court martial
because he thought he was right.
When I read that, I knew
that I had found my number one.
You wanted someone
with a history of disobedience?
I wanted someone
who would stand up to me,
who was more concerned
with the safety of the ship
and doing the mission than with
how it might look on his record.
To me, that's a mark
of a good officer.
Frankly, I feel it's more important
to trust a captain's judgement.
In a crisis, there's no time.
Orders have to be obeyed
or lives may be lost.
I'm aware of that, Admiral.
Of course you are.
I guess this mission has brought up
some old ghosts for me.
Know what it's like
to lose a ship?
You always wonder
if there was something you missed.
Admiral, the record regarding the
loss of the Pegasus is a bit vague
from the moment
before you abandoned ship.
Is there anything you can add?
I'm afraid not.
But I can tell you this.
12 years ago, I needed an officer
that I could count on,
someone who would obey me
without question,
someone willing
to trust my judgement.
That someone was Will Riker.
Without his loyalty,
none of us would have survived.
- What's wrong?
- I think I busted a rib.
Excuse me. What were you doing?
I was doing bat'leth moves
with Mr Worf.
I jabbed when I should have blocked.
He got me.
It's a good thing
we were using sticks, not blades.
It's broken, alright.
Give him 10cc of terakine.
I can't believe how stupid I was.
You both must have got carried away.
It was my fault. I got distracted
at a crucial moment.
It can happen to anyone.
I knew what I was supposed to do.
If those had been real bat'leths,
I might be dead right now.
There, all better.
Will, it's alright.
You made a mistake. No harm done.
- You'll be better next time.
- Yeah, maybe.
Scan of grid 157 is complete.
I am moving to grid 158.
The Romulan warship
is still searching grid 270.
They're spending
a lot of time there...
Commander, I think
we might have struck pay dirt.
There's a subspace resonance
signature coming from that asteroid.
From the frequency, it looks
like a Federation warp core.
Capt Picard to the bridge.
Take us to within ten kilometres
of asteroid Gamma 601.
Geordi's found something.
There's a resonance signature
coming from that asteroid.
It could be the Pegasus.
I think he's right.
I recognise the variance patterns.
Put the asteroid
on the main viewscreen.
I have confirmed Geordi's readings.
The signatures are originating
from beneath the surface.
Beneath the surface? How?
The asteroid contains deep chasms
large enough for a starship to enter.
It is possible the Pegasus
drifted into the gravitational field
and was pulled into a fissure.
Sir, the Romulan warbird
has altered course once again.
They're heading towards us.
They want to see
what we're interested in.
Mr Data, how long will it take
to determine the location?
- At least another six hours.
- That's too long.
If the Romulans search the asteroid,
they could find the ship.
I recommend we destroy the asteroid.
It would take our photon torpedoes
but would preclude the Pegasus
falling into Romulan hands.
Our top priority is salvage.
I'll destroy it as a last resort.
Yes, sir.
Captain, could you give me
a third alternative?
Is it possible to saturate
the asteroid with verteron particles
that would mask the resonance
signature and prevent detection?
In order to succeed, it would have
to appear to be a natural phenomenon.
Verteron particles
are artificial in nature.
Wait. We can blanket the asteroid
with ionising radiation.
There's so much of it, the Romulans
won't know the difference.
- Mr Data?
- Theoretically, it should work.
If we do this, we have to do it fast.
The Romulans
will be in range in a minute.
Make it so.
Aye, sir.
Initiating ionisation-field pulse.
When he's finished, we'll make it
look as if we haven't found anything.
Lay in a course
for the next search.
If it works, the Romulans won