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
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
Hopeful calm with a touch of paternal warmth, tempered by the mystery of the vanished colony
Captain Picard commands the ship into close parking orbit around Data's barren homeworld, then orders Commander Riker to assemble an away team. He smiles warmly at Data and acknowledges the significance of the moment, saying 'This is an exciting moment for you, Data,' demonstrating both command authority and personal sensitivity.
- • Safely establish orbit around the planet
- • Initiate a thorough investigation of the colony's disappearance
- • Acknowledge and support Data's unique emotional experience
- • Data's origins are worth exploring for both personal and scientific reasons
- • Following standard Starfleet protocol for an away mission is the correct response
- • Showing empathy toward Data reinforces his value as a crew member
Puzzled contemplation mixed with a subtle sense of incompleteness or melancholy regarding his own identity
Data steps onto the bridge from the turbolift, declines the helm, and moves forward to intently study the planet on the main viewer. He admits to Captain Picard that he does not understand 'sweet' as applied to 'home,' and acknowledges that his memories are data imprints devoid of personal experience. He responds to Worf's question about the colony's fate, describing a sudden danger and a blank.
- • Reconcile the data he holds with the sensory reality of his homeworld
- • Communicate the limits of his memory to the senior staff
- • Prepare to join the away team to investigate his own origins
- • His memories are factual but not experiential, making him deficient in human understanding
- • The colony's destruction was sudden and remains unexplained
- • He is an android whose origin is tied to this planet and its lost people
Determined and focused, with underlying skepticism about the colony's fate
Commander Riker offers Data the helm, then respects Data's refusal and assigns Wesley to the position. He questions Data about the nature of his memories, probing the gap between knowledge and experience. Upon receiving Picard's order, he immediately begins assembling the away team, shifting from orbit operations to investigative readiness.
- • Prepare a capable away team quickly
- • Understand the limits of Data's memories to inform the investigation
- • Ensure ship readiness while away team is on the surface
- • The colony's disappearance is a serious mystery demanding scrutiny
- • Data's unique perspective is valuable despite his memory limitations
- • Starfleet's judgment expects thorough and cautious action
Serious and alert, with underlying concern about the unknown threat that destroyed the colony
Worf stands nearby and directly questions Data about his memory of the colony's fate. He listens intently to Data's response about a sudden danger and then a blank, indicating his tactical concern. He is part of the away team being assembled and will move to the turbolift with the others.
- • Gather information about the colony's destruction from Data's perspective
- • Prepare for potential danger during the surface investigation
- • The colony's disappearance likely involved violence or an external threat
- • Data's partial memory might contain crucial clues
Focused and composed, treating the orbital maneuver as standard procedure despite the unusual context
Geordi La Forge reports the ship's approach and confirms close parking orbit. He listens to the bridge discussion while focusing on his helm console. He will depart the bridge with the away team once the orbit is established and the order is given.
- • Execute the captain's orbital command accurately
- • Prepare for the away mission by maintaining situational awareness
- • Accurate sensor readings and ship handling are essential to the mission
- • Data's homeworld investigation is a significant scientific opportunity
Attentive and focused on his new duty, with curiosity about the unfolding events
Wesley Crusher emerges from the turbolift with Data and, at Riker's direction, takes over the helm console. He remains attentive, observing the bridge dynamics and the discussion about Data's memory. He does not speak but is present as the replacement helmsman.
- • Satisfactorily perform as relief helm officer
- • Learn from the senior officers' handling of the situation
- • He is trusted to handle bridge duties in place of regular officers
- • Observing command decisions is part of his development
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
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.
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.
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.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
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
Within this 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."
Data Reveals Fragmented Memories of Lost Colony"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 Barren Truth of Data’s OriginsAcross episodes
"The Holodeck crisis in Episode 13, where Beverly and Picard are trapped, creates the immediate need for Wesley to step up as a bridge officer, which later manifests in his assuming Data's station in Episode 14."
Riker Delegates Command and Mobilizes Holodeck Rescue"Worf’s role as the voice of discipline and strategic restraint in Episode 13 (advising patience during the Jarada probe crisis) continues in Episode 14, where he maintains a vigilant, disciplined presence during the away mission on Omicron Theta. His demeanor reflects continuity in his character's identity as a security officer prioritizing vigilance and protection."
Riker's Tense Vigil Amid Jarada Silence"Picard’s order to assemble the away team in E14 directly leads to Riker’s formal confirmation of the away team’s readiness in E15, creating a procedural continuity between the two episodes."
Resolute Departure: Commanding the Diplomatic Mission to Angel One"Worf's role in relaying the away team's request to scan for platinum on Angel One extends his earlier vigilance and proactive security role from the away mission to Omicron Theta. His command of communications equipment and responsiveness to crew needs demonstrate continuity in his tactical and supportive functions."
Picard Commands Systematic Platinum Scan Around Angel One"The command to assemble an away team in Episode 14 ('Datalore') directly leads to the formation of an away team in Episode 15 ('Angel One'), marking a procedural continuity in Starfleet missions and setting up a new diplomatic investigation."
Enterprise Initiates Diplomatic Contact with Angel One"The command to assemble an away team in Episode 14 leads directly to the away team deployment in Episode 15, maintaining narrative continuity for the crew’s actions."
Resolute Departure: Commanding the Diplomatic Mission to Angel OneThemes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
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."