Captain's log, star date 43957.2.
We are charting an unexplored star system in the Zeta Gelis Cluster.
This routine assignment has made for a quiet time aboard the Enterprise.
That's her.
- Which one? - The one on the right.
Don't stare!
- Why not? - Because she'll see.
Good. You must let her see the fire in your eyes.
But what would I say?
Words come later.
It is the scent that first speaks of love.
Thanks, Worf. That helps a lot.
Hi, Geordi.
Hi.
- So, how have you been? - Good. I...
- How are things down in Engineering? - Fine. They...
- They've been fine. - Well, I'll see you around.
I have much to teach you about women.
Mr. La Forge, report to transporter room three.
What's this all about?
A one-man spaceship crashed on the planet.
We picked up life signs, humanoid, faint and fading.
Radiation levels within acceptable limits.
We can beam him out into sickbay.
He's not stable enough. His brain stem's damaged.
Autonomic functions failing. His heart needs neurofeedback.
It can't regulate itself. I need a volunteer.
Right here.
I'll hook up your nervous systems through the tricorder.
Your brain will regulate both systems.
That'll stabilize him long enough to get him to the ship.
Take deep breaths. If anything goes wrong, I'll break the connection.
OK.
Geordi!
I'm fine. No problem.
Transporter room, three to beam directly to sickbay.
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.
Autonomic still low. Begin cardio stimulation.
60cc of inaprovaline.
Massive infection is setting in. Use the protodynoplaser to stabilize.
We need to design a virus that will boost his ATP production.
What about Cmdr La Forge? He's waiting.
Give him a full bioscan for any residual effect from the neurolink.
Keep his arm in cryogenic stasis until he's strong enough for surgery.
The wreckage appears to be an escape pod.
A damaged control system probably caused the crash.
An escape pod? They can't have travelled far.
Mr. Data, any other signs of ships in the area?
There is a scattering of debris around the planet.
Refined metals and other synthetic compounds.
Remains of a larger vessel. He must have left before it was destroyed.
Sensors show elements in the debris indicating phaser fire was exchanged.
Did you salvage anything else?
That's all that's left on their computer.
- Can you access it? - It will take time, sir.
Downloading will require fabrication of a matrix translator
to emulate their computer.
- Keep me apprised of your progress. - Aye, sir.
Limb refusion appears to be successful.
Tissue oxygenation is within norms.
That's all we can do for now.
We can't test neuromuscular function for a few days.
- Geordi. - Can I go now, Doc?
No need to keep you. Your bioscan is negative.
Could've told you that. I feel great!
How's your patient?
I never thought he'd make it this far.
Major trauma to his head and chest cavity,
massive plasma loss, severe damage to most organs.
- What are his chances? - I believe he'll live.
I'm afraid I can't take the credit for it, though.
His body seems to have amazing recuperative powers.
The damaged tissue is repairing itself at a phenomenal rate.
- One thing troubles me though. - What's that?
Take a look at this.
- Cell regeneration. - Yes.
The thing is, it has nothing to do with the injuries.
These are undamaged cells that seem to be mutating.
Do you have a theory?
No. I've never seen anything like it in my life.
There is a possibility that it's part of his natural healing process.
I hope it is, because there's nothing I can do to stop it.
There's got to be some way to decode the information in this thing.
I agree. But the data matrix within the capsule
does not match any standard format.
All we have determined is that the device contains
a chemical system for energy encoding.
But the computer can't analyze the specific chemicals.
It must be part of a data-processing system.
What if it's a feedback-loop controller?
The shape suggests rapid chemical processing and storage capacity.
We found it near the escape pod's instrumentation.
It might process the ship's dynamic motions
and augment its control inputs.
Let's send it test signals. Make it think the assemblage is operating.
An intriguing experiment. It might give us information
without having to decode the storage medium.
- We should examine your theory. - Less talk, more synthahol.
- We came here to relax. - I am relaxed.
In fact, I've never felt better.
But you know, Worf? You're right.
The storage capsule can wait awhile.
See you.
Christi, you're not leaving, are you?
I was just on my way down to the arboretum.
- Would you care for some company? - I'd love some.
I didn't think you were interested.
There are a lot of things that you don't know about me.
I've been tutoring him. He learns very quickly.
Medical log, star date 43958. 8.
I have removed patient John Doe from the emergency biosupport unit.
In just 36 hours, most of his organ systems have regenerated themselves
to the point where they can now function on their own.
I am alive?
You certainly are.
Thank you for my life.
Tell me,...
..who am l?
Captain's log, star date 43960.6.
Our mission to map the Zeta Gelis Star Cluster is proceeding on time.
