Home Soil (TNG episode)
Encyclopedia
"Home Soil" is the 18th episode of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation
.
discovers a crystalline life-form with intelligence.
colony on Velara III, as the project is behind schedule. The director, Kurt Mandl, insists they are on time and there is no need for the Enterprise to stay any longer, but Captain Picard orders an away team to review the project. While the away team is present, one of Mandl's team is killed by a malfunction drilling laser. While Data inspects the instrument, it begins to fire. He soon renders the instrument harmless. The investigation finds something has rewritten the programming of the laser to fire upon the terraforming staff. Investigation of the drilling holes reveal a crystal giving off irregular light and radiation patterns. It is brought aboard the Enterprise to study, while Picard orders a halt to the rest of the terraforming activities.
Dr. Crusher and Data discover the crystalline form has many of the features of life, including response to stimulus and the ability to reproduce. The crystal life form, made from several metals, attempts to interact with the Enterprise computers, and it is quickly placed into a containment force field while the crew continue their studies. The crystal begins to grow rapidly, gains access to the computer's translation program, and begins to communicate with the crew. It is clear that the crystalline life form sees the humans as an enemy in a war. Picard discovers that Mandl and his team had encountered the crystals before, and though they had considered the possibility of it being a life form, Mandl insisted on continuing the terraforming process. The crystal life form only began its attack, rewriting the laser's software, after the drilling process removed a saline water layer from the water table which seemed to act as a conductor, allowing many separate crystals to function as one life form (rather like an ant colony).
The crystalline life form begins to access higher-level functions of the computer, and Picard and the crew seek ways to remove it to the surface, as the crystal has blocked attempts to transport it down. Data and LaForge recognize that the crystal has photoelectric
properties due to the presence of Cadmium
and disable the lights to the medical lab. The crystal immediately begs for life. Picard peacefully negotiates with the crystal life form to return it to the surface, where Starfleet will abandon the terraforming process and quarantine the planet, leaving the life form to continue to grow in peace.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
.
Overview
The crew of the EnterpriseUSS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
The USS Enterprise is a 24th century starship in the Star Trek fictional universe and the principal setting of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series...
discovers a crystalline life-form with intelligence.
Plot
The Enterprise arrives at the terraformingTerraforming
Terraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...
colony on Velara III, as the project is behind schedule. The director, Kurt Mandl, insists they are on time and there is no need for the Enterprise to stay any longer, but Captain Picard orders an away team to review the project. While the away team is present, one of Mandl's team is killed by a malfunction drilling laser. While Data inspects the instrument, it begins to fire. He soon renders the instrument harmless. The investigation finds something has rewritten the programming of the laser to fire upon the terraforming staff. Investigation of the drilling holes reveal a crystal giving off irregular light and radiation patterns. It is brought aboard the Enterprise to study, while Picard orders a halt to the rest of the terraforming activities.
Dr. Crusher and Data discover the crystalline form has many of the features of life, including response to stimulus and the ability to reproduce. The crystal life form, made from several metals, attempts to interact with the Enterprise computers, and it is quickly placed into a containment force field while the crew continue their studies. The crystal begins to grow rapidly, gains access to the computer's translation program, and begins to communicate with the crew. It is clear that the crystalline life form sees the humans as an enemy in a war. Picard discovers that Mandl and his team had encountered the crystals before, and though they had considered the possibility of it being a life form, Mandl insisted on continuing the terraforming process. The crystal life form only began its attack, rewriting the laser's software, after the drilling process removed a saline water layer from the water table which seemed to act as a conductor, allowing many separate crystals to function as one life form (rather like an ant colony).
The crystalline life form begins to access higher-level functions of the computer, and Picard and the crew seek ways to remove it to the surface, as the crystal has blocked attempts to transport it down. Data and LaForge recognize that the crystal has photoelectric
Photoelectric effect
In the photoelectric effect, electrons are emitted from matter as a consequence of their absorption of energy from electromagnetic radiation of very short wavelength, such as visible or ultraviolet light. Electrons emitted in this manner may be referred to as photoelectrons...
properties due to the presence of Cadmium
Cadmium
Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, bluish-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Similar to zinc, it prefers oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds and similar to mercury it shows a low...
and disable the lights to the medical lab. The crystal immediately begs for life. Picard peacefully negotiates with the crystal life form to return it to the surface, where Starfleet will abandon the terraforming process and quarantine the planet, leaving the life form to continue to grow in peace.
External links
- Home Soil rewatch by Keith R.A. DeCandido