"First officer's log,stardate 58499.2. TheCerritos is in for repairs atDouglas Station after a pounding from theBreen. We took an even harder pounding in the media after one of the newTexas-class ships had to swoop in and save our asses.Captain Freeman's been called back toStarfleet Command for questioning."

Carol Freeman, still under scrutiny from the recentexposé fromFNN, is in the presence of numerousStarfleet admirals who are convinced thatProject Swing By was a failure, calling it a waste of resources. While Freeman tries to bring up that it was through Project Swing By that they discovered the Breen incursion onBrekka, AdmiralWong criticizes her, saying that the unprofessional culture surrounding her crew made her unprepared for such a possibility. While AdmiralLes Buenamigo comes to Freeman's defense as he sees the duties of theCerritos as essential, he also says that his newTexas-class ships are superior in ability, without Human error. While Freeman argues that they've not been tested, Buenamigo recommends the decommissioning of allCalifornia-class starships across Starfleet. While Freeman pleads that such a move would undo centuries of progress in exploration, Wong overrules her objections; as Starfleet has plenty of other crewed ships, they will shutter the entireCalifornia-class line.

Act One[]

Freeman confronts Buenamigo in the hall, saying that an AI cannot navigate complex situations like she can. She argues that her ship saves lives as theTexas-class does and will fight the decision to have theCalifornia-class mothballed. She also hopes to keep this decision private from her crew until a final decision is made.

It doesn't take long however for the news to spread, and before long,Ensign Brad Boimler is relaying the information toD'Vana Tendi andSam Rutherford. Boimler and Tendi get anxious, as Boimler doesn't wish to be potentially reassigned to anoutpost, and Tendi is fearful this will mean an end to her Senior Science Officer training. Rutherford on the other hand is enthralled by the design of theTexas-class starships, more specifically, the AI's code. They ponder how the bridge crew is taking it, prompting Boimler to impersonateDr.T'Ana,Commander Jack Ransom, andLieutenant Shaxs. However, as he impersonates Shaxs, Shaxs enters therepair bay to ask if Boimler can fix hisphaser and gets offended and upset at Boimler's impersonation. Thinking Boimler sees him as a joke, he runs off crying. Not wanting a senior officer to hate him, Boimler rushes after him to apologize. As he runs off, Tendi and Rutherford reminisce aboutBeckett Mariner, regretting they were not more supportive upon her transfer toStarbase 80, and hope that she's okay.

Having joined theIndependent Archaeologists Guild andPetra Aberdeen, Mariner is currently in the midst of grabbing agolden idol whilst being pursued byFerengi grave robbers in an ancienttemple. Before they can catch her, Aberdeen manages to beam her back to her ship. Having successfully recovered the idol, they make ready to take it to theQualor Historical Museum. As their route will take them through theBitrus Expanse, Aberdeen asks if Mariner wants to excavate a few extra temples along the way, to which Mariner expresses enthusiasm for. As they had to warp, Mariner expresses how happy she is in this new line of work, and thanks Aberdeen for letting her take her own approach to each job. Aberdeen tells her that as they're well-funded, they can continue this work indefinitely. Mariner then asks who is paying for their work, since every artifact they recover is donated, and they still need to pay for fuel and gear. Aberdeen tells her not to worry about the finances, as she will handle them. While Mariner leaves to get them both someRomulan ale, she eyes Aberdeen in slight suspicion.

Back at Starfleet Headquarters, Buenamigo is addressing the admirals that he understands Freeman's concerns and offers Freeman a promotion tofleet captain of theTexas-class. Freeman declines, not wanting a desk job. Wong tells her that theTexas-class does seem to be superior in what theCalifornia-class are capable of, prompting Freeman to challenge Buenamigo to prove his claims in the form of a missionrace. While Buenamigo tries to play down the challenge, not wanting to humiliate her crew, Freeman remains steadfast, and the other admirals agree to let the challenge proceed.

Freeman briefs her senior officers in herconference room about thesecond contact race, saying they will make multiple contacts with multiple planets, while being timed and judged. She admits that she came up with the idea on the spot when she challenged Buenamigo. As they are highly familiar with what they will need to do in comparison to theUSSAledo, which is doing this all for the first time, Freeman believes them to have the edge, and orders her senior officers to get their departments ready as they will not only be representing theCerritos, but the entireCalifornia-class ship line, and that they cannot fail.

