[siren wailing]
[computer] Intruder alert. Intruder alert.
[computer] Life support failure on deck five.
Move it! Move it! Move it!
[computer] Power grid failure on deck five.
[Moshe through comms] All security teams report to the bridge immediately.
Let's move, cadets!
[security officer] Alpha team to the bridge.
Beta team, secure the warp core.
[computer] Inertial dampeners off-line.
[both grunt]
[computer] Malfunction in... integrator.
- Come on, we gotta go. - Hurry up, come on!
[alarm wailing]
[computer] Warp field collapse imminent.
[screen beeps]
[rumbling]
- [screen beeps] - [computer] Bridge.
Ship systems rebooting.
- [shouting in distance] - [panting]
- [computer] System-- System online. - [beeping]
[metal clanging]
[explosion]
[grunts]
[yells, grunts]
- [phaser fires] - [Picard, muffled] Status.
[phaser fires]
[Rios] Stop firing!
[Seven] Picard!
[grunts]
- [alarm wailing] - [computer] Bridge control transfer 40%.
- What's happening? - All systems are redirected.
She's gaining complete access. Weapons, navigation, everything.
[shouts] Computer, activate auto-destruct sequence!
[computer] Auto-destruct activated.
- Nine, eight, seven, six... - [Borg Queen] Picard.
- ...five, four, three, two, one. - [wailing continues]
[theme music playing]
[radio static]
[music playing]
[radio chatter]
[music continues]
["Time Is On My Side" playing]
Time is on my side ♪
- Yes, it is ♪ - Yes, yes ♪
Time is on my side ♪
[dog barks]
Now you always say ♪
That you wanna be free ♪
- You'll coming runnin' back ♪ - Just like I hoped you would, baby ♪
- You'll coming runnin' back ♪ - I won't have to cry no more ♪
- You'll coming runnin' back ♪ - Uh-huh ♪
- To me ♪ - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
Time is on my side ♪
- Yes, it is, yeah ♪ - Yes, yes ♪
Time is on my side ♪
[beeps]
[indistinct]
I know that... ♪
[beeping]
But just wait and see ♪
[beeping]
- You'll coming runnin' back ♪ - Oh, and it won't be long ♪
- You'll coming runnin' back ♪ - Oh, all my worries will be over ♪
- To me ♪ - 'Cause I'll have my baby home ♪
Go right ahead, baby ♪
Go ahead and light up the town ♪
- [speaking Hebrew] L'chaim. - [speaking Irish] Sláinte.
...your heart desires... ♪
- [speaking Russian] Na zdorov'ye. - [speaking French] Santé.
Cheers, Big Ears.
[chuckles]
Mm-hmm.
Mmm.
You know, as days on Earth go...
this is reliably one of my favorites. [sighs]
Oh, and why's that?
Celebration of the end of the season.
A confirmation of hard work well done.
That's certainly one way of looking at it, I suppose.
And what would be your way?
- [owl hoots] - [sighing] I don't know, um...
[speaking Romulan]
"Seize today, for we know nothing of tomorrow."
- [whispering] Yes! - [chuckles]
[Picard clears throat]
Today is glorious, and none of our tomorrows are guaranteed.
- To Zhaban. - To Zhaban.
You must miss him.
I do.
Even now, after a year and a half.
Did you know that we were promised to each other at birth?
I had no idea.
Well, as is our custom.
But we did learn to love each other.
Truly.
But remember that Romulans don't suffer loss as humans do.
We love deeply, and then we honor that love by loving again...
even more deeply still.
When I first came to work here, I saw you as a man who chose the stars.
And after all this time, I've come to wonder,
have you been seeking or running?
Am I being too personal?
[Picard] No!
Please, go on.
[glass clinks]
Why have you chosen to be alone?
I'm hardly alone.
You know what I mean.
As you say, I've spent my life in the stars.
And is that what you really want?
All you really want?
The part of me that really wants...
is the part that has to wait in line.
Behind what?
Duty, I suppose.
The need to keep on moving.
And where is the heart after all this constant motion?
What might you find if you were to just... stop.
[whispering] Here...
now.
[sighs]
Yeah, it's very late, and you've got that speech tomorrow.
[Yvette Picard] Jean-Luc!
