- Geordi, have you found it?
- Not yet.
I'm starting to get some fumes.
Ammonia, chlorine,
potassium chloride.
I can feel the heat from here.
- There it is.
- How far?
About ten metres up the ODN line.
Boy, it's hot.
I'd say over 2,000 degrees.
I'm going in.
We're OK. I've activated
the emergency suppression system.
His vital functions
are completely normal.
The interface unit is operating
within normal parameters.
- Why did he start coughing?
- Psychosomatic response.
I feel like I'm actually here.
I mean there, in the Jefferies tube.
When I saw the smoke,
I couldn't help but cough.
No one has ever had
so complete a sensory experience.
The interface is perfect for him.
His visor inputs allow the probe
to transmit directly
to his cerebral cortex.
It looks like this is going to work.
Geordi, I'd like to get the probe
out of the Jefferies tube
and onto the launch bay
before we reach Marijne Vll.
Will do.
Wait a minute.
Something's wrong.
Can't get my left leg to work.
What is it?
The probe responds to any movement
Geordi intends to make.
When his brain says move his leg,
the interface should move the probe.
The tactile sensors must be too low.
I will increase the input.
There it goes.
I'm on my way down.
- Why the bodysuit?
- It provides tactile sensations.
Geordi feels he is in the same
environment as the probe.
Geordi, what's wrong?
Nothing.
I'm seeing my reflection in a panel.
I forgot what a handsome guy I am.
Space, the final frontier.
These are the voyages
of the Starship Enterprise.
Its continuing mission,
to explore strange new worlds...
...to seek out new life
and new civilisations...
...to boldly go
where no one has gone before.
Captain's log, stardate 47215.5.
We're answering a distress call
from the science vessel Raman,
which is trapped in the atmosphere
of an unusual gas-giant planet.
We will use an experimental interface
probe in our attempt to rescue it.
I have reviewed
the vessel's mission plans.
The Raman was
to go to the lower atmosphere,
11,000 kilometres
below its current position.
The crew was to sample the atmosphere
then return to a safer orbit.
Something must have happened.
Shield failure or some kind of
inversion reaction in the nacelles.
- Any life signs?
- Our biosensors are useless.
- Too much interference.
- The crew might still be alive.
We can't tell from up here.
Will the probe be able to transmit?
The probe's particle beam
should cut through the interference.
We may have to work at
close to tolerance levels.
Will your nervous system
be able to handle that much input?
We've already done tests
at 70-percent tolerance.
We can go higher. The safety override
will kick in at 98-percent tolerance.
- That'll disengage the interface.
- Captain.
A transmission from
Starfleet Command. Admiral Holt.
In my ready room.
The seven people on board
are our priority.
- Is the probe ready for launch?
- Yes, sir.
Send it directly
to the aft section of the Raman.
That's just one bulkhead
from the bridge.
I'll interface with the probe
- And take it from there.
- Make it so.
- Hello, Marcus.
- Jean-Luc.
How's life on DS3?
We're hosting this year's palio.
The Ferengi
have already been accused
of trying to bribe the Breen pilot
into throwing the race.
- There's nothing unusual about that.
- Nothing at all.
I wish I could say I was calling
just to catch up on things.
Nine days ago, the Hera left here
on a routine courier mission.
We were in contact with it
for five of those days.
Then it disappeared without a trace.
- The Hera?
- I'm afraid so.
The Excelsior and the Noble have been
retracing its course for 72 hours.
Nothing.
I'll keep them at it for another 72.
But to be honest, another week
would make no difference.
I'll inform Cmdr La Forge.
- I'd like a word with Cmdr La Forge.
- Aye, sir.
I will be on the bridge.
Geordi, I just spoke with Starfleet.
The Hera is missing.
Missing?
My mother?
Capt La Forge has disappeared
along with the rest of her crew.
I saw your father last week
and your sister ten days before that.
I decided I missed
my favourite son.
- Your only son, Ma.
- You'll have to see the Hera again.
