The Enterprise intercepts a distress call from the freighter Arcos, and heads to rescue it. However, it blows up just as they reach it. Data detects traces of an escape pod, heading straight for the lone city on Turkana Four-Tasha's birthplace, and an extraordinarily violent place.

Riker, Worf, Data, and Beverly beam down and are almost immediately accosted by members of the Coalition, one of the two factions controlling the city. The Coalition leader, Hayne, tells them that the other faction, the Alliance, is holding the two surviving crewmen of the Arcos, and will probably want weapons as an exchange for them. He, on the other hand, wants weapons for his help-"to keep the peace." Riker temporizes, and as the team leaves, Hayne starts researching the Enterprise, having heard them say that a dead comrade was born on Turkana Four. Not long afterward, Hayne hails Picard, and presents to him a liaison/guide to help with the rescue-Tasha's sister, Ishara Yar.

Despite great suspicion, Picard accepts Hayne's offering, and Ishara comes on board. She seems possessed of great strength, but she's initially quite bitter of what she saw as Tasha's cowardice in leaving the planet to join Starfleet. After the Alliance hails, demanding Federation reparations within twenty hours (or the crewmen die), the crew starts planning a rescue effort.

Geordi can locate them by boosting the tracers on the escape pod, and Ishara knows where it is. Furthermore, she offers herself as a diversion- the magnetic implant she wears will set off alarms if she's in Alliance territory. The raid occurs, and though successful, Ishara is injured.

Shortly later, Ishara is visited by Picard, who tells her of her sister's heroism, both in life and in death, which seems to warm Ishara somewhat. Meanwhile, the tracers show that the crewmen are in an underground compartment, far too far down to be able to transport through. Geordi suggests rigging the phasers to drill down far enough to transport, but that level's still a maze. Ishara says that she could guide them-if not for the implant. Data tells her they can remove it, despite the explosive charge, and Ishara not only decides she wants that, but that she wants to leave Turkana Four and perhaps join Starfleet. She is welcomed with open arms, but we see her say in a private communication to Hayne (ostensibly to say goodbye) that "it's working."

After the implant is removed and the phasers have drilled, the away team (Riker, Data, Worf, and Ishara) beams down. She guides them to the crewmen, but then slips away. When a guard she shoots down triggers an alarm, Riker and company move out-but he and Data remain behind to search for Ishara. Data finds her- rigging the Alliance's fusion generator to overload, thus shutting down the defenses and allowing the Coalition's troops to enter. Despite being hard-hit by Ishara's betrayal, Data stops her.

Later, Hayne asks for Ishara back, and despite a revulsion at what's been done, Picard agrees, telling Riker that they all share some of the blame for trying to see too much of Tasha in Ishara. She leaves, telling Data that her friendship with him wasn't all deception. Days later, Data talks to Riker about friendship, trust, and the risk of betrayal. He counts himself lucky to be spared the "emotional consequences" of betrayal, but then finds himself staring at Ishara's implant, which she left him as a keepsake.

Highlight Listing:

"Legacy" - A rescue mission leads the crew to the birthplace of their late comrade Tasha Yar, where they encounter her mysterious sister.

Advertising Headline:

FATAL FRIENDSHIP! Does Data's new comrade have a deadly secret plan?

TV log listing:

Can Data's new friend be trusted?/STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION

Operation SNAFU

During the card trick with Data, Riker's hand keeps on changing position during the trick when the camera switches. (UV)

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