Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987–1994): Season 6, Episode 24 - Second Chances - full transcript

Captain's log, stardate 46915.2.

The Enterprise
is orbiting Nervala IV,

waiting for an opportunity
to retrieve scientific data

left there by Starfleet researchers

when they evacuated
eight years ago.

Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

- Any requests tonight?
- Night Bird.

- Any requests?
- Night Bird.



Ladies and gentlemen, Night Bird.
One, two...

What was that all about?

Will's been trying to get this piece
right for ten years.

He's never made it through the solo.

Here it comes.

- Data to Cmdr Riker.
- Go ahead.

- You are needed on the bridge.
- On my way.

Saved by the bell.

- You wanted to see me?
- Yes, sir.

We can transport to the surface
sooner than anticipated.

Is the distortion field
rephasing early?

No, sir. Using the Potemkin's logs
from the original evacuation,

Cmdr La Forge and I
modified the transporters.

We can beam out
through higher distortion?



Transporters are more efficient
than those used eight years ago.

That's a good thing. I almost
didn't make it off the surface.

- When can we start?
- 97 minutes.

- How long will the window be open?
- 26 minutes.

After that, the field will rephase.

That's not much time
to retrieve the database.

The proximity to the sun will create
two windows in the next three days.

- Let's hope that's enough.
- It has to be.

The next window
will not occur for eight years

when the planet's orbit will bring it
close enough to the sun.

OK. Notify the away team
we're going in ahead of schedule.

Aye, sir.

This is different than I remember.

- This place was a mess.
- Commander.

- Someone was here.
- A ship could have crashed.

The survivors may have taken refuge.

Commander, someone is approaching.

Humanoid.
40 meters due east and closing.

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.

- Who are you?
- Who are you?

Cmdr William Riker, from
the Federation Starship Enterprise.

That's not possible. I'm Will Riker.

May I ask how you got here?

Eight years ago,
I came to evacuate this station.

- What ship were you on?
- The Potemkin.

Why did you not return
with the others?

I was the last one out.

The distortion field
interfered with the transport.

They lost the signal lock on me.

When I tried to contact the ship,
I couldn't get through.

Starfleet will have recorded
that I was lost on that day.

That's not what happened. I was
the last one out and I made it back.

You don't believe me?

It's not that we don't believe you.

It's just hard to see
how both stories could be true.

- Will you let our doctor check you?
- Of course.

Mr. Worf, take him to sickbay
and notify the Captain.

Let's get to work.

- Worf to Enterprise. Two to beam up.
- Stand by.

Looks like you fractured your arm.

I was doing some repairs
when an earthquake hit.

I got caught in a rockslide.
I had to set it myself.

Jean-Luc Picard.

Lt Will Riker.

I hope you understand
I'll need to verify your claim.

Yes, sir.

Genetically, he is indistinguishable
from Cmdr Riker.

Could there be
some sort of cloning involved here?

I don't think so. No genetic drift.

- But it's not conclusive.
- I compared their brain scans.

Brain patterns
are as unique as fingerprints.

Except for minor differences,
theirs are identical.

- Can't brain patterns be cloned?
- No.

They're determined by experience,
mostly from childhood.

How can two grown men share
the same childhood experiences?

It doesn't make any sense.

I am Will Riker.

I don't know who or what made it back
to the Potemkin, but it wasn't me.

Lieutenant, our Chief Engineer is
checking the logs of the Potemkin.

Perhaps that will shed some light
on the matter.

Don't worry.
We will get to the bottom of this.

In the meantime,
you will be taken to your quarters.

- Try and make yourself comfortable.
- I will.

The replicators on the station
don't work.

It's been a while
since I've had a decent meal. Doctor.

There was a massive energy surge
in the distortion field

just as you tried to beam out.

The Transporter Chief tried
to compensate with a second beam.

An interesting approach.

He must have been planning
to reintegrate the two patterns.

Actually, it wasn't really necessary.

Cmdr Riker's pattern maintained
its integrity with just the one beam.

- He made it back.
- And the second beam?

The Chief shut it down, but it was
reflected back to the surface.

And another William Riker
materialized there.

How did the second pattern
maintain its integrity?

The containment beam had the same
phase differential as the field.

- Which of them is real?
- That's the thing. Both.

You were both materialized
from a complete pattern.

Until that moment,
you were one person.

But you and Lt Riker have lived
different lives for eight years.

You are now very different people.
It's like meeting someone's twin.

But, no matter how strange
it may seem to us,

we now have two Will Rikers
on board.

