Nicolas Coster: Adm. Anthony Haftel

The Offspring

Adm. Anthony Haftel

Lt. Cmdr. Data: Admiral, when I created Lal, it was in the hope that someday she would choose to enter the Academy and become a member of Starfleet. I wanted to give something back in return for all Starfleet has given me. I still do. But Lal is my child. You ask that I volunteer to give her up. I cannot. It would violate every lesson I have learned about human parenting. I have brought a new life into this world, and it is my duty, not Starfleet's, to guide her through these first difficult steps to maturity, to support her as she learns, to prepare her to be a contributing member of society. No one can relieve me from that obligation. And I cannot ignore it. I am her father.
Admiral Anthony Haftel: Then I regret that I must order you to transport Lal aboard my ship.
[Data begins to rise]
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Belay that order, Mister Data.
Admiral Anthony Haftel: I beg your pardon?
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: I will take this to Starfleet myself.
Admiral Anthony Haftel: I am Starfleet, Captain! Proceed, Commander.
[Data again begins to rise]
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Hold your ground, Mister Data.
Admiral Anthony Haftel: Captain, you are jeopardizing your command and your career.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: There are times, sir, when men of good conscience cannot blindly follow orders. You acknowledge their sentience, but you ignore their personal liberties and freedom. Order a man to hand his child over to the state? Not while I am his captain.

Admiral Anthony Haftel: [on Lal's "surgery"] There was nothing anyone could have done. We'd... repolarize one pathway, and another would collapse. And then another. His hands... were moving faster than I could see, trying to stay ahead of each breakdown. He refused to give up. He was remarkable. It just... wasn't meant to be.

[Haftel is observing Lal working in Ten Forward]
Admiral Anthony Haftel: She is capable of running over sixty trillion calculations a second, and you have her working as a cocktail waitress!

Admiral Anthony Haftel: You're not a parent, Captain; I am. I have learned - with difficulty - that there comes a time, there comes a time when all parents must give up their children for their own good.