Home > Star Trek: The Next Generation

The Inner Light

Captain's Log, Stardate 45944.1.

Following a magnetic wave survey of the Parvenium system

we have detected an object

which we cannot immediately identify.

Magnify.

Mr. Data?

It appears to be a probe of some kind, but there is no starfleet record of this shape or design.

Is it scanning us?

No, sir, but it has assumed a relative position and is holding course with us.

The probe is composed of paricium and talgonite-- a ceramic alloy.

Not a very sophisticated technology.

Sir, I am detecting a low-level nucleonic beam coming from the probe.

Shields up. Stand by phasers.

The beam is scanning the shield's perimeter.

The probe is emitting an unusual particle stream.

Sir, the beam is penetrating our shields.

Increase speed to...

Captain?

It's all right.

Captain, I've got you.

It's all...

Well, finally.

How are you feeling?

Kamin?

Can you answer me?

What is this place?

Oh, you're still feverish.

Computer, freeze program.

Computer, end program.

Kamin...

Picard to Enterprise...

Kamin, please don't get up yet.

You're still not well.

I asked you, what is this place?

This is your home, of course.

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 civilizations,

to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Am I a prisoner here?

Please, dear, you've had a high fever for three days.

You mustn't push yourself too quickly.

Kamin... you really shouldn't go outside.

Kamin... please come back inside.

( applause )

Thank you.

This sapling is planted as an affirmation of life in defiance of the drought.

And with expectations of long life.

Whatever comes, we will keep it alive as a symbol of our survival.

Kamin, you're back on your feet.

How do you feel, my friend?

Are you in charge here?

In charge?

I want to be returned to my ship immediately.

What ship is that?

Please...

Just tell me, what is this place?

Where am I?

The fever.

It's taken your memory.

That must be it.

Perhaps you can help me.

Anything, my friend.

My name is Kamin. Yes.

And you are...?

Batai.

Council leader Batai.

Ah...

Batai.

You say I've been ill?

For more than a week.

Eline should have put you in the hospital but she insisted on caring for you herself.

Eline?

Your wife.

If you don't remember that, maybe it's safer not to go home.

And, uh... what is this place?

Perhaps you should see the doctor. No.

Please... I'm sure it will all come back to me.

This is the community of Ressik, northern province.

What planet?

Let me take you back home. No, really, I'm quite all right.

Just answer me: what planet?

This is the planet Kataan.

Kataan... not a Federation planet.

I, uh, think I'll...

I'll just take a walk.

But you've been ill for a week.

The exercise will do me good.

I'll, uh, try to reacquaint myself with the surroundings.

( knocking at the door )

Thank goodness.

I've had people out, trying to find you everywhere.

Why did you worry us like that?

Are you hungry?

Hungry, thirsty, exhausted.

I suppose that proves this is not a dream... doesn't it?

You think that this-- your life-- is a dream?

This is not my life.

I know that much.

I've kept something hot for you.

Where did you go?

I walked... for hours.

And you, just out of bed.

This is delicious.

You always say that.

Would you try to answer some questions for me, no matter how strange they may seem to you?

Of course.

Are there any other planets in this star system?

Do you visit other systems?

All right.

Um... do you have a communication system here?

How do you... how do you send messages to other communities-- other places?

The usual way-- by voice transit conductor.

Do you want to send a message?

Mm-hmm, yes.

Um, when can that be arranged?

Tomorrow.

Don't you want to ask about us?

Of course.

Um... anything you can tell me will be helpful.

We, um... we, um... we're married.

Three years ago.

The happiest day of my life was the day we got married.

And what do I do here in Ressik?

You're the best iron weaver in the community-- at least I think so.

You prefer playing the flute, of course.

The flute?

Yes.

When did I learn to play this?

I'm afraid you never did, dear.

You do keep trying.

I see what you mean.

Well, thank you for the soup.

And thank you for your help.

Tomorrow, will you help me to send a message?

Of course.

Now, will you come to bed?

Oh, I'll sleep here.

Kamin, please come with me.

I've been sick.

I'll be tossing and turning.

It wouldn't be fair to you.

Let me be the judge of that.

Where did you get this?

Kamin, this is the first gift you ever gave me.

Riker to sick bay. The captain's hurt.

Pulse and blood pressure are normal.

I'm getting hyperactive fibrogenic activity.

This is odd. What is it?

There's no evidence of any injury or trauma.

Vital signs are normal but neurotransmitter production is off the scale.

What's going on?

This probe is doing something to him.

Anything yet, Data?

No, sir.

The particle emission is most unusual.

I am unable to block it.

