“Conundrum” is episode fourteen of season five of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The Enterprise is heading to investigate subspace signals that may indicate intelligent life in the Epsilon system. Data is playing 3D chess with Troi in Ten Forward; she wins and he has to make her a Samarian sunset done in the traditional style. In sickbay, Dr Crusher is treating a crewmember in a swimsuit for a holodeck incident. Riker is arguing with Ensign Ro in a turbolift, after she went ahead and made changes without consulting him first.
As they arrive on the bridge, Worf reports a small spacecraft, of unknown configuration, according to Geordi. No apparent armament and one life form. No response to hails, other than being scanned by something unknown. Worf reports the scans are matching the frequency of their optical data network and Geordi says they are increasing in intensity. The captain orders shields raised, then a beam of energy plays across the ship.
Afterwards, the captain asks what happened. No-one seems to know. Riker says he doesn’t know who any of them are. Nor does the captain. Or anyone else. Nor do they remember who they are. Another crewman asks what they are doing. Ro remembers how to pilot the ship, but the helm is dead. Riker recognises the tactical console and Worf knows what the displays mean. The captain says they know how to operate the ship, but their identities have been erased or suppressed.
Riker says they are on the bridge so it’s a good chance it’s their ship. And the captain is the leader. Worf suggests that he may be, thanks to his sash. The captain says they need to find out who they are and what they are doing. The crewman who spoke earlier is wearing commander’s pips; rather odd. Geordi detects metallic debris in front, suggesting a battle. Geordi gets a general status report; navigation and propulsion are offline and comms are disrupted. Onboard comms are brought up and Worf contacts the rest of the crew, telling them to select a representative to contact the bridge.
The extra commander reports to Worf, who is in the captain’s chair, that they’ve heard from all decks. Worf has decided they are a battleship, given the armament. Ro and Riker are talking; the turbolifts will provide access to all decks. They are going to head off to explore the ship and Geordi is going to come with to check over the computer core. When they arrive in engineering, they check over the systems.
The captain reports to Worf, who is in the captain’s ready room. Worf wants them ready for combat. Then Geordi contacts them; they have navigation, propulsion and weapons and he’s going to tie them to the bridge. The captain suggests they check their systems. Worf doesn’t want to, but is convinced it’s a good idea. Then the doctor arrives on the bridge. She hasn’t found much out, but the crew still have their long-term memories; they’re just blocked. She’d like to see normal brain scans to compare.
Ro and Riker are canvassing the ship, talking in a friendly, and possibly even flirtatious, manner, and end up in Ten Forward. Troi reports there are two unusual things. The first is that the bartender is an artificial lifeform. The second being she can sense emotions. And Riker seems familiar. Then Worf contacts them; they are to report to the bridge as they have accessed the personnel files. Worf discovers he isn’t the captain. And the XO is Commander Keiran MacDuff. Which he very definitely isn’t. It’s highly likely that MacDuff, whoever he is, is responsible for everyone losing their memories.
Accessing the computer files reveal that they are part of the United Federation of Planets. And that they’ve been at war with the Lysian Alliance for years. Something else that isn’t true. It seems likely that MacDuff has insinuated himself onto the ship and is using the Enterprise for his own means to attack the Alliance. The rest of the crew are trying to figure out what is going on as more and more things don’t make sense. And it seems that Ro was flirting with Riker, and is also not shy about making her feelings known. That may well be awkward when everyone recovers their memories.