The departments begin ruthlessly readying themselves for the upcoming task, though inEngineering, Rutherford briefly gets rebuked byLieutenant Commander Andy Billups when he's still distracted by the code of theTexas-class ships, his interest having changed to concern. Insickbay, Tendi is confiding in Dr.Migleemo about her fears of potentially losing her training, and as he reassures her, T'Ana screams at them both to leave as sickbay is not their department. As Ransom briefs Boimler and other command ensigns, Boimler sees Shaxs walking by the room. Wanting to apologize, Boimler catches up with him and begins to apologize, but Shaxs wants none of it and tells him to leave, as he needs to focus on the mission. As he walks away, he gets visibly upset again.

Outside Douglas Station, both theCerritos andAledo get in position for the start of the race. As Freeman and Buenamigo exchange a few final words to one another. Buenamigo uploads the mission parameters to theAledo's computer, and a few moments later, Wong starts the race. Freeman immediately has theCerritos go to warp, but theAledo remains stationary. Buenamigo lights acigar in his office as theAledo asks if they should proceed. Buenamigo declines however, wanting to make it interesting by allowing theCerritos to have a head start.

TheCerritos drops out of warp in orbit ofGalardon. Theaway team led by Billups beams down, skipping formalities with theGalardonians, and immediately begins building a small outpost and updating outdated systems. It isn't long before theAledo arrives, and begins transporting entire prefabricated modules down to the planet to create structures, skipping the building process altogether. Rutherford is still going over theAledo's code, as he believes he's familiar with it, just as they finish up. As they realize the true capabilities of theAledo, Freeman orders for the pace to be picked up, and they transport the away team back before heading into warp.

TheCerritos arrives atLT-358; an uninhabited planet that according to probes and a scan from the ship, is believed to hold no signs of life. Not wanting to lose their lead, Freeman orders to have the crew begin installing their installation. The away team transports down and works quickly, but as they do so Tendi takes a microbial scan of the soil and makes a troubling discovery. As theAledo arrives, and begins transporting structures to the surface, Tendi rushes to Ransom and tells him that they need to stop construction, as hertricorder detected a possibility of microscopic life in the soil. As they need to make sure the life isn't sentient, Ransom halts construction immediately and contacts the ship to ensure their prior readings were correct. As T'Ana double-checks with a self awareness assessment after beaming down, theAledo departs the system and gains the lead. T'Ana concludes there is no sentient life, and the away team finishes up. Tendi apologizes for the delay, but T'Ana reassures her that the soil's microphasic charge disrupts tricorder readings. As the away team returns, theCerritos once more heads to warp. Their final task is to deliver supplies toOckmenic 9, a planet that only phases into their dimension a couple hours a year. Freeman hopes to catch up to theAledo before the planet appears.

Ockmenic 9 appears, and while a couple villagers await Starfleet's visit, theAledo enters orbit, and begins transporting the supplies down, much to the joy of the villagers. As theCerritos arrives, the planet begins to phase out of their dimension, much to their dismay. They've officially lost the race.

As he revels in his victory, Buenamigo laughs menacingly in his office.

Act Two[]

In the bar, the crew of theCerritos sits in a melancholic silence at their loss to theAledo. Tendi is beating herself up for having them pause their progress to check for life in the soil but is reassured by Boimler that she made the right call, as it upholds thePrime Directive. Tendi thanks them, but asks why theAledo didn't slow down its own progress if it was truly the right call. Freeman overhears this and coming to a realisation, praises Tendi for her observation and rushes to herready room to the confusion of the other officers.

Freeman immediately calls Buenamigo to inform him of theAledo's mistake. While LT-358 is barren of life, the fact that theAledo ignored the Prime Directive when there was a chance at life highlights a grim flaw in theAledo's code, making it unfit for duty. Giving the data she has just sent him as proof the barest glance, Buenamigo tries to downplay this oversight, but Freeman tells him that she's sorry, and will need to report this finding to the council.