We should destroy the probe. Phasers are armed and ready.

I don't think that's wise-- not until we know exactly what it's doing to him.

Agreed. Stand down phasers, Mr. Worf.

In the meantime, take us out of range, Ensign.

Thrusters only, 100 kph. Nice and easy.

Aye, sir. Data?

The probe is moving with us, sir, holding relative position.

It's connected itself to him like a tether.

You've been dreaming about that starship of yours again, haven't you?

I'm just charting the progress of the course of the sun.

Might give a clue to the cause of this drought.

I think you're still trying to figure out where you are, where that ship of yours is, how to get back to that life.

The memory is five years old now... but it's still inside me.

Was your life there so much better than this?

So much more gratifying?

So much more fulfilling that you cling to it with such stubbornness?

Eline... It must have been extraordinary, but never, in all the stories you've told me, have you mentioned anyone who loved you as I do.

( sighs )

It was real.

It was as real as this is.

And you can't expect me to forget a lifetime spent there.

Yes, I can.

I've been patient, Kamin.

For five years, I've shared you with that other life.

I've listened,

I've tried to understand, and I have waited.

When do I get you back?

I know. I know.

It has been hard on you.

When will you let go?

When will you start living this life?

When will we start a family?

BATAI: Kamin.

Eline. Good morning.

Good morning, Batai.

Are you ready?

The administrator's already arrived.

Yes. Will you come along?

No, thank you.

You do very well on your own.

She always was strong-minded, even as a child.

It's not her fault.

These past few years have been very difficult for her.

And for you, I think.

There you are, Batai. Perhaps you can explain to me, when crops are dying all over, how this tree is flourishing.

This tree is our symbol, our affirmation of life.

Everyone in this town gives part of their water rations to keep it alive.

We've learned, Administrator, that hope is a powerful weapon against anything, even drought.

A good point.

Perhaps I shall recommend a symbolic tree in each of my communities.

Now, what business do we have today?

We need help if we're to increase the water supply.

We think there are ways to reclaim some of our water.

Batai, you're being a bit of an alarmist.

True, we are in a drought, but water rationing has produced a sizeable savings.

If the weather pattern doesn't change, rationing will not be enough-- we'll run out of water.

Who is this?

Kamin, sir.

Kamin.

Do I know you?

No. I haven't spoken to you before.

Well, Kamin, I'm open to all the people of this town.

I'm delighted to hear what you have to say.

I suggest that we build atmospheric condensers which could extract water from the air.

I don't mean to quash your very creative ideas, but building atmospheric condensers would be a monumental undertaking.

We could not hope to sustain such a project.

Each community will be responsible for its own.

Condensers could make the difference between watering our crops and watching them die.

Well, I'll be glad to pass along your idea.

You'll see that this kind of participatory government works for everyone.

Be well, Batai. I shall see you next month.

Good to meet you... Kamin.

BATAI: Go carefully, Administrator.

That went very well.

I think he was impressed with you.

There will be no atmospheric condensers.

Well, these things take time, but it will happen.

I'm sure of it.

Come and have supper tonight, old friend.

I'll make some vegetable stew.

Let's talk about building our own condenser, hmm?

Kamin... hearing you talk to the administrator,

I realized that for the first time in years you were speaking as though you were truly a member of the community.

It was good to hear that again.

( flute playing )

You've been brooding behind that flute all evening.

I'm not brooding. I'm immersed in my music.

Music.

I find that it helps me to think.

But the real surprise is-- I enjoy it so much.

No, the real surprise is that you may actually be improving.

Batai.

Yes, ma'am.

Go home.

Yes, ma'am.

Good night, Kamin.

Good night, my friend.

Go carefully, Batai.

Don't forget these.

I won't put them away for you again.

Yes, ma'am.

I've done nothing but nag all day.

I'm sorry.

No, I'm the one who's sorry.

Everything you said this morning was absolutely correct.

I feel that I have given you so little and you have given me so much.

No.

You're a good man, a wonderful husband.

I didn't mean...

No, not such a wonderful husband.

I spend my spare time charting the stars, disappear for days at a time exploring the countryside.

My life is very much as it was.

Old habits.

You're gentle and kind.

You never once raised your voice to me.

I'd like to ask your permission to build something.

Kamin, you've built your telescope, your laboratory.

You don't need my permission for something new.

In this case, I think I do.

What is it?

A nursery.

Really?

Really?

Unless, of course, if you would prefer a porch, it would certainly be much easier to build and I could make a start on it right away.

No, no.

Geordi, any progress identifying the probe?

Maybe. I picked up some residue on the probe's shell.

I think it came from the propulsion system.

