got to help them.
Geordi, the Hera's last reported
position was 300 light years away.
How could it end up here?
If the Hera is on the surface,
its hull could not withstand
the atmospheric pressure.
At least let me go down and see.
I do not advise he use the interface.
Sensory overload almost killed you.
- I'll be alright!
- No, no, I'm not risking your life.
Data, find another way of salvaging
the Raman. You have two hours.
Geordi.
I want you to talk to
Counsellor Troi.
She's expecting you.
What's your mother like?
If you think I'm going to discuss
my childhood, you're way off.
That's not what I asked.
Well, she's...
She's brilliant.
Funny. She's incredibly perceptive.
She knows people, knows what they're
all about even before they speak.
She's always been that way.
She's a real good judge of character.
- When was the last time you saw her?
- About seven months ago.
When she took command of the Hera.
I went to a party for her crew.
She wanted me to come over and
see her, but I was really busy then.
I suppose I could have made the time
to go and see her,
but, you know,
I just didn't think that...
I mean, you know, I...
I didn't think that...
That it would be
your last chance to see her.
That's not what I was going to say.
I want to suggest something.
Call it a theory, alright?
Alright.
You're worried about
your mother's disappearance,
guilty you didn't see her
when you had the chance,
so you're unwilling
to consider that she might be dead.
Your need to believe she's alive
is so strong
that it manifests itself
as a physical image.
But she told me she's trapped
on that planet, that she's in danger.
If this was wish fulfilment,
don't you think I'd be
fantasising her safe and sound?
No. Because that would be
the end of your fantasy.
You'd know it wasn't true.
The more involved and complicated
and unending your story is...
...the longer you can believe
your mother's still alive.
Well, that's your theory, Counsellor.
I've got one of my own.
I have explored the idea of using
a tractor beam to pull the Raman up.
However, the interference
prevents a positive lock.
If we set up a relay system?
That is my conclusion as well.
Two shuttles staggered
between us and the Raman
with their shields
refocusing the tractor beam.
Can we get the shuttles
close enough safely? Mr La Forge?
Sure.
Yeah, as long as we keep them
above the troposphere.
- Then in that case...
- But what about the Hera?
We'd leave my mother
and her crew stranded.
- Commander...
- I've been thinking about this.
A few weeks ago,
I got a message from my mother.
She said her new chief engineer had
been experimenting with a warp drive.
Now, I've seen the Hera. It uses
trionic initiators in the warp coil.
They have side effects
if you play around with them.
There have been reports of warp
bubbles and subspace deformations.
So, what if that's what happened?
Not a warp bubble,
but a subspace funnel.
Connecting two points?
The Hera could have created
a distortion that emptied out here.
- Why here?
- The Hera passed by ten days ago.
There's an awful lot of
subspace disturbance here.
The ship may have picked up traces
that directed the funnel back here.
So the Hera
is somewhere out there?
Maybe it's surrounded by a warp
field, but who knows for how long?
Do you have any evidence
to support this hypothesis?
I got some odd subspace
readings when I was interfaced.
- That could have been anything.
- But I talked to her.
She said bring the Raman
closer to the planet.
Mr Data, is any of this possible?
Yes, sir.
However, it is highly unlikely.
- How unlikely?
- Nearly impossible, sir.
- Start the shuttle plan.
- Captain...
Dismissed.
Mr La Forge.
I want you to know that I am not
unsympathetic to your situation.
Your mother's disappearance
is tragic,
but I cannot risk your safety
on a dubious hypothesis.
Captain, if I'm right and there's one
chance in a