We have a lot of new faces.
Our new chief engineer juices up
the nacelles every chance she gets.
I think she's
the best technician in the fleet.
OK, second best.
Come in.
- Sorry. I didn't know you were...
- Don't worry.
Maybe you should meet her.
We'll be in the same sector
next week.
Take a shuttle over
and I'll introduce you.
- She wants to find me a wife.
- See you at your father's party.
Remember, if you talk to him,
it's a surprise.
This came in about three weeks ago.
I never got back to her.
The probe has entered
the planet's atmosphere.
I'm ready to take it on board.
If you need a few days off,
I'll run the interface.
It's calibrated specifically
to my visor's inputs.
It would take ten hours to convert.
Those crewmen can't wait.
The interface doesn't have to be
fully compatible.
I wouldn't have the control you have,
but it would still work.
Forget it.
I'm the best person for the job.
We should proceed as planned.
- The Hera is reason enough.
- The Hera is missing, that's all.
Until I hear different, my mother
could have taken the crew on holiday.
Let's go.
Captain, the probe is through the
airlock and in position on the Raman.
Picard to Cmdr Data, report.
Ready to bring the interface on line.
Proceed.
Activating remote sensors.
Initiating interface now.
Vital signs are normal.
- Geordi, how do you feel?
- Fine.
- Do you have visual contact?
- Not yet.
Turn up the input sensors.
I'm not seeing anything.
Acknowledged.
OK, I can see. But no colours.
Increasing signal strength
to 75 percent of tolerance.
That's better.
Your pulse is up. Your nervous system
has to get used to the input levels.
I'm excited, that's all, Doctor.
This is like
being on a roller coaster.
Or a first date. I'm alright.
I'll be the judge of that.
If your heart rate gets too high,
we'll disconnect you.
Understood.
It's a mess in here.
There must be a breach
in the hull someplace.
I'm picking up atmospheric gases
in the corridor.
Methane and ammonia, primarily.
That break in the hull
might even be on the bridge itself.
I'm heading towards the bridge.
I've found someone.
- What is your position?
- 12 metres up the main corridor.
He's trapped under some conduit
from the bulkhead.
I can't move it. I'll need
more power to the tractor beam.
Go to 80 percent of tolerance.
No higher.
He's dead.
Data.
That door at the end
of this corridor.
- What's it lead to?
- A magnetic storage bay.
If there was a break in the bridge,
that'd be the safest place to go.
Data, give me a phaser burst.
Narrow focus, level-four intensity.
I've found them.
They're dead. All of 'em.
There's a fire in here.
Data, disconnect.
What happened? Geordi!
I don't know. My hands.
They're b*rned.
- How did this happen?
- An energy discharge in the suit.
Shouldn't the safety overrides
stop that?
Yes, but I have a theory
why they didn't.
The interface's tolerance levels
were set very high.
Geordi's neural response
to the input was so strong,
it created a feedback loop.
The sensors passing the sensation
of heat to my hands overloaded.
The crew of the Raman are dead.
I would like to retrieve them,
but not if it risks Geordi's safety.
If we turn down the sensory input
on the probe, I'll be fine.
Seven people d*ed down there.
We should at least get their data.
Doctor?
If we operate the interface at lower
input levels, the risk is acceptable.
- Picard to Riker.
- Riker here.
Proceed with the probe.
We'll have to go in
at the auxiliary control room.
- Their bridge is too badly damaged.
- How long before it's in position?
Two hours.
We must cut through the bulkhead.
Acknowledged.
Looks like you'll have
time to recuperate.
Yeah.
There's something
I've got to do anyway.
How are you, Dad?
As well as can be expected,
under the circumstances.
- Are you OK?
- Yeah.
I spoke with your sister
this morning.
She said she'll be
in touch with you in a few days.
Right now, she's pretty upset.
The service for the Hera
will probably be on Vulcan.
Most of the crew were from there.
But your sister and I
want to have a private ceremony.
Dad.
Don't you think everybody's
jumping the g*n here?