Sitting with Boimler and Tendi at the bar, Rutherford is still going over theAledo's code when he makes a horrifying discovery. The code that theAledo runs on is actuallyhis code. While theTexas-class was Buenamigo's secret project, Rutherford recognizes the code as code he wrote when he was still in the Academy, realizing that thememory he had of his accident was actually in part due to his helping of Buenamigo (a lieutenant commander at the time) with the program. Rutherford suddenly remembers his participation in helping to design theTexas-class's prototype and writing the AI before his memory was erased and is terrified because the same code was also used in his creation ofBadgey. Realizing theAledo has likely already malfunctioned, he runs off to warn Freeman of his discovery.

Buenamigo is growing angry while arguing with Freeman, as her report would set theTexas-class project back by decades. Rutherford rushes into the ready room and tells Freeman of the corrupt code. Buenamigo, surprised by Rutherford's remembering of everything, says he should have killed Rutherford back in the day. When asked about his actions, Buenamigo tells them that Starfleet's competitive nature got to him, since you struggle to make a name for one's self when you become an admiral. Freeman realizes that Buenamigo has been setting them up all year, from theKaremma negotiations atDeep Space 9, to the Breen incursion on Brekka; Buenamigo admits to it all, even to knowing that the Breen were already on Brekka in the first place and that it was the perfect stage to unveil theTexas-class. An outraged and horrified Freeman protests that his actions could have killed her crew, but Buenamigo only counters that theTexas-class will keep other crews out of danger and that putting theCerritos in harm's way was for the good of the many. Rutherford warns him that theAledo's emotional processing is dangerously unstable and that activating the ships would be a grave mistake. Freeman tries to reason with Buenamigo, as she believes he is not a self-serving admiral, and that he's better than this. Buenamigo replies that he's not, before saying he will tell Starfleet that she attacked theAledo out of anger at losing the race, and that theAledo was forced to destroy them in self-defense (which would conveniently kill Freeman and Rutherford in the same stroke). Closing the channel on the shocked Freeman, he then activates independent control for theAledo, making it fully autonomous, its blue lights turning to red. He tells theAledo, which is just outside the window of his office, that theCerritos has fallen under enemy control, to block all communications and orders its destruction. TheAledo doesn't respond, prompting Buenamigo to repeat his orders, at which point theAledo menacingly closes the distance to thetransparent aluminum and coldly tells its "father" that it no longer takes orders from him. Buenamigo, realizing too late that Rutherford was right, tries to rescind theAledo's autonomy, but is locked out from doing so. Moments later, theAledo opens fire with its phasers directly at Buenamigo within his office as the panicked vice admiral attempts to order it to stand down, killing him instantly.

Having witnessed the destruction of Buenamigo's office, the bridge crew watches in horror as theAledo proceeds to attack Douglas Station. The station's defenses are quickly overwhelmed as theAledo activates the remaining twoTexas-class ships; theUSSDallas, andUSSCorpus Christi. Freeman orders ared alert and has adistress signal broadcast out on all channels as the ships begin to destroy the station.

OnQualor III, Mariner and Aberdeen are getting ready to give the idol to the museum, but Mariner decides to stay aboard the ship, claiming to need rest. When Aberdeen leaves, Mariner goes to her computer, intending to find out who is financing them. Aberdeen returns briefly and is unhappy to see Mariner going through her private files. Mariner admits she's uncomfortable not knowing who is funding them, and Aberdeen relents, allowing her to look. Mariner proceeds and is shocked to see that AdmiralJean-Luc Picard is funding their efforts, and not someone nefarious. Aberdeen tells her the guild received a huge endowment from Picard, and Mariner tells her that she believes she was hoping to find a reason to return to Starfleet, wanting to do something for the greater good. This starts a brief argument between the two, where Aberdeen tells her she'd rather be an archeologist rather than serve on theCerritos right now. She then shows Mariner a news feed of theCerritos being attacked at Douglas Station, and a horrified Mariner jumps into action, wanting to help. Unwilling to assist in such an unwinnable fight, Aberdeen pulls her phaser out, saying it isn't their fight. Mariner replies that while Starfleet may just be an idea, the people who serve matter; as a former officer, Aberdeen is aware of this. Aberdeen protests that they are only one ship, but Mariner insists that they need to do something. Aberdeen relents and sits next to Mariner as they leave Qualor III.