As Lt Riker
is with us for several days,

we should do everything we can
to make him comfortable and welcome.

We still have to retrieve
the database.

The computer on the station
is not operational.

Many of its components
have been removed.

Lt Riker used them to keep
the radiation shield operational.

Can it be repaired, at least
enough to access the database?

Without knowing what he did,
it's tough.

- Perhaps he can help.
- He was alone for a long time.

I'm hesitant to let him go back
until evaluation.

- I'll talk to him.
- Thank you, Counsellor.

Come in.

Hello, Will.

Imzadi.

- Will...
- I never thought I'd see you again.

We need to talk.

- You're on board because of him.
- No. Cmdr Riker and I are friends.

Close friends, but nothing more.

Why don't we sit down?

Do you remember the last time
we saw each other?

Like yesterday.
The Janaran Falls on Betazed.

It was the day before you started
on the Potemkin.

- We were going to meet on Risa.
- We never did.

I know.

No, what I mean is,
Cmdr Riker and I never did.

You see, he earned a promotion
very quickly.

I know that, too.

"For exceptional valour during
the evacuation of Nervala IV."

I've been looking
at his service record.

He chose to make his career
a priority.

There wasn't much time
for anything else.

We kept in touch,
but we didn't see each other again

until we were posted here
two years later.

By then, our feelings for each other
had changed.

We've served together for six years.

Things never went back
to the way they used to be.

I had a lot of time on my hands
down on that station.

There were days I was so lonely,
I thought I might lose my mind.

Do you know how I made it through?

I thought if I hung on
for one more day, they'd rescue me.

Maybe I'd see you again.

I guess things don't always work out
the way you expect.

I know this isn't
what you were hoping for.

But you can make a future
for yourself.

Thanks.

Capt Picard wanted me to find out

if you'd help us
retrieve the station's database.

I reconfigured it so many times,
they can't make head or tails of it.

- I'd be happy to help.
- Do you feel up to it?

- Absolutely.
- Good. I'll tell the Captain.

Well, I have to go.

Deanna.

I know it's been a long time
since we've been together.

I know your feelings have changed.

Mine haven't.

I can't just give up.
I'd like to be with you again.

Goodnight, Will.

Phase distortion is dropping.
The next window opens in 42 seconds.

- How long will we have?
- 36 minutes.

We are losing time.
Lt Riker should be here.

Computer, locate...

Cancel inquiry.

You were supposed to report
at 0800 hours.

Sorry.

It's been a while since
you had to punch a clock. Let's go.

Energize.

I've shut down the consoles.

I re-routed
almost everything through here.

Check out the primary EPS system.

Get some power to these consoles.

I shunted the database
to the main core.

- Can we access it here?
- There's been seismic activity.

If the links were damaged,
we may not be able to.

I'll try to tap
into the command pathways.

You see if you can access
and disable the file server.

I've been thinking,
we should let Dad know.

He'd be thrilled to know
there are two of us.

Actually, he and I
have patched things up.

I've got by for a long time
without seeing him.

I'm not about to start now.

- What made you contact him?
- I didn't.

He came on board
when I was offered the Aries.

What did he say when
you turned down your own command?

He couldn't understand.

For once, he and I agree.

The EPS coupling is fused.
The unit has to be replaced.

I've accessed the command pathways.
The relays are functioning now.

See if that did the trick.

- It's not working.
- The link must be damaged.

We'll have to go under the station.

We have less than three minutes.

I'll stay here. I'll be finished
by the time the third window opens.

It's too dangerous.
The caverns are unstable.

I've been down there dozens of times.

We'll come back
during the third window.

We'll try to access the core
from up here.

Riker to Enterprise.
Ready to beam up.

You go.
I'll be finished when you get back.

Hold it.

I gave you an order, Lieutenant!

Computer. Valerian root tea. Hot.

"Meet me in transporter room three
at 1900 hours. It's important."

"It pulses unendingly
all through the night,

Seek out the crystal
that powers our flight."

- Can I help you, Counsellor?
- No, thank you.

"What the future holds,
no one can know,

But forward we look
and forward we go."

- The Janaran Falls.
- I remember. Where did you get this?

I made it a couple of years ago.

- You made this?
- You should've seen the first two.

It took a while to get
a fine enough beam from the phaser.

It's lovely. Thank you.

Can you stay and talk for a while?

I wanted to remember
our last night together.

So, how does it feel
being with people again?

Great.

Strange.

For a long time, I did whatever
I wanted, whenever I wanted.