Last I heard, there were still
two ships looking for them.
They found no debris,
no residual warp distortion.
- And no ship.
- But that doesn't mean they won't.
Starfleet considers the Hera lost.
The search isn't much more
than a formality at this point.
Geordi, your mother's gone.
Yeah, well, you can
think that if you want.
But until I see hard evidence,
I won't give up hope.
Alright, Geordi.
Call me if you need anything.
Come in.
Data.
- Still working?
- No.
I have finished
adjusting the interface.
I am now waiting for Cmdr Riker
to finish moving the probe.
- Do you need to be comforted?
- No!
I was passing by
and wondered what you were up to.
I am using the time
to catch up on my study of poetry.
- There's nothing on the screen.
- That is not entirely correct.
While the display is currently blank,
this emptiness has a poetic meaning.
Therefore, it cannot be considered
"nothing" as such.
- Says who?
- The ancient Doosodarians.
Much of their poetry contains
such lacunae or empty spaces.
Often, these pauses measured days,
during which poet and audience
were encouraged to acknowledge
the emptiness of the experience.
A few Starfleet Academy
lectures seemed that way.
Are you certain you do not wish
to talk about your mother?
- Why would you say that?
- You are no doubt feeling distress.
While you claim to be
just passing by,
that is most likely an excuse to
discuss this uncomfortable subject.
- Am I correct?
- No, Data.
Sometimes "just passing by"
means just passing by.
Then I apologise
for my premature assumption.
This particular poem
has a lacuna of 47 minutes.
You may experience the emptiness
with me, if you wish.
Thanks.
You know, Data,
maybe you gave up
a little too easily.
I do not understand.
When I said, "Just passing by
means just passing by",
I really didn't mean it.
Then my assumption was correct.
You do wish to speak of your mother.
Am I crazy to think
that she's still alive?
Your sanity is not in question.
However, your evaluation of
the available information is biased.
She's a starship captain.
She's gotten out of
impossible situations before.
Why is this any different?
Disappearances like that of the Hera
rarely end with the safe recovery
of ship and crew.
That makes me feel much better!
Look, I'm sorry, Data.
I didn't mean to snap at you.
I am not offended. You are upset.
Your reactions are not surprising.
It's just that if,
if she really is dead...
...I don't know what I'm gonna do.
Receiving the probe's telemetry.
Input levels are at
53 percent of tolerance.
That's too low, Data.
I won't be able to do anything.
I'll start with a wide safety margin.
We can adjust upward later.
- Ready?
- Go ahead.
Initiating interface.
I can't see anything.
- I'm increasing the input now.
- Yeah.
That's better, but I need more.
Is this level sufficient?
Geordi?
Geordi, do you hear me?
Mom?
- Mom, is it you?
- Is it you?
I forgot. All you see is this probe.
Yes, it's me. I'm on the Enterprise.
I'm interfaced with this probe.
Geordi? Who are you speaking to?
What are you seeing?
- But is it really you?
- Yes, Geordi, it's Mom.
- How can it be? How is it possible?
- There's no time to explain.
- We have to go down.
- Down where?
- The surface.
- Geordi, report.
Hang on, Doctor. Why?
Why do we have to
go down to the surface?
- We're dying.
- We?
The Hera? The Hera is down there?
- We're disconnecting you now.
- Wait!
We need your help. I need your help.
- Mom.
- Geordi.
The cut-off has been
automatically activated.
He's in neural shock.
The sensory overload
caused no permanent damage,
but I wouldn't expose him
to that kind of stimulus again.
Any idea what caused
this hallucination?
- His brain functions are normal.
- I told you. I wasn't hallucinating.
Geordi, I've analysed
the probe's sensor logs.
There are no records
to indicate a living human presence.
She wasn't exactly there.
Her ship is on the surface.
So you believe what you saw
was some kind of transmission?
Somehow she has managed
to communicate with me.
We have no indication
of a transmission.
Maybe only I can detect it because
I'm interfaced with the probe.
