Sol -- but if he wasn't alive, then he wouldn't have been allowed to resign from Starfleet and would have been forced to undergo Maddox's experiments. Because of the ruling, Data was found sentient and allowed to refuse Maddox's experiments.**
The Enterprise is going to explore a class-M world, when they suddenly find themselves flying into a wormhole. The crew is knocked out by the ride -- except for Data, who revives the crew and tells them they've been unconscious for a few seconds.
But one of Dr. Crusher's experiements has aged by a full day; Worf has a pain in his wrist, and examining it, Dr. Crusher discovers that she mis-set the bones in his wrist (but doesn't remember doing it); Deanna Troi looks into a mirror, and doesn't see "herself", scaring her so badly Worf nearly knocks down the doors to her quarters after she screams.
There are some other oddities which crop up. For one, the probe Data launched to investigate the planet is transmitting data of another planet on the other side of the Federation.
Doing some investigation, LaForge learns that someone has reset the ship's chronometer. This is bad news for Data, because only LaForge and Data can reset the chronometer.
Confronted by Picard, Data refuses to answer any of the captain's questions, but does his best to disuade Picard from returning to the Class-M world. Picard orders Data to reveal what happened during the missing day, and Data says he is under orders to not reveal what happened. Picard is, of course, amazed. Did Starfleet contact the Enterprise and give Data that order? No, Data replied. You did.
The Enterprise returns to the Class-M world, when Deanna Troi suddenly steps onto the bridge and coldly tells Data (in a very deep voice), that the plan has failed and the Enterprise will now be destroyed.
Data informs Picard of what happened: the Paxons are very territorial about their space. They don't like outsiders, so they've got a "booby-trap": they wipe the memories of intruders, and send the starships on their way. When the intruders wake up, they count themselves lucky for surviving a wormhole and keep going.
But, they didn't count on Data. The lead Paxon took control of Troi, and injured Worf when he tried to stop her. Data and Picard came up with the idea of wiping everyone's mind, and ordering Data not to reveal the existance of the Paxons. This was an okay deal with the Paxons, so it was done.
But now the Enterprise is back, and the Paxons aren't very thrilled. Picard explains that humans love a mystery, and asks the Paxons to consider the first time a "run-through", and says that now that they know what to look for, they can eliminate all the clues. The Paxons agree ...
And the crew revives. Data informs them they have just passed through a wormhole. Picard wants to return to the mysterious Class-M world, but Data says that wouldn't be a good idea (gotta love technobabble), and launches a probe instead ...
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Star Trek Gamma Quadrant
Average Rated 8.32 out of 10 Smileys by Fabrux (with seven eps posted)
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"Oh, yes, screw logic, let's go for a theory with no evidence!"
-Omega 11:48am, Jan. 19th, 2001
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Card-Carrying Member of the Flare APAO
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"I think this reason why girls don't do well on multiple choice tests goes all the way back to the Bible, all the way back to Genesis, Adam and Eve. God said, 'All right, Eve, multiple choice or multiple orgasms, what's it going to be?' We all know what was chosen" - Rush Limbaugh, Feb. 23, 1994.
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