- It's been hard taking orders again.
- I can imagine.

But I'll have to get used to it
to get my career going.

Is that what you've decided?

I'm the one who wanted to make
captain by the time I was 35.

I'm a little behind schedule,
I'll admit that.

It's good you don't feel set back.

I do.

Things are a little more complicated
than I had planned.

But nothing is going to stand
in my way.

There you go.

Thanks.

You don't know how many times
I thought about you. About us.

For weeks after the evacuation,

I kept thinking they'd find a way
to come back for me.

I even thought we'd meet on Risa
like we'd planned.

But days went by, and nobody came.

Then I realized why.

They thought I'd been killed.

No one came. They thought
there was no one to come for.

So I figured that they'd had
a memorial service for me.

Somehow that made me feel better.

I can understand that.

You were there, dressed in black.
Very flattering on you.

I'm sure I looked terrible,

with my eyes
all red and swollen from crying.

Sometimes, I would look up
into the sky and I'd think,

if I tried hard enough,
I could make you feel my presence.

That if I could let you know that
I was alive, maybe you'd wait for me.

I know it sounds crazy, but there
were times when I could have sworn...

What am I talking about?

The other day, when I told you
about how Cmdr Riker and I

didn't meet on Risa,

what I didn't say was
how disappointed I was.

You didn't have to. I knew.

I started to hear from him
less and less.

I knew his career
was taking him away from me.

But I didn't want to believe
it was over.

I spent a lot of time
thinking about him.

Wondering where he was,
what he was doing.

Sometimes I'd look into the sky
and imagine that he knew, ...

..and that somehow,
he could sense me thinking about him.

So, who knows?

Maybe one night, we were looking up
at the same star...

..and you were thinking about me, ...

..and in a way,
I was thinking about you.

Come.

- You wanted to see me, sir?
- Yes. Come in.

Lt Riker has been to see me
to talk about the away mission.

He believes
we can retrieve the database

by directly accessing the main
core underneath the station.

Seismic activity
makes those caverns unstable.

- In my opinion, it's risky.
- He was there recently.

He seemed confident it could be done.

We may be able
to retrieve the database

from a console inside the station.

But if not, we won't have
another chance for eight years.

Lt Riker's plan is more dangerous,

but has a better chance
of succeeding.

Given the importance of the data,
it's worth the risk.

I'll look over the schematics
and draw up a mission plan.

I'm sure Lt Riker
will be happy to help.

I'll talk to him.

Sir.

- Lieutenant.
- Sir.

I met the Captain
about your recommendation.

I would appreciate it
if you came to me first.

- I tried talking to you yesterday.
- I rejected your plan.

- May I ask what he decided?
- To go with your recommendation.

- That's not the point.
- Isn't it?

If you think I'm coming down on you
because he overruled me, think again.

I disagree with him,

but he is my commanding officer
and I follow his orders.

Just so there's no confusion,

I am your commanding officer.
I expect you to do the same.

If you can't, there's no place
for you on my away team.

Yes, sir.

There will be a meeting at 1400 hours
to draw up a mission plan.

We stayed in ten-forward
talking for hours.

- Then what happened?
- He walked me to my quarters.

- Then what happened?
- Beverly!

I'm just asking.

You know it's over
between Will and me.

He's not Will.

He is Will, but...
You know what I mean.

It's hard for me to separate
my feelings for them.

Deanna.

Just because things turned out how
they did between you and Cmdr Riker

doesn't mean you shouldn't let things
with Lt Riker take their course.

- I knew you'd encourage me.
- Isn't that why you brought it up?

- I think I'll call it a day.
- Beverly!

Bye.

Some form of t'ai chi ch'uan?

Klingon exercises, actually.
Lt Worf teaches a class.

The forms are very similar.
Do that again.

- You did the KoH-man-ara.
- T'ai chi ch'uan. The crane block.

Let's try something else.

What is that called?
Mr. Worf's a very good teacher.

Hello, Will.

If you want to be with him,
you don't have to ask my permission.

The look in your eyes.
I recognize it.

You used to have it for me.

We've both had relationships
with other people.

This is different.
I didn't know how you'd feel.

Flattered, sort of.

This must be very strange for you.

Ever since he came on board,

I find myself thinking
about the choice you and I made.

Me, too.

Do me a favour. Be careful.

I know you and he have had problems.

That's not what I'm talking about.

If he had gotten off the planet
instead of me,

don't you think he would've made
the same choices that I made?

