- Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: TNG "The Drumhead" (29 April 1991)
You know, there are some words I've known since I was a schoolboy. "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." Those words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie as wisdom and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. These words were spoken by Jean-Luc Picard during the TNG episode The Drumhead. In it, there is an explosion in the Enterprise's engine room and sabotage is suspected. While the investigation is underway, it comes to light that a Klingon exchange officer they have on board is collaborating with the Romulans, transmitting information he finds out to them. He admits to this but denies having caused the explosion. The seriousness of the situation results in retired Admiral Norah Satie from the Federation's legal division arriving to take over the investigation. Working closely with Worf (head of security) they uncover the fact medical technician Simon Tarses, who was responsible for giving the Klingon officer daily injections for a medical condition, is one quarter Romulan. He lied on his application to Starfleet academy, saying he was part Vulcan, because- he claims- he was afraid his Romulan heritage would cause Starfleet to reject him. Worf and Satie suspect that Tarses was the Klingon officer's contact, something he strenuously denies. The investigation into the explosion concludes when it is discovered that it was actually an accident caused by metal fatigue. Captain Picard considers the matter closed, but Admiral Satie insists that, just because this crime didn't occur, it doesn't mean that no crime did. Instead of closing the investigation, she expands it, digging into Tarses' past, his private life and friendships. She also demands that Tarses appear at a hearing. Worf approves, telling Picard that, if the technician had done nothing wrong, he wouldn't have hidden his heritage. Picard says that they cannot assume that. He fears that this is becoming a "drumhead" trial, with Tarses' rights being swept aside in a paranoid search for unseen enemies. When Picard voices his objections to Admiral Satie, she accuses him of colluding with Tarses and calls him to appear before her tribunal. Captain Picard does so, and when she attacks his service record and career, he hits back at Satie by quoting her late father, Judge Aaron Satie, on the danger of censoring speech and curtailing individual rights and freedoms. She doesn't take it well.
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