On a routine mission to survey an uncharted sector in space, the Enterprise runs into a warp-field generation pulse, strong enough for Warp factor one. The ship moves to investigate who?s the species on the verge of finding warp-travel. Crossing some eighty light-years to the source of the warp-field, the Enterprise enters a system of a G(0) type star with eleven planets, two of which are class M. The Enterprise drops out of warp just outside the fifth planet of the system. It is soon after detected by various satellites positioned across the star system by the inhabitants of the third planet. The arrival of the Enterprise generates a military commotion, and Picard decides to approach its leaders to avoid a misidentification, and perhaps gain insights as for the warp-field generation from that star system. Picard soon finds out that the entire civilization of Nem Ma'ak Bratuna is war prepared, and is expecting it to brake any time soon. The Enterprise learns that there is an alien attack en-route, and soon reconfigures the sensors to see the oncoming fleet. As no new evidence is found for the warp-field, Picard must try to mediate a truce between the inhabitants of Num Ma'ak Bratuna and the oncoming fleet, and prevent this fleet from changing course and heading for Federation colonies. While Data and Ro go undercover on Nem Ma'ak Bratuna, Riker and Troi go undercover on the massive Krann Fleet's flagship. Picard's efforts as well as those of the away teams provide interesting information on both societies, and help the Captain in his attempt to discharge the tension between the two civilizations. Ferguson tells an interesting story of space travel in the Star Trek realm, and puppets the characters to life elegantly. Picard is the same diplomat we're familiar with from the series, and the rest of the cast is portrayed adequately. The plot, however, is a most enjoyable one and to Ferguson's credit I'd like to add that his ideas were refreshing in their ingenuity. Ferguson maintains a Hitchcock type plot. That is, if you see a gun in the first scene, by the end of the movie someone will use it. Look for those clues as you read along.
Title: The Last Stand |
2/19/05
