The U.S.S. Enterprise
receives an emergency transmission from a science
station on the planet Ventax II. The Ventaxians are in a
panic, convinced a mythic figure called Ardra has
returned to fulfill a thousand-year-old contract.
According to legend, she promised the citizens of the
once war-torn planet a thousand years of peace and
prosperity in exchange for their enslavement at the end
of that time. When Picard takes Worf, Data and Troi to
the planet to help Jared, the Ventaxian leader, Ardra
suddenly appears before them.
Ardra tells Jared she has come to collect on the
bargain, and expresses an immediate attraction to
Picard. The Captain refuses to be intimidated by her,
even when she demonstrates her ability to cause tremors,
disappear and frighten Worf by changing form to become
the Klingon devil. He points out to the crew that the
U.S.S. Enterprise has the ability to recreate all of
Ardra's tricks, and dispatches Data to review the
ancient scrolls that constitute the Ventaxians contract
with Ardra. Data soon reports that not only is the
contract valid, but that it gives Ardra title to
anything orbiting the planet, including the U.S.S.
Enterprise and its crew.
Back on board the
U.S.S. Enterprise, Ardra suddenly materializes in the
sleeping Picard's quarters and begins making romantic
advances. When he refuses, she changes form in an effort
to tempt him, eventually assuming Troi's form. When that
too falls, she angrily transports him to Ventax while
still in his pajamas, and then makes the U.S.S.
Enterprise disappear.
While Geordi works to
find a mechanical source to Ardra's powers, Picard
stalls for time by suggesting legal arbitration of the
contract. Ardra agrees, with the condition that Picard's
soul be the prize should he lose. She then chooses Data
to be the judge, and the hearing begins. Ardra performs
her illusions to convince Data that she is the claimant
named in the ancient contract. Picard points out, by
questioning Jared about his planet's peace and
prosperity when they initiated sweeping reforms a
thousand years before. But when Ardra confronts the
frightened Jared, he still maintains that she has claim
to the planet.
At that moment, Geordi
enters the room with news that he has located the power
source. Picard is granted a recess and contracts the
U.S.S. Enterprise, which Geordi was able to locate. When
the hearing resumes, Picard duplicates all of Ardra's
tricks and invites her to stop them. When she cannot,
Picard exposes her as a con artist and Data dissolves
the contract. Jared thanks Picard for saving the
Ventaxians, but Picard insists they saved themselves
long ago. |