Looks like they used a solid propellant as fuel.

Solid propellant?

Sensors read this stuff as crystalline emiristol-- produces a radioactive trail that ought to be traceable.

Well then, we should be able to send out a probe of our own to trace it back to the origin.

I'll get right on it. Commander,

I've been analyzing the nucleonic beam.

I believe it would be possible to reflect the particles back toward the probe in a way that would disrupt the signal.

Doctor?

I simply don't know the risk of shutting down the beam.

I'm not willing to let this thing keep drilling into him.

If somebody gets stabbed, you don't necessarily pull the knife out right away.

It might do more harm than leaving it there.

The captain is under attack.

We must act.

I'm inclined to agree.

Doctor, monitor him closely.

Mr. Data, prepare to disrupt the beam.

We're going to try to cut this cord.

( Picard playing flute )

ELINE: Meribor!

Meribor, this is your brother's ceremony.

Don't fidget now.

( applause )

We name this child for a dear friend who died a year ago but now his memory will live on in his namesake.

We name you Batai in his honor.

And he's starting out in the warmth of friends.

Thank you.

Please, help yourselves to something to eat.

Congratulations, Kamin.

Thank you.

It seems like only yesterday we had Meribor's naming ceremony.

Go on.

I remember.

I was so nervous, I was afraid that I would drop her.

Now, look at the little lady.

Oh, she's no lady, tromping through the hills with you all day, digging up those soil samples you insist upon collecting.

No, she's her father's daughter.

I would have believed that I didn't need children to complete my life.

Now I couldn't imagine life without them.

Kamin? What is it?

( gasping )

Get the doctor. Hurry!

( gasping )

His respiratory system's in spasm.

Pulse is irregular and weakening. I'm losing him.

I'm getting massive somatophysical failure.

Two CCs Delactovine.

Data, get that beam back.

There are severe fluctuations in the isocortex.

Synaptic responses are failing.

Begin full cardiac induction.

Blood pressure is dropping rapidly-- 70 over 20.

Data, you've got to reestablish that beam.

I am attempting to do so, Doctor.

Losing response in the isocortex.

Cortical stimulators.

Start at ten percent.

The beam is fully restored, doctor.

Blood pressure up to 90 over 40... and rising.

Isocortical functions are stabilizing.

Vital signs are approaching normal.

Meribor.

Happy day, Father.

Hey, that's my hobby. Find your own.

You're the one who taught me.

Don't complain if you turned me into a scientist.

And what has the scientist been up to today?

Analyzing soil samples.

There isn't any anaerobic bacteria.

The soil is dead.

This isn't just a very long drought, is it, Father?

I have entries in my log that go back ten years.

You have data preceding that for 15 years.

You've reached the same conclusion. I know you have.

I haven't reached any conclusion.

A good scientist doesn't function by conjecture.

A good scientist functions by hypothesizing and then proving or disproving that hypothesis.

That's what I did.

Hey, why don't you spend more time with that young man Dannick?

You're changing the subject. No, I'm not.

I'm just hypothesizing that he's in love with you.

You've taught me to pursue the truth, no matter how painful it is.

It's too late to back off now.

This planet is dying.

( sighs )

Perhaps I should have filled your head with trivial concerns.

Games and toys and clothes.

I don't think you mean that.

No, I don't.

( sighs ) It just... saddens me to see you... burdened with the knowledge of things you can't change.

Father, I think I should marry Dannick sooner rather than later, don't you?

Seize the time, Meribor.

Live now.

Make now always the most precious time.

Now will never come again.

I love you, Father.

His vital signs are holding.

They've been stable ever since the beam was restored.

LA FORGE: Commander Riker, we've started to receive telemetry from the probe we launched.

Go ahead. We've charted the alien probe's radiation trail for over one light year.

Any way to extrapolate an origin?

Looks like a star system in the Silarian sector-- Kataan.

Never heard of it. Data?

It is an unmapped system of six planets, sir.

Any of them inhabited?

Not any longer, sir. The star went nova.

All life in this system was destroyed approximately 1,000 years ago.

I put away your shoes for you again.

Yes. Thank you, dear.

You know, I've been looking through this thing on and off for over 30 years, and I still don't see what you and Meribor find so fascinating.

Fine. Then maybe you'll sit down and have a rest as you're supposed to.

Oh, you treat me like some frail flower.

People have surgery all the time.

Hmm.

( flute music playing )

He loves playing.

He's quite good at it, don't you think?

Well, he loves doing a lot of things.

Last week, all he wanted to do was be a botanist-- the week before that, a sculptor.

I wish he could find some focus in his life.