The probe does allow him
to sense quantum fluctuations,
subspace anomalies and other
phenomena invisible to other sensors.
Granted, but how could he
perceive his mother visually
as if she were in the room?
I'm not sure,
but our brains weren't designed
to process the kind of data
Geordi was getting.
If the brain receives something it
can't understand, it interprets it,
sometimes as a smell or a sound,
sometimes visually.
- You see?
- Geordi.
I'm not saying that your mother
was really communicating with you.
I'm just trying to explain
why you thought she was.
My mother's ship is trapped down
there and we've got to help them.
Geordi, the Hera's last reported
position was 300 light years away.
How could it end up here?
If the Hera is on the surface,
its hull could not withstand
the atmospheric pressure.
At least let me go down and see.
I do not advise he use the interface.
Sensory overload almost k*lled you.
- I'll be alright!
- No, no, I'm not risking your life.
Data, find another way of salvaging
the Raman. You have two hours.
Geordi.
I want you to talk to
Counsellor Troi.
She's expecting you.
What's your mother like?
If you think I'm going to discuss
my childhood, you're way off.
That's not what I asked.
Well, she's...
She's brilliant.
Funny. She's incredibly perceptive.
She knows people, knows what they're
all about even before they speak.
She's always been that way.
She's a real good judge of character.
- When was the last time you saw her?
- About seven months ago.
When she took command of the Hera.
I went to a party for her crew.
She wanted me to come over and
see her, but I was really busy then.
I suppose I could have made the time
to go and see her,
but, you know,
I just didn't think that...
I mean, you know, I...
I didn't think that...
That it would be
your last chance to see her.
That's not what I was going to say.
I want to suggest something.
Call it a theory, alright?
Alright.
You're worried about
your mother's disappearance,
guilty you didn't see her
when you had the chance,
so you're unwilling
to consider that she might be dead.
Your need to believe she's alive
is so strong
that it manifests itself
as a physical image.
But she told me she's trapped
on that planet, that she's in danger.
If this was wish fulfilment,
don't you think I'd be
fantasising her safe and sound?
No. Because that would be
the end of your fantasy.
You'd know it wasn't true.
The more involved and complicated
and unending your story is...
...the longer you can believe
your mother's still alive.
Well, that's your theory, Counsellor.
I've got one of my own.
I have explored the idea of using
a tractor beam to pull the Raman up.
However, the interference
prevents a positive lock.
If we set up a relay system?
That is my conclusion as well.
Two shuttles staggered
between us and the Raman
with their shields
refocusing the tractor beam.
Can we get the shuttles
close enough safely? Mr La Forge?
Sure.
Yeah, as long as we keep them
above the troposphere.
- Then in that case...
- But what about the Hera?
We'd leave my mother
and her crew stranded.
- Commander...
- I've been thinking about this.
A few weeks ago,
I got a message from my mother.
She said her new chief engineer had
been experimenting with a warp drive.
Now, I've seen the Hera. It uses
trionic initiators in the warp coil.
They have side effects
if you play around with them.
There have been reports of warp
bubbles and subspace deformations.
So, what if that's what happened?
Not a warp bubble,
but a subspace funnel.
Connecting two points?
The Hera could have created
a distortion that emptied out here.
- Why here?
- The Hera passed by ten days ago.
There's an awful lot of
subspace disturbance here.
The ship may have picked up traces
that directed the funnel back here.
So the Hera
is somewhere out there?
Maybe it's surrounded by a warp
field, but who knows for how long?
Do you have any evidence
to support this hypothesis?
I got some odd subspace
readings when I was interfaced.
- That could have been anything.
- But I talked to her.
She said bring the Raman
closer to the planet.
Mr Data, is any of this possible?
Yes, sir.
However, it is highly unlikely.
- How unlikely?
- Nearly impossible, sir.
- Start the shuttle plan.
- Captain...
Dismissed.
Mr La Forge.
I want you to know that I am not
unsympathetic to your situation.