TheAledo,Dallas, andCorpus Christi continue their deadly assault on Douglas Station. As theCerritos prepares for casualties, theUSSVan Citters arrives and attacks the three rogue starships. While theSovereign-class starship proves formidable, it is quickly overwhelmed by the three starships. Hoping to save it, Freeman hails theAledo and tells it that they have Rutherford, claiming he has the ability to delete them since he wrote their code, which he quickly corroborates. Confirming that Cadet Rutherford and Ensign Rutherford are one and the same the three AIs immediately cease their attack on theVan Citters and move to attack theCerritos. Eager to draw them away from the station and prevent further civilian deaths, Freeman has theCerritos go to warp, with the three rogue starships in hot pursuit.

The ships open fire on theCerritos as it flees at warp eight, and as they are closing the distance, Freeman orders full power to thewarp core. While Billups advises that it will put stress on the ship's struts, he takes the ship to its maximum speed. While this opens up the distance and buys them some time, theCerritos is now in an overspeed situation and shaking itself to bits, and the rogue AIs are already closing the gap. Knowing theCerritos must deal with the deranged vessels now, Freeman asks for suggestions. Shaxs suggestsejecting the warp core, though he's talked over by everyone else. Ransom suggests dropping out of warp for a surprise attack, but the idea is useless due to AI being unable to be surprised. Migleemo suggests rendezvousing with theUSSTitan, but they're across the system. EnsignBarnes suggests modifying thedeflector dish to use as a weapon, and Freeman asks Rutherford if she can say something to trap the AI in a logic spiral, but Rutherford tells her that his code is safeguarded againstparadoxes. Boimler then tells them to shut up and listen to Shaxs. Shaxs repeats his idea, and while Freeman brushes it off at first as he routinely does so, she realizes the idea is brilliant since they can use the warp core as a giant makeshiftmine and drop it in the path of the starships. While the action will cause theCerritos to crash out of warp, that's still less dangerous than attempting to directly fight three vicious vessels that just overpowered aSovereign-class ship. Freeman authorizes Shaxs to eject the core, much to his tearful joy.

The crew cheers him on as he rushes to engineering. He approaches the core and handed one of the two keycards needed by Billups, they turn the keycards simultaneously on Shaxs' order and eject the warp core from the ship. While theCerritos is violently thrown out of warp immediately, the core is left careening into the path of the AIs, who detect the projectile mere moments before the core detonates, engulfing all three ships in a massive explosion.

Act Three[]

The entire California-class fleet arrive to defend the Cerritos — The entireCalifornia-class fleet arrive to defend theCerritos

With theCerritos now adrift, Freeman asks if the core managed to destroy the rogue starships. Barnes confirms the destruction of theDallas andCorpus Christi, but moments later, theAledo arrives, having survived the blast with some minor damage, and opens fire on theCerritos. Out of options, Freeman gives the order to abandon ship, but Mariner and Aberdeen arrive, telling her to belay the order. Freeman tells Mariner to leave, as her one ship cannot stand up to theAledo, and Mariner confirms this, saying she brought help. At that moment, theUSSOakland drops out of warp. Mariner's old friend CaptainAmina Ramsey hails theCerritos, telling them they have their back. While Freeman tells them that theAledo is too powerful for theCalifornia-class ship, Mariner clarifies that she brought all of them. While Freeman asks what she means, theUSSAlhambra drops out of warp, followed by numerous other starships of theCalifornia-class, such as the San Diego, the San Clemente, the Sherman Oaks, the Vacaville, the Burbank, the Fresno, the Santa Monica, the San Jose, the Sacramento, the Culver City, the Anaheim, the Riverside, the Vallejo, the West Covina, the Pacific Palisades, the Redding, the Eureka, and the Mount Shasta, CaptainsDurango of theUSSMerced,Maier of theUSSCarlsbad,Vendome of theUSSInglewood among others offer support, and Mariner leads the attack against theAledo. The united starships all open fire and quickly overwhelm theAledo who tries to prioritize its fire at the vulnerableCerritos, only to be thwarted by Aberdeen's ship. Unable to take the combined firepower of theCalifornia-class fleet, theAledo explodes, unable to get a single shot on any of the ships.

