Patrick Stewart credited as playing...
Captain Jean-Luc Picard
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Data!
- Counselor Deanna Troi: That's not Data.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: What?
- Lore: You should listen to her, Captain. She's way ahead of you.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Lore!
- Lore: Right! But I am not alone.
- [Data stands next to Lore]
- Lt. Cmdr. Data: The sons of Soong have joined together; and together... we will *destroy* the Federation!
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: He was here in this room, Will. I could have rid the Federation of a mortal threat, and I let him go.
- Commander William T. Riker: Sending Hugh back to the Borg was a very risky... a very dangerous choice. But it was the moral thing to do.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Well, it may turn out that the moral thing to do was not the right thing to do.
- [the New Berlin Colony has sent out a false alarm, mistaking a Ferengi trading ship for a potential aggressor]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Mr. Worf, acknowledge the signal from New Berlin, and transmit another copy of Starfleet's ship recognition protocols, and tell them to read it this time!
- [Picard is on his way on an away mission, leaving a skeleton crew aboard the Enterprise]
- Doctor Beverly Crusher: Good luck, Jean-Luc.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Good luck - "Captain"!
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: What is your designation?
- Crosis: I do not have a designation. My name is Crosis.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Crosis? How did you get that name?
- Crosis: It was given to me by the One.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Who is that?
- Crosis: The One who will destroy you.
- Admiral Alynna Nechayev: Captain, I've read the report you submitted to Admiral Brooks last year... regarding the Borg you named Hugh. And I've been trying to figure out why you let him go.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I thought I made my reasons clear.
- Admiral Alynna Nechayev: As I understand it, you found an injured Borg at a crash site, brought it aboard the Enterprise. Studied it. Analysed it. And then eventually, found a way to send it back to the Borg with a program that would have destroyed the entire Collective once and for all. But instead, you nursed the Borg back to health, treated it like a guest, gave it a name and then sent it home. Why?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Once Hugh was separated from the Borg Collective he began to grow and evolve into something other than an automaton. He became a person. When that happened, I felt I had no choice but to respect his rights as an individual.
- Admiral Alynna Nechayev: Of course you had a choice. You could have taken the opportunity to rid the Federation of a mortal enemy. One that has killed tens of thousands of innocent people and may kill even more.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: No-one is more aware of the danger than I am. But I am also bound by my oath and my conscience to uphold certain principles. And I will not sacrifice them in order to...
- Admiral Alynna Nechayev: [interrupting] Your priority is to safeguard the lives of Federation citizens. Not to wrestle with your conscience. Now I want to make it clear, that if you have a similar opportunity in the future... an opportunity to destroy the Borg... you are under orders to take advantage of it. Is that understood?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [rising from his desk] Yes sir.
- [Nechayev leaves without saying another word]