Your mother's disappearance
is tragic,
but I cannot risk your safety
on a dubious hypothesis.
Captain, if I'm right and there's one
chance in a million she's alive...
I'm sorry, Geordi.
My decision is made.
I understand, sir.
We'll be ready to use the tractor
beam in less than an hour.
You didn't come all the way
down here to say that.
No, I didn't.
Geordi.
I may have seemed harsh about
the situation aboard the Raman.
But I don't want one of my best
officers in unnecessary danger.
I guess I feel I should decide
whether it's unnecessary or not.
My mother d*ed when I was a baby.
All I have is pictures, and stories
my father used to tell me about her.
I begged him to tell those stories
over and over.
When I was five
and I went to school,
I told my new friends those same
stories, pretending she was alive.
Then I started believing she was
alive, that she'd just gone away,
that she was coming back.
The teacher got wind of this...
...and she and my father
had a talk with me.
They told me it was important
to accept the fact
that my mother was dead
and that she wasn't coming back.
And all the hoping in the world
wouldn't make it so.
In my mind, that was the day
that my mother actually d*ed.
I cried all that night.
But after that,
it started feeling better.
Your mother was dead.
There was proof. A body, a funeral.
- It was a reality.
- Geordi...
If I could see a body, if there
were wreckage, I'd accept it,
but my mother has just disappeared.
And now, there's a possibility
that she is alive.
And I'm not gonna quit.
Not yet.
I suspected you would attempt
to operate the interface alone.
Did you?
I am familiar enough with your
behaviour to predict some decisions.
- I guess you know me pretty well.
- You are disobeying the Captain.
I can't do nothing when my mother
may be down on that planet.
I cannot allow you
to endanger your wellbeing.
Data, if I leave
without knowing for sure,
I'll have to live with that
all my life,
wondering if I left her to die.
I couldn't do that.
That's why I've got to do this.
I could have you
confined to quarters.
Then do it.
Nothing short of that will stop me
from trying to save my mother.
What are you doing?
I will monitor the interface
and attempt to keep you safe.
I cannot confine you to quarters
for something you have not yet done.
We could both
get in a lot of trouble.
There is a high degree
of probability that you are correct.
Thanks, Data.
- However, I do have a request.
- Yeah? What's that?
I ask you to consider the possibility
that what you see is not real.
I will.
I promise.
I am establishing the interface.
Mom?
- Mom?
- Hello, Geordi.
Mom! How did you get here?
I'm not really with you, Geordi,
I'm on my ship, on the surface.
- We were pulled into a warp funnel.
- That's just what I thought.
How are we communicating?
We found a way to cut through
the atmospheric interference.
Geordi, are you seeing
your mother's image?
Yes.
She's confirmed everything I said.
I am reading unusual subspace energy
similar to what the probe recorded
when you first met your mother.
That's how she's communicating.
It's the only signal that could
cut through the interference.
- We need your help.
- I've been thinking about this.
I'm going to take the Raman
into a low stationary orbit
and initiate
an inverse warp cascade.
Why?
The distortion from the cascade
should reverse the warp funnel.
Your ship will end up
back where it started.
The atmosphere is more turbulent
the farther down you go.
You may not get the Raman near
to the Hera before being destroyed.
I have to try.
We're running out of time.
Shield back on line.
We're starting our descent.
Thank God!
- Thank God?
- That you're alive.
That I was right about all this.
I can't wait to call Dad.
He and Ariana had given up.
We're going home.
Well, eventually, yes. Data!
Everything's fading in and out.
- I'm losing the interface.
- The probe moving is out of range.
Turn up the input gain
to keep me connected.
We are already
at 75 percent of tolerance.
Data! You can turn it all the way up
to 100 if you do it slowly enough,
so my nervous system can adjust.
That is theoretically true.
But even at this level,
you are already experiencing
dangerous neural feedback.
There are over 300 people
on board the Hera.
You and I
are the only chance they've got.
I will increase the gain
incrementally as you descend.
It's working.