I think he has.

Maybe you should talk to him.

Batai?

Father?

I get the feeling from your mother that you have something to tell me.

Yes.

I was waiting for the right moment, but that will never come.

I'm leaving school.

Leaving school? No, you're not!

I want to concentrate on my music.

That's what I care about.

Well, last year, all you cared about was mathematics.

The year before that, botany. Now...

But through it all, there was my music.

I think you know that, Father.

This is the life I want.

Well, we'll, um... we'll discuss it.

Thank you, Father.

Hmm...

Even after all these years, you still have the ability to surprise me.

If music is what he wants, why should I stand in his way?

Anyway, who knows how much time he'll have to follow any dream?

Are you still planning to talk to the administrator tomorrow?

Mm-hmm. There's a possibility he'll dismiss me from the council.

Unless, of course, you keep quiet.

No. The evidence is too pronounced.

I can't stay silent.

What a surprise.

Kamin, what do you hope to accomplish?

Spreading rumors that the planet is doomed?

There could be chaos.

The facts are here.

At least show them to someone who will recognize what they mean.

I won't be a party to your making trouble.

Well, then, if you won't take them, I most certainly will.

Your observations... your findings.

Our scientists reached those same conclusions two years ago.

Well, what did you expect us to do?

Make it public?

Can you imagine the effect?

But surely the technology must exist to save something of this world.

Perhaps... perhaps some people could be evacuated.

Evacuated where? Our technology is limited.

We're just beginning to launch small missiles.

A collection of genetic samples.

Something. Anything.

You simply cannot let this civilization die.

Enough.

There is a plan in work.

I cannot tell you more than that.

Father!

What is it?

It's mother. Hurry.

Doctor?

Kamin, I'm sorry.

You see?

I'll go to any length to get your attention.

You always did have a flair for the dramatic.

Doctor, thank you.

Batai?

Leave us alone for a moment.

I...

I need to talk to my husband.

Did you show the administrator your evidence?

I didn't have to.

They already knew.

So... he won't throw you off the council?

No.

Good.

Remember.

Put your shoes away.

I promise.

( playful cackling )

I got you, got you, I got you.

Now I've got you.

Some children are certainly making a lot of noise in here.

You shouldn't be outside so long.

It's damaging. You know that.

I'm wearing plenty of your skin protector.

How about you, young man?

Do you wear your skin protector outdoors?

You do?

Good boy.

Happy day, everybody.

It's time to go see the launching.

What launching? What is he talking about?

They're sending up a missile, Father.

We are going to watch it.

Well, I'm not going anywhere to watch anything.

Come on, Kamie. Hurry up, now.

Let's go see the launching.

Breaks my heart to look at him.

Who?

My grandson.

Breaks my heart.

He deserves a rich, full life, and he's not going to get one.

Please come, Father.

Why didn't I hear anything about a launching?

( chuckling )

Did everyone know about this except me?

I'll, uh, I'll be all right sitting here.

You go off with the others.

Hold onto my grandson and watch the damned thing go up, for all the good it will do.

What is it they're launching?

You know about it, Father.

You've already seen it.

Seen it?

What are you talking about?

I haven't seen any missile.

BATAI: Yes, you have, old friend.

Don't you remember?

Batai.

You saw it just before you came here.

We hoped our probe would encounter someone in the future-- someone who could be a teacher-- someone who could tell the others about us.

Oh...

Oh, it's me.

Isn't it?

I'm the someone.

I'm the one it finds.

That's what this launching is-- a probe that finds me in the future.

ELINE: Yes, my love.

Eline...

The rest of us have been gone a thousand years.

If you remember what we were and how we lived, then we'll have found life again.

Eline...

( rocket engine rumbling )

Now we live in you.

Tell them of us, my darling.

Something's happening.

The nucleonic beam has ceased, Commander.

The probe has shut down.

His cerebral functions are stabilizing.

Mr. Worf, put a tractor beam on that probe.

I want it in Shuttle Bay 2 for examination.

Yes, Commander.

What?

Please, Captain, don't get up too quickly.

Captain...

This is the Enterprise.

I'm Jean-Luc Picard.

How long...?

20, 25 minutes.

25 minutes?

Captain, I want you in sick bay.

I'd like to run a full diagnostic on you.

Dr. Crusher...

( door chiming )

Come.

Hello, sir.

Feeling better?

Yes. Yes, thank you.

But I find that I'm...

I'm having to rediscover that this is really my home.

We were able to open the probe and examine it.

Apparently, whatever had locked onto you must have been self-terminating.

It isn't functioning any longer.

We found this inside.

( playing lullaby )