Dr Crusher reports that the recovery of the patient she calls John Doe
continues at a remarkable pace.
Are you experiencing any discomfort?
None. I can feel the life returning to my body.
Your neurofibre waves are functioning almost normally again.
That puts you about six weeks ahead of my original schedule.
That'll give you something to talk about.
You are all we've talked about since your arrival.
I'm ready for the next phase of my treatment.
You are right. You're taking up valuable bed space.
These motor-assist bands will provide you
with electrical stimulation for your arms and legs.
They'll help you relearn how to control your muscles.
You've been off your feet for almost a month.
Don't be disappointed if at first your mobility's restricted.
Your limbs are still weak.
I appreciate your concern, Doctor, but I think I may surprise you again.
I feel strong enough to fly.
Whoops!
I should concentrate on walking first.
Let's try it again, but a little more slowly this time.
Much more slowly.
I envy your reflexes, Captain.
I envy your strength of will.
Dr Crusher has kept me informed of your progress. It's extraordinary.
I have an extraordinary doctor.
She gave me back my life.
I hope that I am worthy of her efforts.
Are you still unable to recall anything about your past?
Unfortunately, my memories begin the moment I woke up in sickbay.
Dr Crusher said you think I was in a battle.
I'm quite sure of that.
Have you any idea how you came to be in that escape pod
- or what happened to the ship? - No.
Believe me, it's horrible not knowing who you are or where you're from.
Have you tried synaptic induction?
His neural nets don't fit known patterns.
Conventional neurotherapy has proven ineffective.
Hopefully, his memory pathways will re-establish themselves naturally.
- That same pain? - Yes.
I think I've made enough progress for one day.
Not a relapse, I hope.
It's nothing to do with his previous wounds.
It's to do with the mutation of his cell structure.
- You have no theory as to the cause? - It makes no sense.
I seem to be a mystery, Doctor.
To you and to myself.
Well, this is where I get off.
- See you tonight in ten-forward? - Yeah, I'll be there.
- Hello, Commander. - Miss Henshaw.
- Bridge. - Deck six.
You and Miss Henshaw are seeing a lot of each other.
Every night this week.
Is that all? You've had that smile on your face a lot longer than that.
I guess I have. This last month, everything seems to be going my way.
Something has changed around here.
- What's changed is you. - Me?
- I'm the same guy I always was. - If you say so.
I don't remember the old Geordi
having much success with Miss Henshaw.
Well, maybe I am more confident than I used to be.
What happened to you?
I was kayaking in the holodeck again.
You dislocated your shoulder.
Sit down. I'll get the osteotractor frame.
- Hi, Mom. We still on for dinner? - 7.30 sharp. I'll be right back.
- Kayaking again? - Yeah.
- How's my mom's favourite patient? - Judge for yourself.
Not bad.
Your mom promised me a tour of the ship tomorrow.
You may find this hard to believe, but sickbay can be very boring.
Doc! I'm dying out here.
Don't worry, my friend. You'll be alright.
The pain's gone.
It's completely healed.
I don't understand.
- What did you do? - I don't know.
It was instinct. I just touched him.
I've run every test and scan on him that I can think of.
There's no physiological evidence
to indicate that he would possess such powers.
But then, so much about John is a mystery.
- You know, I really like him. - He does have a certain charm.
The entire medical staff has commented on it.
You seem taken with him yourself.
He has a strength and serenity that I find very attractive.
And yet he's vulnerable.
I guess I find him intriguing.
Seems there's more to it than that.
Are you asking whether I'm getting romantically involved?
You said it. I didn't.
My feelings towards him aren't romantic exactly.
I mean, I know the doctor/patient relationship
can create a false sense of intimacy, but this is different.
There's an almost spiritual connection.
I guess I'm not making any sense, am l?
I think I understand.
Data, I was thinking about the storage capsule last night.
I was wondering, what if we've been going about this the wrong way?
We've analyzed its mechanical properties.
What if it's a biochemical storage medium?
Do you think it employs memory RNA like an organic cell?
It does contain nucleic acids.
The information may be encoded in the molecular patterns.
Computer, scan the storage capsule.
Analyze molecular sequences on nucleic acid chains.
What do you know. A navigational chart.
It appears your hypothesis was correct.
I knew it. Captain!
Found something?
The storage capsule from the pod contains navigational information.
Can you match these stars to our charts?
Computer, run transformational matrix calculations.
Match navigational reference to known stars in this sector.
Information incomplete. No correlation.
I'm not giving up. Not after coming so close.
You know, that might be flight-path information from John's ship,
but with no frame of reference, I can't determine its origin.
Computer, assume those paths are course corrections.
Derive gravitational values for stellar objects near flight paths.
