“Realm of Fear” is episode two of season six of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The science vessel USS Yosemite has not been heard from in several days; it had been sent to observe a remote plasma streamer. The Enterprise has been dispatched to look and has found the ship inside the streamer, though the last report said they were observing at medium range. No response to hails and scanners can’t penetrate the streamer to detect lifesigns, nor can they tractor the Yosemite out. A shuttle is too risky. The captain contacts Geordi to see if they can beam over; Geordi says they can beam over but possibly not back. Barclay suggests interlocking both ships’ transporter systems. Geordi wants Barclay to come with; Barclay clearly does not want to.
In the transporter room, O’Brien tells the away team they will be beamed over one at a time, the cycle will take a little longer and it will be a bumpy ride. Barclay starts to panic. When it’s his turn on the pad, he ends up bolting.
Barclay heads to see Councillor Troi. She says apprehension is quite normal. This isn’t the first time Barclay has been apprehensive; every time he tries to use a transporter, he gets a certain feeling that you could call mortal terror. He’s kept it secret and always managed to avoid using the transporter, logging many hours in shuttlecraft. Troi says he isn’t the first person to feel fear over the transporter and he can be desensitised over time. She shows him an exercise to do. Barclay decides he can do this immediately; Troi always told him to confront his fears. She perhaps didn’t mean so quickly.
On the Yosemite, they haven’t found the crew yet and the escape pods are still onboard. There was an explosion that originated in the centre of the transporter, though it still works. Dr Crusher calls Riker; she’s found a body. The ships engineer, covered in burns, though she doesn’t think that’s what killed him.
Barclay is in the transporter room; O’Brien says he knows how he feels. O’Brien was scared of arachnids (Barclay isn’t; that may end up changing). He had a job to do with a Jefferson tube filled with spiders with half a metre long legs. O’Brien managed to do it and afterwards was never quite as afraid.
On the Yosemite, there are four people still unaccounted for and fragments of a sample container around the transporter. Captain Picard is in his ready room; an admiral warns him of reports by the Ferengi of Cardassian activity in the area. He promises to let her know if the Yosemite looks to have been attacked.
The away team is returning and are being beamed back one at a time. Barclay sees something inside the matter stream, a huge larvae-like creature that comes over and touches him. Later, in engineering, as Barclay and Geordi are trying to make out the Yosemite‘s logs – they’re scrambled – Barclay casually asks Geordi if the latter has seen anything strange during transport. Just wondering. Geordi isn’t convinced it’s just wondering; Barclay explains what he saw. He thinks it’s impossible, but Geordi still wants to check it out.
Geordi, Barclay and O’Brien check over the transporter without finding anything. Barclay thinks ignorance maybe really is bliss; if he didn’t know so much about how transporters work, they might not scare him so much. O’Brien reassures Barclay he’s never lost anyone and Geordi says there haven’t been many accidents at all. Barclay brings up transporter psychosis; Geordi says there haven’t been any instances in over 50 years.
In sickbay, Dr Crusher and Nurse Ogawa are with the body. Which, despite being dead, briefly shows a heartbeat, brain activity and breathes.
Barclay’s arm where it was touched has been affected by something. He starts looking up the symptoms for transporter psychosis; not a great idea for someone like him. The first time ever that Barclay uses a transporter and he has problems. He did, however, see something, so something really did happen.