“The Inner Light” is episode twenty-five of season five of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The Enterprise has detected an object it cannot immediately identify. Data says it appears to be a probe of unknown design and it’s holding course with them. The design isn’t sophisticated, but Worf reports a nucleonic beam coming from it. Shields are raised, but the beam is now scanning them and an unusual particle beam penetrates the shield. There’s a flash of light and the captain collapses.
As the captain comes around, a woman is looking at him. She asks how he feels and calls him Kamin. The captain asks where he is and she says he’s still feverish. Picard tries ending the program. Nothing happens and he lacks a commbadge. The woman says he’s still not well. Picard asks what this place is. His home.
The woman says he’s had a high fever for three days and shouldn’t go out. So he does. He’s in a settlement and there’s a tree planting ceremony going on. One man says the sapling is an affirmation of life and defiance of the drought. The captain heads to speak to the man who greets him as Kamin. Picard asks the man if he’s in charge. He wants to be returned to his ship immediately. The man thinks the fever has taken Picard – Kamin’s – memory. He is Batai, the council leader. The woman, Eline, is Kamin’s wife. And if he can’t remember that, it might be safer not to go home. This is the community of Ressik, in the northern province of Kataan. The captain doesn’t recognise the name; it’s not a Federation planet.
After wandering around the countryside, Picard returns to Kamin’s home. He’s hungry, thirst and exhausted, which proves this isn’t a dream. But it’s not his life. Picard questions Eline on other planets, their spacefaring capability and how they communicate long distance. Eline asks if he has questions about them. Yes; anything would be helpful. Kamin is an iron weaver though he prefers playing the flute. Eline gets the flute. Picard asks her when he learnt to play it. Eline says he never did. She also has a pendant in the shape of the probe. The first gift Kamin ever gave her.
On the Enterprise‘s bridge, Riker has called Dr Crusher to the bridge. She can’t find any physical harm but the captain’s neurotransmitter production is off the scale. Worf wants to destroy the probe. The doctor says that isn’t wise until they know what it’s doing. Backing away just results in the probe following them.
Time has passed for the captain and he’s observing the sun, trying to work out the cause of the drought. Eline thinks he’s still trying to figure out where he is and where his ship is and how to get back to his life. Picard says that after five years the memories are still inside him. Eline wants to know if it was really so much better. In all his stories, he never mentioned anyone loving him. She’s been patient but would like to start a family. Batai arrives; the Administrator is there.
The Administrator is told how they keep the tree alive. He likes the idea. Batai wants to do something to recover water. The Administrator says rationing is working. Picard replies that it isn’t enough. He wants to build atmospheric condensers. The Administrator says that is a monumental undertaking. He will pass the idea on. Batai thinks it went well. The captain knows they’ve been fobbed off. They should build their own water condenser. Batai says that’s the first time in five years he’s spoken as if he’s a member of the community.
On the Enterprise, they’re trying to figure out a way of helping the captain. He, meanwhile, is living out an entire life in a matter of minutes. On a world that is dying.