[breathing heavily]
[glass tinkling]
[Laris] Why have you chosen to be alone?
[glass crunching]
[glass tinkling]
[Yvette Picard] Jean-Luc.
[glass crunching]
My little Magellan.
Slipping away like that.
I might as well have sailed straight off the edge of the world.
[chuckles] Aren't we dramatic?
[Yvette Picard] Paris is just a transport away.
[glass crunching]
And you've never seen skies like this at night, I promise you.
- [blows] - [Yvette Picard] There's magic here.
Your father can root around out there in the dirt,
while your brother toils away at school.
This can be our place, yours and mine.
We'll clear out the vines, we can even paint on these windows.
[echoing] Our own world.
What do you think?
Will you fight less here?
- [screams] - [Young Picard] Maman!
[Maurice] Yvette!
Come find me.
[screams]
- [shatters] - [screams]
Of course we will.
But if we should shout at each other now and then,
I want you to look up, and imagine how tiny our voices are out there.
So tiny you can't even hear them.
Look up at the stars, Jean-Luc.
Look up.
[radio chatter]
[Avalon Captain] Starfleet Command, this is USS Avalon.
We've detected a spatial anomaly. Please advise.
[bell chiming]
[footsteps approaching]
[sighs]
There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you.
With a cup of what is now, definitely... Earl Grey, cold.
I'm sorry. Yes, thank you. [sighs]
I've been, uh...
Yes?
Uh, a book. I've been trying to find it.
Um, it's a first edition.
Green cover and, uh, gold lettering.
It's gotta be somewhere in these shelves.
Oh.
Thank you.
Laris...
[ticking continues]
Last night...
- I was-- - You.
You were you.
[chuckles]
[whispering] Yeah.
Nothing has to change.
It's too late for that, Jean-Luc.
That's been clear to both of us for some time now, I imagine.
Going forward, it would all be too... awkward.
And I'm too old for awkward.
Now, have you any idea how hard it is to be late in the age of transporters?
And yet, somehow... [sighs] ...you manage.
[Picard through speakers] We often refer to space as the final frontier.
But, the older I get, the more I come to believe...
that the true final frontier is time.
In Command, as in life...
what we do in crisis often weighs upon us less heavily
than what we wish we had done.
What could have been.
Time offers many opportunities,
but it rarely offers second chances.
And as steps forward go...
I would like to acknowledge your classmate.
The first fully Romulan cadet at Starfleet Academy.
Elnor.
[applause]
[Picard] May you all go boldly into a future
free from the shackles of the past.
I stand before you...
the last Picard.
My ancestor captained the second ship
behind Jacques Cartier.
A great-great cousin, Renée Picard,
was instrumental in early exploration of this solar system.
Yet, I choose to leave you...
with the words of my mother...
who was no explorer at all.
When I was a boy...
she would point to the night sky and say,
"Look up, Jean-Luc.
And let's see what's out there."
[whirring]
[alarm wailing]
[speaking alien language]
- [grunts] - Psst.
[in Spanish] There's something going on outside.
I'm a little occupied at the moment.
[in Spanish] Do what you want. I'm just letting you know.
[pirate] Come on out, freak.
Show me your ugly Borg face.
[grunting]
[panting] Let's try this another way.
The medical supplies you are attempting to steal
are the property of the Fenris Rangers.
If you leave now--
Emmet, a little help here, please?
[yawns]
[grunts]
[both grunting]
[in Spanish] Helpless here, my sister.
[grunting] Computer, disengage hologram safety protocols.
- [computer] Safety protocols deactivated. - [grunts]
[grunts]
[panting]
[grunts]
Thanks.
[in Spanish] The pleasure is mine!
[sighs] We need to fix this.
[sighs]
[grunts]
[in Spanish] You ever consider a flesh and blood crew?
No.
[beeping]
[in Spanish] Of course...
a lifetime of humans reacting with fear and prejudice...
to your Borg enhancements...
...may have inhibited developmentally appropriate relationship skills.
Stop talking.
- [in Spanish] You're the boss. - I never should've merged the holos.
There's gotta be a way to disable your therapeutic plug-ins.
[in Spanish] You won't hear it from me.
Here it is.
You were saying? About outside?
[in Spanish] Subspace distortion,
tachyon fluctuations, and a massive spike in Hawking radiation.
