Riker, Geordi and Worf beam down to Galorndon Core, a Federation planet with a particularly harsh surface, to investigate a distress call. They find the remains of a Romulan ship, and Worf finds one Romulan, just barely alive. However, minutes before beam-up is necessary, Geordi falls into a pit, and cannot contact the others, or make it back to the beam-down point. Riker and Worf beam up, with the Romulan, but without Geordi. Geordi manages to make some makeshift pitons and climbs out of the pit.

Meanwhile, Bev is having trouble treating the Romulan, due to cell damage from the intense magnetic fields down on the planet, and starts looking for a possible compatible ribosome donor. While Wesley begins working on a neutrino- pulse beacon to send down (since Geordi could see it, and the signal could make it back through the storms to the Enterprise), the Enterprise intercepts a signal from Commander Tomalak on a Romulan Warbird, saying he is on his way.

Picard hails Tomalak and warns him not to cross into Federation space. When Tomalak hears they are holding his officer, he demands an immediate rendezvous for his return. Meanwhile, Geordi sees the beacon and moves towards it, only to be knocked out and taken prisoner by a second Romulan.

While Geordi tries to convince Bochra that their only hope is to work together, Bev tells Worf that he is the only possible donor to save Patahk. Worf, filled with rage at the Romulans, refuses absolutely to donate, despite Picard's request (though Picard does not order him to do so). When Tomalak comes close enough to the edge of the Zone to see that the Enterprise is not there, he hails, angered, and becomes angrier still when he hears his officer is dying.

Eventually, Geordi manages to convince Bochra that they can work together or die together, and they start towards the beacon, but then Geordi finds that he can no longer interface with the visor. Bochra suggests linking the visor to the tricorder and using the combination as a pointer, and offers to be Geordi's eyes. Meanwhile, Picard receives word that Tomalak's ship has crossed into Federation space, and orders red alert. Then, as if that weren't enough, Bev calls him to say that Patahk has died.

Geordi and Bochra reach the beacon just as Tomalak reaches Galorndon Core. When Tomalak hears that Patahk has died, he snarls that he will only be the first, and powers up disruptors. Suddenly, the window opens, and they find evidence that Geordi is down there, with a second Romulan. Picard tells Tomalak the news, and makes the first "gesture of trust" by lowering his shields to beam up Geordi and Bochra, and Bochra assures Tomalak that he has not been mistreated. Tomalak powers down his disruptors, and the Enterprise returns Bochra to the Warbird and escorts it back to the Neutral Zone.

Highlight Listing:

After Geordi is stranded on a storm-ravaged planet, the crew's attempts to rescue him are hindered by an aggressive Romulan warship.

Advertising Headline:

MISSING IN ACTION! The crew fears the worst when Geordi's lost on a dying planet.

TV log listing:

Geordi's trapped on dying planet on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION

Operation SNAFU

Picard says to Tomaluk that he will be escorting the Romulan ship to the Neutral Zone. Yet, in the closing shot, the Enterprise and the Romulan Ship take off in two different directions. (V)

Technical design, graphic design, interactive features, HTML & CGI programming by Andrew Tong. || All materials Copyright © 1987-1995 by their respective authors. || Document created: January 28, 1995 || Last Modified: November 09, 2010