I don't want you to be hurt again.

Two pair.

Full boat. Kings over.

I'd like to thank you both
for your generous contributions.

Come in.

I thought you'd be alone. Excuse me.

Why don't you join us?

The game is five-card draw.

Ante, please.

- Lieutenant?
- Three, please.

- Mr. Worf?
- Four.

- Commander?
- I'll play these.

Dealer takes two.

You control the bet, Lieutenant.

- 50.
- Fold.

Here's your 50. And ten more.

You didn't take any cards.
Why not make it a little sweeter?

No, thanks.

Playing it safe?

- You in?
- I will call.

Here's your ten.
And it'll cost you another 100.

I've practised too long
to be fooled by that face.

You're bluffing. Here's your 100.
And 20 more.

Dealer folds.

I thought that if one thing
were clear by now,

it's that you and I play differently.

Let's see who comes out on top.

I thought you'd settle for second,
Commander.

I've never settled for anything.

I know what I want.
I know what I've got.

You'd be lucky to do so well,
Lieutenant.

Here's your 20.

300 more.

- Now I know you're bluffing.
- Are you in or not?

Get this over with.

I'll call your three, and raise you
anything you've got left.

Well?

Take it.

You always had the better hand.
In everything.

Come in.

Hi. There's something
I'd like to talk to you about.

Capt Picard has got me
a posting on the Gandhi.

Considering
I've been out of commission,

it's an amazing opportunity.

- When would you leave?
- In about a week.

I see.

Deanna.

After six months,
I'm eligible to bring family aboard.

If we got married...

You said those exact words
before you went to the Potemkin.

I know. I was just held up.

But if you hadn't been, what would
have happened between us?

I wouldn't have made the mistake
of leaving you. I know that.

I don't know if I can believe that.

It took me a long time to get over
what happened with Cmdr Riker.

I don't know that I want to be
in that position again.

- I would never hurt you.
- It's not just that.

I've worked hard to make a life
on the Enterprise.

I'm happy here.

If the situation were different,
I'd stay.

But I can't.

Not while he's aboard.

I know.

- Are you saying it's over?
- No.

No.

I just don't know
if I'm ready to give up my life here.

Maybe we both need some time.

Goodnight.

Captain's log, supplemental.

The third transport window
has opened.

The away team is making their final
attempt at retrieving the database.

Once we restore the link,
shunt the database to this console.

Are you ready, Cmdr Data?

- You're with me.
- Cmdr Data's expertise...

It doesn't take much expertise
to repair this.

You and I can handle it.

Lieutenant, I am curious
about something.

If you met your double, would you
have difficulty interacting with him?

- I think so.
- Why?

I am not easy to get along with.

But Cmdr Riker and Lt Riker are.

Yet they seem to have trouble
getting along.

I have found that humans value
their uniqueness,

that sense that they are different
from everyone else.

The existence of a double
would preclude that feeling.

Could that be the source
of the friction?

Perhaps it is more a matter
of seeing something in your double,

something that you do not like
in yourself.

This is it.

There's the core.

- You waiting for something?
- Your orders, sir.

How should I get over there?

You've been down here.
I'm sure you know the best way.

Yes, sir. I do.

- It's leaking ion radiation.
- You didn't report this?

It wasn't here before.
It must have happened recently.

If we repair this conduit, we
won't have time to access the core.

Scan it now.

It's working. The radiation levels
are dropping to normal.

Next time, don't give up so easily.

Hang on.

Come on. Grab on. Come on!

Come on. Climb!

- I'm being pulled in.
- Let go.

- One of us has to get out.
- Climb.

Come on!

Climb!

They have restored the servo link
to the core. Download the database.

Initiating data transfer.

Captain's log, stardate 46920. 1.

We have retrieved the database
from Nervala Station

and are headed
for our rendezvous with the Gandhi.

Come in.

I hear the Gandhi is going on
a mission to the Lagana Sector.

That's right.
It'll take four months to get there.

I won't be joining you.

I guess I'm not surprised
to hear that.

I'm just not ready
to give up my life here.

Not yet.

Come in.

- I'm sorry.
- It's alright.

I wanted to give you something.

My quarters are full of things
that belong to both of us.

The least I can do is give you this.

- Thanks.
- Good luck, Will.

- I might go with the name Thomas.
- Your middle name.

I guess we are different.
I never cared for that name.

Well, I sort of like it.

I guess I'd better get going.

I waited a long time.
I guess I can wait a little longer.

Take care of her.

(ENGLISH)

Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.