Most are ordinary G-type stars.
This would appear to be a neutron star, possibly a pulsar.
Which means this may be a rotational time reference.
Computer, assume these symbols are pulsars,
translate associated values into standard temporal notations.
Computer, is there a pulsar with a rotational period
of 1 .5244 seconds within sensor range?
Affirmative.
Bingo!
Computer, overlay navigation chart and project a flight path back.
Flight path originated at bearing 003, mark 015.
Distance, 2.3 parsecs.
That's it. That's where John Doe came from.
That bearing is on our planned course.
Good. We can continue our mission without significant interruption.
Home?
Yes. With information from your escape pod,
we may be able to return you to your people.
I cannot go back.
Why's that?
You must not take me home, Captain.
John, your memory, has it returned?
All I know is we came here to escape.
- Escape? - There were others?
Yes, I was not alone.
But what happened to the others,
or what we were escaping from, I cannot remember.
But I do know you must not take me back. Not yet!
We won't get to your star system for three weeks.
That gives us plenty of time to discuss this further.
Hopefully, you will have regained more of your memory.
You're right, of course, Captain.
I apologize for my outburst.
It's understandable.
This ship is astounding. It seems to stretch on without end.
We can see the rest of it some other time.
It's your first day out of sickbay and I don't want you overexerted.
This looks like an ideal place to rest.
My thoughts exactly.
- Truly remarkable. - What is?
These people are so different and yet they work together freely.
- That surprises you? - It is new to me.
My people are different somehow.
If only I could remember.
Yesterday, for one terrifying moment, there was clarity.
You mean the energy pulse?
Yes, for that moment, my purpose seemed clear.
And then it was gone.
The pain, the energy pulse,
must be linked to the cell mutation in the body.
I wish I could help you find the truth.
Beverly, you've done so much for me.
- I only wish I could repay you. - But you have.
The friendship we've developed has made me very happy.
The rapport between us also means a great deal to me.
But I am on some kind of a journey.
Whatever brought me here,
whatever is happening to my body,
is all part of that journey.
And I must complete it...
..before any other consideration.
Sir, I am reading a vessel on long-range scanners.
- It is coming from Sector 9569. - What configuration?
Impossible to identify at this distance.
However, it is on an intercept course.
Captain, the ship is travelling at warp 9.72.
Warp 9.72?
- Time till intercept? - 1 0 hours, 53 minutes.
Try and hail them, Mr. Worf.
No response, Captain.
Monitor their approach.
Repeat the hail every half-hour.
Whoever they are, they're in a big hurry to get here.
Dr Crusher, medical emergency, room four.
I can't make it stop.
- John, is it worse than before? - Much worse.
Shall I get something for the pain?
No, it wouldn't do any good. His cell structure is transforming.
- I have to leave, Beverly. - John, where do you have to go?
- I must get off this ship. - That's impossible.
- Not in your condition. - I must!
Security.
OK, let's realign the magnetic inducer on the starboard nacelle.
John!
Leave the control booth immediately.
John, listen to me.
You must come down. I'll try to help you.
Step away from the controls.
Get back. Please, stay away.
I have no wish to harm you, but you must return to sickbay immediately.
Do not come any closer. I cannot control what is happening to me.
His neck is broken. No life signs.
Sickbay, form a resuscitation team.
Transporter room, stand by.
- Hold it! - No, don't.
- Hold still. - Doc.
I can't believe it.
There's no trace of injury.
You admit you were trying to steal a shuttlecraft?
- Yes. - So I ask you again, why?
I don't know.
Unacceptable. You had a reason. What was it?
- You nearly killed Worf. - And healed him.
That's why he's here and not in the brig.
I warned him. I told him it was dangerous.
Why? Why was it dangerous? What is happening to you?
I don't know.
The metamorphosis is accelerating.
It's as if your body generates
an electrical field that warps the tissue.
Who are you? What are you?
I'm afraid.
For myself. For all of you.
I have to get away. Isolate myself.
Whatever is happening to me, it's dangerous.
- As Lt Worf discovered. - I don't want to hurt anyone.
For the sake of your crew, let me go before this happens again.
I don't believe you're capable of harming...
Captain, the alien vessel is within weapons range. Its shields are up.
I'm on my way. I want him kept under constant surveillance.
John. I really want to thank you.
For what?
I don't know how or even why
but down on the planet you gave me something.
A new confidence.
I doubt I can take credit for that.
Perhaps I only helped you find something you already had.
Captain, on screen.
Alien vessel approaching at half-impulse, sir.
Heading 051, mark 114.
Raise shields. Slow to one-third impulse power.
Bring us to 1 03, mark 025. Mr. Worf, hail the alien vessel.