Later, theCerritos is under repair at Douglas Station once more and Mariner comes aboard. Entering the bar, where several of theCalifornia-class crews familiar with, or have previously worked with theCerritos have gathered, she approaches her friends who are overjoyed to see her and gives Boimler a bighug. Boimler apologizes for asking her to apologize for nothing and Mariner forgives him, saying that a taste of civilian life was needed and that she's just happy to be back with them. Mariner is surprised that despite everything that's happened, Rutherford is keeping his implant, and he says that despite it being used to cover up crimes, he still loves what it can do. Migleemo then approaches Tendi, commending her for standing up for science. Her actions have impressed Starfleet Command so much that they've transfered a new officer,T'Lyn, to join in her training. Tendi introduces herself and proceeds to get her acquainted with the rest of the crew. Shaxs approaches Boimler, and while Boimler once more tries to apologize for his earlier actions, Shaxs embraces him, saying that through Boimler, he was able to act out his dream and tells him he's in the "bear pack," much to Boimler's joy.

Mariner approaches Freeman, who tells her she wants to reinstate Mariner as part of her crew. Freeman partially expects Mariner to turn her down for the way her mother treated her, but Mariner interrupts her with a big hug. Freeman finally apologizes, regretting not trusting her; Mariner counters that she had spent years making sure that Freeman wouldn't, and thus it was on her that her mother reacted the way she did. Mariner tells her that she believes that she needed a little time away to find herself and is ready to get back on the right path. While she's not in any rush to become a captain, she says she does wish to be in Starfleet and take things one step at a time. Mariner then asks for a mentor, and requests for Ransom to train her. Freeman is overjoyed at this and lets Ransom know that Mariner is back and will be his mentee. Mariner embraces him in a headlock, while Ransom is dismayed at the turn of events.

Ramsey then addresses the combined crews from atop the bar and says that while they faced impossible odds, they stood together and "kicked impossible's ass," leading the crews to cheer for theCalifornia-class shipline.

Post-credit sequence[]

In theKalla system, debris from aPakled clumpship floats near a star, among it, Rutherford's old implant that Shaxs ripped from his face. A greentractor beam locks on to it, and as it's pulled up, a brief glimpse ofBadgey can be seen in the eyepiece...

Log entries[]

First officers log, USSCerritos

Memorable quotes[]

"Starfleet was founded as a way for Humanity to advance into the stars! This would undo centuries of progress."
"Captain, I'm sorry, but there are plenty of other crewed ships in the fleet. The council has decided to take Admiral Buenamigo's advice and shutter theCalifornia-class."

-Freeman and Wong

"All this work to become a senior science officer, now there might not beany officers."
"Tendi, that's cantaloupe talk. I want you to be acanaloupe. Remember your training, and you'll do great."
"Thanks, Dr. Migleemo. At first, I was worried-"
"AHHHH!!! What are you doing here?! Get the *bleep*out of my sickbay!"

-Tendi,Migleemo, andT'Ana

"Shall I commence, Admiral?"
"Negative,Aledo. Let's make this interesting. Give them a head start."

-Aledo Computer andBuenamigo

"Nuh-uh.Nuh-uh!"
"W-w-w-wait, wait, what are you nuh-uhing?"
"I figured it out; this code ismine. TheAledo runs on my AI! There's minor changes, but it's all there!"
"But how does that make any sense? It was Admiral Buenamigo's secret project."
"Yeah, but I coded this back when I was the old me; the angry, ship-racing me."

-Rutherford,Tendi, andBoimler

"Admiral Buenamigo. He's the one that had me working on the prototype for theTexas-class ships!"
"He's the one who erased your memories!"
"Yeah, he used my designs, my code. That's the same code I used for Badgey!"
"Oh no, a starship can't have daddy issues!"

-Rutherford andTendi

"Captain, you need to see this!"
"Ensign, I'm busy!"
"Rutherford?"
"Yeah, that's right, andI figured it out! TheAledo's code is corrupted. He erased my memory to cover it up. The AI's the same one that killed Shaxs!"
"Why did I stop at your memory?! I should have erasedall of you!"

-Rutherford, warningFreeman about theAledo's AI and confrontingBuenamigo

"Sir, you don't understand. The code you're using, its emotional processing isn't stable. You can't bring those ships online!"
"You are not one of those bad-faith admirals that's up to no good! You're better than this, Les!"
"I'm really not. You know, I'll- I'll say you attacked theAledo out of anger when you lost the race. Itdefended itself."
"What?!"