Show me.
[beeping]
[radio chatter]
What the hell is that?
[water lapping]
[Soji] If I may, I'd like to make a toast.
[in alien language] To open one's heart to another's...
to temper one's fear with trust...
to offer friendship...
is an act of bravery.
Thank you.
[guests chuckle]
We've been touring the galaxy for over a year
since the Federation ended the ban on synthetics,
and in that time I've learned one thing.
You can't ask for trust through an interpreter.
It needs to come from here.
Through here.
[in alien language] True connection can only be forged...
- when the heart has spoken. - [applause]
She runs one subroutine on toasts and she's the belle of the ball.
[chuckles]
She certainly is impressive.
Wow. S--
Right.
May I?
- [laughter] - I don't bite.
[chattering]
I just wanted to see what hands could create such a wonder.
[clears throat]
You're flirting, right?
This is how really pretty people flirt, isn't it? Oh.
[slurps]
You know, look, I'm half in the bag anyway,
so I'm gonna give you a little advice.
Uh, my longest-lasting intimate relationship,
including the one that I just ended, is less than a year.
I was recently cleared of murdering my previous boyfriend
due to alien-induced temporary insanity,
so I'm not exactly dating material, you know?
[comms chirps]
Oh, thank God.
[Rios through comms] Confused.
"Never talk to me again" was literally the last thing you ever said to me.
In the nick of time.
I thought I was going to have to break into a medley of Deltan folk songs.
A hard-to-replace opportunity, to be sure.
[Soji] I know, Rios called. You're going.
I'm staying here to continue being charmingly diplomatic.
If by heard, you mean you eavesdropped on my private comms link
using your super robot hearing.
Well, you did ask me to monitor you for any potential drunk hailing incidents,
so I extended the caution to drunk answering.
I feel like that's an exploitation of a technicality.
I'll call as soon as I know when we'll be back.
I have a feeling you're gonna be just fine without me.
- And what about you and, you know. - Yeah.
I have to confess, the whole "we can totally still work together" thing
made a lot more sense back on Earth.
I would never say "I told you so."
But his new job does come with a lot of pressure.
Please, how hard can it be?
- [comms beeps] - One to beam up.
[chattering]
- So, what's the big hurry, Captain? - [beeping]
Shelve that. There's no time. Give me a sec.
Kemi, get us there as fast as you can, short of flying us through a sun.
- Comms, anything yet? - Nothing, Captain.
- Keep trying. - [control panel beeping]
Lieutenant Urtern, I'll need offensive and defensive strategy reports.
I don't wanna get there without a possible engagement plan.
- You good? - Yes, sir.
Always on point. Thank you.
Sorry, some kind of subspace anomaly Starfleet's ordered us to investigate.
I could use you on this one.
Your-- Your brain, I mean.
Well, that's kind of kind.
Course set, Captain.
[speaking Spanish] Dale.
[speaking English] Make it so.
Hmm.
The pressure of legacy.
[chuckles] It's your own fault, you know.
No one told you to accept a command with baggage.
[ship powering up]
[Starfleet officer] Bri'oon Raul, assignment: the Hikaru Sulu.
Cadet Maxwell Nagata, assignment: the Grissom.
Please report to your designated transport berths.
Cadet Bri'oon Raul, assignment: the Hikaru--
So how are things?
I'm considering an update of the Kobayashi Maru.
- Good. I hate that test. - [announcer, indistinct]
Well, I am very happy to be Chancellor of the Academy, thank you very much.
Mm-hmm. Sure.
It forces you to focus on Starfleet instead of, you know, you.
- And how is Seven these days? - [chuckles]
Touché.
[announcer, indistinct]
You know Seven.
There's always folks out there in trouble.
What kind of asshole needs to be more important than that?
But you would like to be, to her.
[sighs] I guess, she has me hoping for something more.
You wouldn't understand.
I-I mean, of-of course-- of course you'd understand.
It's just that, at the end of the day, you two are so damn self-sufficient. I--
Happy to travel the stars, uh...
Hell, I wonder if either of you even get lonely.
[announcer through speakers] Cadet Elnor. Assignment: the Excelsior.
Elnor.
Admiral Picard. I'd hoped to see you before my departure.
