister Data?
DATA: Sensors indicate an increased level of baryon particles in the cabin.
REYGA: No! That's not possible.
"Baryon" just means "protons and neutrons". Trek uses the term wrong all the time. I don't understand how an increased heat or radiation level would spontaneously create atomic nuclei.
CRUSHER: I mean, I've lost patients before.
GUINAN: But this was different.
CRUSHER: Mmm.
GUINAN: You know, when you're a doctor and you have patients, you're in control. But when you send someone out on a mission, all you can do is sit and watch.
CRUSHER: That's what I felt. Helpless.
It occurs to me that this whole plotline would've worked better with Pulaski. Crusher has command training, which would've included the same "be able to order someone to die" stuff that Troi had to go through. Pulaski never went through that training.
CRUSHER: I've never run into a humanoid species like this before. His internal physiology's baffling. He doesn't seem to have any discrete organs, at least not in the traditional sense. Practically every system is equally distributed throughout the body. That kind of physiology should make him incredibly resistant to injury, so whatever killed him must have occurred at the cellular level.
This seems odd. Jo'Bril's species (the Takarans) aren't Federation members, so why did Crusher invite him in the first place? And even if it made sense to invite him, Crusher would've insisted on doing complete scans in case something went wrong. She should've been more prepared. This also reflects on McCoy's lack of medical knowledge of Klingons in the Undiscovered Country, but that's a whole other screed.
PICARD: Beverly. I'm afraid there will be no autopsy. The family has already been contacted. They insist that the body must not be touched until they perform the Ferengi death ritual.
I'll skip the Divine Treasury/dessicated disc stuff that hasn't been invented yet. My question is why Crusher can't ask to perform an autopsy on what's left of him AFTER the death ritual.
CRUSHER: Don't worry. I know I'm not supposed to be here. I'll go.
OGAWA: Computer, access autopsy files.
OGAWA: I assume you'll need the files on Doctor Reyga and Jo'Bril?
CRUSHER: Alyssa.
OGAWA: I can
see how important this is to you.
CRUSHER: I don't want you to get involved in this.
OGAWA: Is that an order, Doctor?
CRUSHER: Yes.
OGAWA: Too bad you're not my boss now.
Thank goodness they didn't waste time on Ogawa's mutiny. STIV already said everything that needed to be said.
JO'BRIL: I'm sending out a transient subspace signal. It will obscure the shuttle from the Enterprise sensors and they will interpret it as a warp engine breach. They will believe that you have been destroyed. I'd like to thank you, Doctor.
While I have no doubt that a warp core breach would have an effect on subspace, I think there are other things that will be absent in this fakery. Radiation from a massive matter-antimatter reaction, for one thing. Plus that whole lack of debris thing.
Chief Medical Officer's log, stardate 46831.2. I have been reinstated and I will be resuming my duties shortly.
What? You still defiled Reyga's body and defied orders! All loose ends cannot possibly be tied up this easily. At least do something akin to Riker in "The Pegasus" and say that there's going to be more investigation offscreen. Maybe a demotion to Lieutenant Commander and having to be recertified as a Bridge officer in a future episode.