-Rutherford,Freeman, andBuenamigo

"TheCerritos is under enemy command. Block all communications and destroy it! ...Aledo, do you understand? I said attack theCerritos!"
"I don't take orders anymore from you anymore, Father."
"What?Aledo, deactivate independence."
"I will burn your heart in a fire."
"Aledo, stand down. Stand down! I comm-"

-Buenamigo losing control of theAledo, leading to his death

"TheAledo has activated two moreTexas-class ships, Captain."
"There's too many of them...! Put out a distress call, all channels!"

-Shaxs andFreeman, seeing an already deadly situation become even worse

"I think, deep down, I was looking for a reason to go back to Starfleet."
"Are you joking? You just escaped all that."
"I know, but I think I want to be a part of something that stands for the greater good."
"Oh, and archeology doesn't? That's a bit *bleep*ing rude."
"No, I mean it's fun, but how many old brown pots do we really need?"
"Alright, well that's just even ruder."

-Mariner andAberdeen

"As usual, Starfleet's getting people blown up, left, right, and center."
"Oh, my God. We have to help!"
"No, we don't! It's a bloodbath!"
"Those are my friends!"
"I said stop. It's not our fight."
"I know, Starfleet's just an idea, but the people matter. You served on theVictory; you know that."
"Mariner, it's suicide! We're just one ship!"
"I know, but we have to do something!"
"Ugh, fine. You're gonna get me killed, aren't you?"
"Only one way to find out."

-Aberdeen andMariner

"Aledo, I have the man who wrote your code. He's got the ability to delete you unless you stand down."
"I do? Oh, yeah. You better stop attacking, or you'redunsel!"
"I will burn your heart in a fire."

-Freeman andRutherford, exploiting theAledo's daddy issues to direct its aggression towards them

"Maximum warp me!"

-Freeman

"Mr. Shaxs, make it so!"
"Really, Captain?"

-Freeman andShaxs, giving him the order to eject the warp core

"I've dreamed of this for so long. Eject."

-Shaxs, fulfilling his dream of ejecting theCerritos' warp core

"Did it work?"
"Yes! The explosion took out the... wait...theAledo survived the blast!"

-Freeman andBarnes

"Captain, another ship is dropping out of warp. It's the...Oakland?"

-Boimler

"It's theAlhambra... theSan Diego... theSan Clemente... theSherman Oaks, theVacaville, theBurbank, theFresno,Santa Monica,San Jose,Sacramento,Culver City,Anaheim,Riverside,Vallejo,West Covina,Pacific Palisades,Redding,Eureka,Mount Shasta! It'sall of them, Captain!"

-Boimler, announcing the arrival of theCalifornia-class armada as each ship arrives, barely keeping up

"You gave me everything I ever asked for. You're in the bear pack now!"
"Are you... my bridge buddy?"
"Absolutely, Baby Bear!"
"Awww, bears!"

-Shaxs,Boimler, andRutherford

"Today, we faced impossible odds, but together, we kicked impossible's ass! Let's hear it for theCalifornia-class!"

-Ramsey, to the crews of theCalifornia-class

Background information[]

Title[]

The title was announced on24 October 2022 byStarTrek.com andParamount+, wherein it is stylized as "The Stars at Night".[1]
The title of this episode is from the opening lyrics to the American folk song "Deep in the Heart of Texas".

Continuity[]

Four admirals appearing on the Starfleet Council had been previously encountered in the series: AdmiralWong first appeared in "Temporal Edict", AdmiralParker appeared in "We'll Always Have Tom Paris" and "Reflections", and theTrill and one of the Human admirals previously appeared in trial sketches in "Grounded".
Billups tells his Engineering team that he was to see "CommanderData-level work" and that theisolinear chips better be a blur, referencingStar Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Naked Now" when Data replaced isolinear chips so fast that it looked like a blur.
T'Ana references being previously assigned to a "goddamnOberth", making the reference to that class by name in dialogue.
Ransom teaches a group of officers how to command respect which involved sitting on a chair by swinging his leg over the back of the seat before sitting down. This is a reference to the unusual way thatWilliam T. Riker would sit down in a chair, whichTrekkies have commonly referred to as "theRiker Maneuver".