They continue to ignore our hail, sir.
They are scanning us, sir.
- They are answering our hail. - On screen.
Sunad!
- You know him? - Yes.
I don't know how, but he's dangerous.
I am Cmdr Sunad of Zalkon.
You are trespassing into our space.
You are holding a Zalkonian citizen.
I am Capt Picard of the United Federation.
- We do not intend... - Return him to us immediately.
This individual is a guest aboard our ship.
We found him dying in a shipwreck. We returned him to health.
Then you aided a criminal.
He is one of four escaped prisoners.
We eliminated the other three. We thought this one dead.
Return him so we may complete our task.
- Of what is he accused? - He is a disruptive influence.
He spreads lies. He encourages dissent.
He disturbs the natural order of our society.
In what way?
It is not your concern. I will give you two hours to comply.
Tactical analysis.
The Zalkonian ship is formidable.
Their weaponry is comparable to ours.
They are as fast and manoeuvrable as us.
- Counsellor, will they do it? - I believe so.
Sunad's hatred for John was evident,
but there is something else.
The Zalkonians are afraid of John.
Cmdr Riker, Counsellor, Doctor, John, join us.
Data, you have the bridge. Mr. Worf, counter any Zalkonian moves.
Aye, sir.
I can neither confirm nor deny what the Zalkonians told you.
They make serious accusations against you.
They may be true. I don't know.
I don't believe that I am a criminal.
You understand the difficult position in which I am placed?
Completely.
And I refuse to place your ship in danger.
If necessary, I will surrender to them.
But I am convinced there is more at stake here than my life.
There's something important I must complete.
My survival is vital.
If I could explain it, I would.
I'll inform you of my decision shortly.
- You're not considering...? - We must consider all options,
and not let our feelings impede our judgement.
It's irrelevant that he'll die?
Our approval of the Zalkonians' intentions is not the issue.
But for what it's worth, I believe that John is correct
that his existence has broader ramifications
than that of a criminal.
Sunad thinks so. He's personally threatened by John.
Sunad called John a disruptive influence. Hardly a capital offence.
It's not up to us to judge their laws.
I know how I would feel if the situation were reversed,
if they held a Federation citizen.
The Zalkonians don't understand our indecision about returning John.
They think we shouldn't be involved.
But we are involved! I saved his life. For what?
So they can chase him down and take away that life again?
We will not tolerate more delays.
Commander, let me remind you, we are on a mission of exploration.
We want to establish peaceful relations with those we encounter.
We do not want relations with you.
If that is your wish, we will respect it.
We want you to leave our space after you return the criminal.
We will leave.
It is not our policy to intervene in other cultures.
But before I return the survivor to you,
I would appreciate an explanation
of what he has done to merit a death sentence.
- It is not your concern! - Agreed.
But there are circumstances of which you may be unaware.
The survivor has suffered a memory loss.
He is ill-equipped to defend himself.
There is no defence! Our judgement is final.
One more thing. Since recovery, he's manifested unusual abilities.
What kind of abilities?
He has the power to heal injuries with a simple touch.
- Lies. - And even to reverse death itself.
Obviously he has corrupted you as well. I see I'm wasting my time.
I can't breathe.
It's come back to me, Beverly.
I know who I am.
What I am.
Ready all weapons.
You will no longer harm these people.
Fire upon that ship.
Do not be afraid.
I won't hurt you.
Kill him, Captain. He's evil.
You could learn from these people, Sunad. They do not fear me.
They don't know how dangerous you are. You and your kind.
Leaders like you have maintained that for generations. It is not true.
Captain, my species is on the verge of a wondrous evolutionary change.
A transmutation beyond our physical being.
I am the first of my kind to approach this metamorphosis.
They said it was a sickness we would never survive.
That the pain and energy pulses would kill us.
They said we were dangerous.
They killed anyone undergoing the transfiguration.
- We were protecting our society. - By murdering us.
You saw us as a threat.
You were terrified of what you didn't understand.
Some suspected that what was happening to them was not evil.
Four of us decided to flee Zalkon
and let the metamorphosis take its course.
You hunted us down, killed the others,
but I survived...
..with the help of a kind...
..and generous people.
There is nothing to fear.
You can join me. All Zalkonians can.
- Let me show you. - Don't touch me!
As you wish.
But others will listen now that I can tell the truth.
Those who are willing will follow me.
Sunad is back aboard the Zalkonian vessel, Captain.
My people are embarking on a new realm,
a new plane of existence, thanks to you.
It is our mission to seek out life in all forms.
We're privileged to be present at the emergence of a new species.
Beverly, you gave me life and more.
I do not have the words for my gratitude,...
..or my sorrow at leaving you.