- Exciting time. - Yes.
I'm very excited.
But I'm also worried my excitement may be distracting me from my studies.
It's paradoxical.
You know, there's a quote in this book that would be very appropriate.
This is written by Spock himself,
and it's a memoir of the challenges that he faced
when he was one of the first Vulcan cadets in Starfleet.
"Exhilaration enhances the absorption of knowledge."
In other words, live a little.
- I will cherish it. - [announcer continues]
Thank you for the book, Admiral.
Better get moving, Cadet. We ship out in ten.
[announcer] Commander Musiker,
please report to the Excelsior for departure.
Same ship?
Keeping him under your wing, eh?
That boy's absolute candor can get his ass kicked,
so I'm protective of him.
Frankly, I find it very pleasing.
[PA beeps]
[announcer] All officers and cadets to their ship for departure.
Mmm. They're playing my song.
Safe journeys.
Admiral.
Commander.
[ship beeping]
Lieutenant Urtern, what am I looking at?
Spatial anomaly, Captain. Minor tachyon levels but nothing critical.
For the moment, it appears stable.
The fabric of space-time rending does not really shout "stability."
- [view screen beeping] - Captain Rios, we're being hailed.
On-screen.
[chuckles]
What are you doing here?
- I was about to ask the same. - [beeps]
What the hell did you do to my ship?
Correction: my ship.
Look after her, I said.
Instead, I used her to take care of others,
which in my line of work can occasionally be violent.
Besides, a few dents look good on her.
Hi, Seven!
- [static] - [shouting through speakers]
Lieutenant Sing?
Signal is originating inside the anomaly, Captain.
A message of some kind?
[Sing] Running it through the universal translator.
Coming back inconclusive, sir.
- A peculiar way of saying hello. - Let me deal with this.
[grunts]
Oh, sorry. [clears throat] Captain, may I?
Captain?
Lieutenant, trust me. You'll find it much easier to just defer.
Displaying the signal as a wave form. Scattered, chaotic.
- Analyzing. - [chattering through speakers]
[Jurati] Not language. Languages, plural.
Dozens of them. All overlaid.
All asking...
No, pleading...
Agnes, what does it say?
It says, "Help us."
"Help us, Picard."
[voices through speakers] Help us, Picard.
[siren wailing in distance]
[chattering]
["Guilty as Charged" playing through speakers]
♪ This road is paved With good intention ♪
♪ There's something 'bout me I forgot to mention♪
I'm gonna need some tea.
Earl Grey.
Piping hot.
[Picard] Perhaps something stronger.
[chuckles]
Captain Picard.
- Admiral. - [Guinan gasps] Oh.
Excuse me. Admiral.
But you'll always be captain to me.
[Guinan sighs]
- Hello, Guinan. - [sighs]
- So good to see you. - And you.
Mmm. Um...
this is for your, uh, private reserve.
Oh. [chuckles]
With you pushing a century and me pushing several, I--
I don't really think at our age we should be reserving anything.
[chuckles] Well, El-Aurians age so very slowly.
Yes, but only if we choose to.
Now, I notice that humans don't like to be reminded of their mortality,
so I-- I try to keep up.
[chuckles] Well, thank you.
I don't think you're here to reminisce about the old days.
Seems like the new ones are what's troubling you now.
What's wrong?
I can't just miss a dear old friend?
You can, but I've held your hand
while you've navigated Federation diplomacy disasters.
I've seen you face down some new galactic threat.
We have jumped universes together.
I gotta say, I don't remember ever seeing you look quite like...
Oh. Oh.
I am gonna take that back.
I have seen you look like this, and it's serious.
So this, as lovely as it is, is not gonna cut it.
So top shelf or hooch?
Hooch, I think.
Saurian brandy it is.
Come.
It's not as if I haven't loved before.
I have.
Sometimes, quite deeply.
Yes, but always with those who would only be temporary.
No, that's not entirely true.
So that you'd never have to fear any of them taking root.
You think I'm the fearful sort?
Oh, no.
I think you've done a great many, many brave things.
Of a kind.
It's too late.
That particular ship has sailed.
I watched it go.
Jean-Luc, you're being ridiculous.
- Excuse me? - Yeah.
It's not too late.
The problem isn't time, it's you.
