“Interface” is episode three of season seven of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Geordi, without his VISOR and with eyes, is in the Jefferies tubes. He’s found fumes and is detecting what is in them as he’s talking to Riker. The source of the fumes is a fire at apparently over 2,000 degrees, but Geordi is unaffected and activates the emergency suppression system.
This is because the real Geordi is in a science lab with Dr Crusher, Data and Riker, rigged up to an interface unit with a probe in the Jefferies tubes; Geordi’s VISOR implants make him perfect. Riker wants the probe out of the tube and into the launch bay. Geordi stares at his reflection in a console, but he sees himself, not the probe.
The Enterprise is responding to a distress call from the science vessel Raman that’s trapped in the atmosphere of a gas giant. The probe will be used to rescue it. Captain Picard is going over the mission on the bridge with Geordi, Riker and Data; they don’t know whether anyone is alive on the Raman. Worf informs the captain there’s a transmission from Admiral Holt; the captain says he will take it in his ready room and finishes his briefing.
Admiral Holt, after some chat, tells the captain that nine days ago the Hera left on a routine courier mission. It disappeared without a trace after five days. Ships have been looking for it for 72 hours with no luck; they’ll continue for another 72 but the admiral doesn’t expect any results. Captain Picard will inform Geordi. He heads to the science lab and asks for a private word with Geordi. The Hera is the ship Geordi’s mother is captain of.
Geordi is watching a message from his mother in his quarters when Riker arrives to talk about the probe. Riker apologises and says he can run the probe, albeit not as well. Geordi says it will take too long to convert and he’s the best person. There’s no reason for Geordi not to; at the moment, the Hera is just missing.
The probe enters the Raman and the interface is activated; Dr Crusher is keeping an eye on Geordi’s vitals. The ship is full of gases from the planet and Geordi says there must be a hull breach some place, possibly on the bridge itself. He finds a man in the corridor, dead, then breaks into the magnetic storage bay which would be the safest place in the event of a hull breach. The rest of the crew is inside, all dead. Geordi then detects a fire and screams in pain. In the science lab, his hands are burned.
In sickbay, the doctor tells the captain there was an energy discharge from the interface suit; the tolerance levels were high and caused a feedback loop. The captain would like to retrieve the Raman but not risk Geordi; Geordi says the sensitivity level can be turned down. They should at least get the data. Dr Crusher thinks the risks are acceptable. The captain speaks to Riker; the Raman‘s bridge is badly damaged and it will take them a couple of hours to cut through.
Geordi contacts his father, who says that the service for the Hera‘s crew will probably be held on Vulcan as the majority of the crew were Vulcan, but his father and sister will have a private ceremony. Geordi isn’t ready to declare his mother dead yet. He heads to see Data, who is studying poetry that includes large spaces of nothing, and Data asks if Geordi wishes to talk about his mother. No doubt he feels emotional distress. Geordi claims he was just passing by but, after Data invites him to stay, admits Data was right and does talk.
The next time Geordi uses the probe, he sees his mother on the Raman. She convinces him that the Hera is further down inside the planet; no-one else believes this rather improbable claim. Geordi does come up with a theory, which is potentially possible, but it looks like he’s grasping at straws. He is, however, interacting with something. But what?