The Masterpiece Society

Did You Know?

• The colony was founded 200 years prior to the events of the episode.
• The colony's leader was played by John Snyder.

Plot

The Enterprise is sent to the Moab sector to follow a stellar core fragment from a neutron star that has broken apart. This fragment is heading close to Moab IV, where a human colony is located, putting it in danger. When the crew contacts the colony to set up an evacuation, the leader, Aaron Conor, says no, but he allows a small team to come down and talk. Conor explains that the colony was started two centuries ago with the goal of building a flawless society through genetic engineering and selective breeding. He and the other leaders believe that evacuating would ruin the perfect order they have created. Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge meets a scientist named Hannah Bates, who suggests using a multi-phase tractor beam powered by the Enterprise's warp core to nudge the fragment off course. La Forge thinks this could work. After some discussion, Bates is permitted to leave the colony and go to the Enterprise to help run the operation. Meanwhile, Deanna Troi and Conor begin to feel a romantic pull as they try to persuade the other leaders that evacuation is the right move. On the Enterprise, Bates's plan works, but the equipment burns out too fast. La Forge realizes that her idea can be improved by adding technology similar to what lets his VISOR function, which would make the equipment last long enough. La Forge points out that this fix would not be possible in the colony's perfect society, where flaws like blindness would have been removed. Simulations show the solution is not flawless, so La Forge suggests strengthening the colony's shields while the fragment passes by. Conor first refuses because it would mean more Enterprise personnel coming to the colony, which he fears would contaminate their culture, but Bates convinces him it is the only option. The Enterprise pushes the fragment far enough that the colony seems safe.