You always talk about love as if you ever took it seriously.
And you know the only things you've ever put out there to break
were your bones.
And the only thing you ever risked losing was your life.
That's not an insignificant loss.
There are worse things than being dead.
You know that better than anybody.
You've been on your own for, what, nearly a century?
Why? What's holding you back?
Okay. Why did you decide to go to the stars in the first place?
We've discussed this so many times.
To explore, to meet new civilizations--
Jean-Luc, since I've known you, the only place
you have ever been afraid to explore,
be it flesh and blood or an artificial, synthetic, is in here.
And what happened in there that you and I have never talked about?
[Guinan sighs]
You know what?
- [brandy sloshing] - I understand.
I think your answers are not in the stars, and they never have been.
Also, I suggest that we drink.
Because I think there's one final frontier yet to come.
[glasses clink]
[laughs, sighs]
[ship whirring]
Sorry to drop in on you like this, Jean-Luc, but it's a sensitive matter.
What is it, Sally?
Please, make yourself comfortable.
We have encountered something unique in space.
We'd like to get your eyes on it in person.
[Picard sighs]
With all due respects, Admiral,
there must be dozens of better-qualified people than myself.
[beeps]
Its event horizon caused a massive spike in Adler-Lasky temporal radiation.
And then, it began...
well, to broadcast.
[voices shouting, chattering]
This is how it begins.
[voices] Help us, Picard.
Help us, Picard.
You said, "how it began."
The balance of the message is the entirety of Article 15.
Article 15?
An entreaty to join the Federation?
An unknown entity that can open and close a hole in space-time
wants to join the Federation
and, apparently, will only talk to you about it.
Jean-Luc?
[ship whirring]
[ship departing]
- Well, this is an unexpected encounter. - [giggles]
Indeed. Doctor Jurati's here as well.
Ah.
[Stargazer officer] It's Admiral Picard.
Your reputation precedes you.
Well, the Stargazer was my first command.
Uh, not this Stargazer of course,
but... [sighs] being here...
it feels like my life has come full circle.
She is quite a ship.
You don't agree?
[Seven sighs]
The Stargazer is the first of a new class of ship.
It utilizes components derived from research on the Borg Cube Artifact.
Yes, of course. That's right.
There are still many in Starfleet who fear the Borg,
and I sense that my presence
is increasing historic tensions and paranoia.
[chattering]
[beeping]
Admiral on the bridge.
[chuckling] Chris.
It's so good to see you.
You too.
Welcome to the Stargazer.
Oh, thank you.
Oh, please, as you were.
Well...
this is certainly sleeker than my Stargazer.
The older these refits get, the younger they look, unlike myself.
Well, mister, I think you look absolutely positronic.
Agnes, I'm delighted to see you.
Circumstances notwithstanding.
- Status? - Tactical, enhance.
[beeping]
Well, let's see if they have anything else to say to me personally.
- Uh, if I may, Captain? - Knock yourself out.
Uh, lieutenant, all hailing frequencies.
[beeping]
This is Admiral Jean-Luc Picard responding to your request.
I repeat, this is Admiral Jean-Luc--
[voice through screen, distorted] Picard.
[clamoring]
[beeping]
[voice] Picard.
Energy spiking across the board.
- Something's coming through. - I can see that.
- Red alert! - [alarm wailing]
Helm, back off. Give us some distance.
- [wailing continues] - [grunts]
Seven.
Yes, Admiral.
That ship is Borg.
[ships whirring]
Stargazer, this is Commander Musiker.
Excelsior is standing by, ready to assist.
Good to know you're there, Raff.
Well, Admiral... [sighs] ...right now we're the tip of the spear.
You're the ranking officer and the devil is calling your name.
I'm fairly certain that if we don't act, they will.
So, what do we do?
I don't know.
That, out there,
could be the very point at which history turns.
Picard, the Borg consume, they assimilate.
They don't ask to be assimilated.
Doctor Jurati?
I think caution is warranted.
B-But everything about this is unique.
The Borg we know have been effectively decimated,
functionally hobbled.
So wouldn't it stand to reason that they changed tactics?
[Seven] Absolutely.
Victory through whatever means necessary and in the absence of strength, deception.
But we could be putting a bullet into the greatest ally
the Federation may ever know.