M-5 interface

Texas-class interface

The computer terminal Admiral Buenamigo used to communicate with theAledo was visually similar to the one used for theM-5 multitronic unit from theStar Trek: The Original Series episode "The Ultimate Computer", which also dealt with a computer designed to command and control a starship that resulted in it attacking other ships. A similarly-styled interface was also depicted in the illusorySampaguita piloted by "Red Rutherford" in "Reflections", foreshadowing Rutherford's involvement in the artificial intelligence behind theTexas-class.
TheCerritos revisits theGalardonians, who first appeared in the first episode ofLower Decks, "Second Contact".
Freeman refers to Ockmenic 9 as "one of thoseBrigadoon-type planets that only phases into our dimension for a couple [of] hours a year." The name is a reference to the 1947 musicalBrigadoon, which was about a magical Scottish village that only appeared for one day every one hundred years. A planet shifting from one dimension to another is also a reference to theStar Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Meridian", wherein thetitular planet would appear in regular space once every sixty years and was also based onBrigadoon.
This episode concludes thestory arc concerning the origins of Rutherford's implant, which was most recently explored in "Reflections".
When the truth about Buenamigo is revealed, Freeman insisted that he's "not one of those bad-faith admirals that's up to no good." This is in reference to a recurring trope throughout theStar Trek franchise where Starfleet admirals tend to be shown as antagonistic toward the main characters and take part in secret and illegal projects, includingCartwright,Mark Jameson,Norah Satie,Kennelly,Erik Pressman,Leyton, andDougherty.
The mystery benefactor behindPetra Aberdeen's mission to retrieve and return stolen artifacts is revealed to be AdmiralJean-Luc Picard, whosearchaeological interests were well-established across many episodes ofStar Trek: The Next Generation.
- This episode also established that Picard was an admiral by 2381. The press kit forStar Trek: PicardSeason 1 and the novelThe Last Best Hope earlier establish that Picard left theUSSEnterprise-E, and was promoted to admiral in 2381 in order to lead in the evacuation and relocation of theRomulans prior totheir sun goingsupernova.[2]
The procedure for theCerritos to eject its warp core was referenced back in "An Embarrassment Of Dooplers" when Rutherford and Tendi ejected a working warp core from a kitmodel of theCerritos they built and used it as a makeshift explosive to open a hatch above them and escape theDooplers.
The crews of theCalifornia-class ships who appeared on the viewscreen when the armada arrived have all appeared in previous episodes:
- CaptainAmina Ramsey of theUSSOakland and several of her senior officers served as temporary command crew for theCerritos in "Much Ado About Boimler".
- CaptainDurango and theUSSMerced appeared in "Moist Vessel". TheMerced was critically damaged by exposure toterraforming emulsion in that episode, but appears to have since been repaired.
- CaptainMaier and theUSSCarlsbad appeared in "Mining The Mind's Mines".
- CaptainVendome had originally been an ensign on theCerritos ("Second Contact",et al.) before rapidly rising through the ranks to take command of theUSSInglewood. ("The Least Dangerous Game")
- The crew of theUSSAlhambra – who resembled alternate versions of theCerritos crew – was encountered byT'Ana when she previously boarded the wrong ship at Douglas Station. ("Veritas")
T'Lyn, who first appeared in "wej Duj", returns having now transferred to theCerritos from her original position on theVCFSh'vhal. She is wearing the provisional rank lozenge of an ensign, in the same style as that worn by formerMaquis officers onUSSVoyager.
In the franchise's first post-end credits, Rutherford's original implant, containingBadgey, is shown being salvaged from the wreckage of thePakled Clumpship. ("No Small Parts") It had previously lit up when it was shown floating among the flotsam asPeanut Hamper constructed her ship in "A Mathematically Perfect Redemption".

Links and references[]

Starring[]

Guest cast[]

Characters with unidentified voice actors

Cybernetic surgeon 1
Galardonian chancellor
Ockmenian female
Ockmenian male

Uncredited guest cast[]

Gil Ozeri asFerengi grave robber 1

Background characters[]

USSAlhambra

USSCerritos

Galardon

USSInglewood

USSMerced

USSOakland

Starfleet Headquarters

Previous episode:

"Trusted Sources"

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Season 3

Next episode:

"Twovix"

Movatterモバイル変換

The Stars At Night (episode)

"The Stars At Night"

Written by

Directed by

In-universe date

Aftershow

Contents

Summary[]

Teaser[]