When we disconnect the interface, we
need time to lower the input levels
or your nervous system
will go into shock.
Once I start the warp cascade,
we can start dropping the gain.
Understood.
We'll be within sensor range
of the Hera in a few minutes.
Mom, I'm really sorry I didn't get by
to see you a few weeks ago.
- You were too busy with work.
- Yeah, well, I'm sorry.
It won't happen again.
Captain, the Raman
is descending toward the planet.
Geordi!
We are at 90 percent of tolerance.
I calculate you will reach 100
percent before you reach the Hera.
Then we go beyond tolerance.
That is not advisable.
You must cease your descent.
No, Geordi, don't, please.
Data, I'm taking this ship down.
If you don't boost the gain
past tolerance levels,
I'll lose the interface
and go into shock.
Geordi, you are putting me
in a difficult position.
Please, cease your descent.
I won't do it, Data.
Increase the tolerance.
Disengaging safety systems.
Going to full tolerance levels now.
Thank you, Data.
- We're getting close.
- Thank God!
- Cmdr La Forge!
- Yes, Captain?
Stop your descent.
Disengage the interface.
Sorry, Captain, I can't do that.
Damn it, Geordi,
you'll k*ll yourself!
If I come back now, my mother
and her entire crew will die.
I'm scanning for your ship.
I'm not getting anything.
We're still too far away.
No, not really. I should be
picking something up by now.
I'm not finding anything.
There's no warp funnel, no ship.
There's nothing there!
- Doctor, report?
- His synapses are overloading.
- He can't survive!
- Geordi, what's happening?
Reverse tractor beam.
Reversing tractor beam.
What are you?
You're k*lling us. We must go down!
Geordi.
What's happening? Report.
You're trapped?
Is there any way to disconnect him?
If we take him off too abruptly,
he'll go into neural shock.
Caught on the ship?
Reduce the input gradually,
but get him out.
You k*lled the Raman's crew?
- We can deceive his receptors.
- Deceive them?
Feed them sensory data from his
earlier experiences with the probe.
Disconnect the interface
but maintain the input levels.
Then lower them in a controlled way.
- What do you want?
- Like a decompression t*nk? Try it.
It was an accident? Captain,
I have to take the ship lower.
Explain.
As I understand, when the Raman
neared the planet,
it accidentally picked up
some life forms
that live in the atmosphere.
Subspace beings, intelligent.
When the ship went higher,
the beings were trapped.
How do you know all this?
One of them can communicate. It must
have read my thoughts via the probe
and took the form of my mother to
persuade me to take the ship lower.
Are they responsible
for the death of the Raman's crew?
Yes, but not on purpose.
They probably tried communicating
with them the way they are with me,
by accessing their thoughts.
It must have been fatal to the crew.
I guess the interface
is what protected me.
I have to take them back, Captain.
They can't survive
so far up in the atmosphere.
I'll turn the ship and come back
just as soon as I'm...
What's happening?
The atmosphere is getting turbulent.
It's overloading the systems.
It's difficult
keeping the shields up.
Geordi.
We're safe now.
Goodbye.
I'm losing power.
- Shield failure in eight seconds.
- Can we switch the input?
Almost.
Shields are failing.
Switching inputs.
- Is it working?
- His vital signs are stabilising.
He's going to make it.
Captain's log, supplemental.
We have disengaged Mr La Forge
from the interface
and are en route to Starbase 495.
You disobeyed my direct order.
You put yourself in grave danger.
I am not happy.
Yes, sir. I take
complete responsibility. Data was...
I will deal with Mr Data later.
Meanwhile, I have to write this
into your permanent record.
- Yes, sir.
- Dismissed.
Geordi.
I'm very sorry
you didn't find your mother.
Thank you, sir.
You know, it's funny. When I was
down there, it was so real.
I felt like I had a chance
to say goodbye.
07x03 - Interface
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Series is set 78 years after the original series -- in the 24th century.
Series is set 78 years after the original series -- in the 24th century.