Precisely.
[scoffs] I don't believe what I'm hearing.
The Borg have wiped out entire races,
killed tens of millions, including my parents.
- Subjugated exponentially more. - Yes, I understa--
[Seven] I know this sounds cold, but just hear me out.
If I'm wrong, we destroy a Borg ship,
but if I'm right and we do nothing,
then today is the beginning of the end of the Federation.
[Moshe through comms] Captain Rios, to the bridge.
[Sing] Sir, they're hailing us.
- [Rios] Let's hear it. - [beeping]
[Borg collective] There is no more time.
We will begin negotiation with Picard alone.
And how to do you propose to do that?
[Borg collective] We will send an emissary.
We will offer our queen.
There is no way in hell I'm letting them on board this ship.
Broadcast fleet-wide.
- Shields up! - [Kemi] Aye, Captain.
[rattling]
[beeping]
Sir, we have an incoming transport signal.
Signal scans indicate a single life-form.
Organic synthetic components consistent with the Borg.
Captain, do we fire?
Not yet. They can't transport through our shields.
The Queen is actually coming.
Rios, don't wait until it's too late. Fire.
- Open a channel. - [control panel beeping]
[Sing] Channel open, Captain.
Borg vessel, cease transport attempt or you will be fired upon.
[whirring]
[alarm wailing]
Sir, her transport signal's penetrating our shields.
- What deck? - Here, sir. The bridge.
Hand phasers at the ready!
- Moshe, do not engage prematurely. - Yes, sir.
Security team, to the bridge.
[wailing continues]
[Moshe through comms] All security teams, report to the bridge immediately.
[alarm blaring]
That's new.
[distorted] We wish for peace.
But first, we require...
What?
What do you require?
Power.
- [metal clanging] - [glass shatters]
[whirring]
[grunts]
[grunting]
Cease fire!
Stop firing!
The Queen is stunning them, not killing them.
Stop firing!
[computer] Isolinear fragmentation detected.
Command node corruption.
[grunts]
Bridge controls redirecting.
[grunts]
Bridge control transfer 20%.
[crashing]
[grunts]
- [phasers firing] - [alarm wailing]
[computer] Bridge control transfer 40%.
What's happening?
[Jurati] She's accessing the Borg modifications in the ship!
She's gaining complete access. Weapons, navigation, everything.
She's assimilating the ship.
Not just to our ship, the entire fleet. She's using us as a hub.
She's getting the command codes to all our ships.
Broadcast to the Fleet, all ships open fire on the Borg vessel.
I can't. She's locked out comms.
She's assimilated 70-- No, 75% of the ship.
We're gonna get locked out.
Picard, we cannot give her an armada. You know that.
[phasers firing]
[Jurati] 80% assimilated. She's getting faster!
You're out of time.
[screams]
[Jurati] 85%!
[Rios] We're out of options!
[shouts] Computer, activate auto-destruct sequence.
[computer] Auto-destruct activated.
Awaiting final command.
["Non, je ne regrette rein" playing]
[Jurati] She's at 90%!
If it gets to 100, we can't self-destruct.
Picard!
Authorization.
Picard zero-zero-zero-destruct-zero.
[alarm wailing]
The emergency destruct system is now activated.
Destruction in ten, nine...
[Borg Queen] Picard.
...eight, seven, six, five, four...
Look up.
...three, two, one.
- [grunts] - [glass tinkles]
[shouting] Laris!
Sir, would you prefer your morning beverage on the veranda?
The solar shields are holding well this morning.
The sky is delightfully clear.
- Who the hell are you? - Harvey, sir.
- Are you feeling all right? - No, where's Laris?
Laris, a Romulan name,
in colloquial English, translates roughly to "a new day."
Would you like me to check the migrant rosters for such a name?
What is happening here?
[Q] An excellent question, Jean-Luc.
Mon capitaine.
How I've missed you.
[whispering] No. No, no, no, no, no.
Oh, dear, you're a bit older than I imagined.
Let me catch up.
There, now we're even.
Q.
Goddamn Q.
Do you recall what I said to you when last we parted ways?
"The trial never ends."
What the hell are you doing here?
You've been talking a lot about second chances.
Well, my friend, welcome to the very end
of the road not taken.