why. why?
no.  i have to go.  i have to get back.  you don't understand! let me go!
soran.  doctor tolian soran.
i'm not sure.  it happened so fast.
yes, yes, captain -- thank you for coming.
yes. i need to return to the observatory immediately. i must continue a critical experiment i was running on the amargosa star.
the timing is very important on my experiment -- if it is not completed within the next twelve hours, years of research will be lost.
they say time is the fire in which we burn.  and right now, captain, my time is running out. we leave so many things unfinished in our lives -- i'm sure you can understand.
is there a problem, gentlemen?
i'd be happy to.
you got careless. the romulans came looking for their missing trilithium.
they knew it was aboard the observatory. if the enterprise hadn't intervened, they would have found it.
i have the weapon, lursa. and if you ever want me to give it to you, i advise you to be a little more careful in the future.
without my research.  the trilithium is worthless.  as are your plans to reconquer the klingon empire.
set course for the veridian system. maximum warp.
bring him with me. i need some answers from mr. la forge.
a remarkable piece of equipment.  but a little inelegant, wouldn't you say? have you ever considered a prosthesis that would make you look a little more.  normal?
normal is what everyone else is.  and what you are not.
as you may or may not be aware, i am an el-aurian. some people call us a race of "listeners". we listen. right now, mr. la forge, you have my undivided attention. i want to listen to everything you know about trilithium. and me.
i don't want a science lecture. you were on that observatory looking for trilithium.  why?
let's try to move beyond the usual prisoner-interrogator banter, shall we? you have information, and i need it. did the captain explain his orders to you? did he say why you were searching for trilithium?
what about.  guinan? what has she told you about me?
my instincts tell me you're lying. and i know that can't be easy for you.  i can see you have a good heart.
oh.  i forgot to tell you. while you were unconscious, i injected a nano-probe into your bloodstream. it's been navigating your cardiovascular system.  and right now i've attached it to your left ventricle. a little trick i picked up from the borg.
i just stopped your heart for five seconds. it felt like an eternity, didn't it? did you know that you can stop the human heart for up to ten minutes before the onset of brain damage?
we learn something new about ourselves every day. now. maybe i didn't make myself clear. it is very important that you tell me exactly what captain picard knows.
i'm not a killer, mr. la forge. let's try thirty seconds.
no. his heart just isn't in it.
prepare to transport me to the surface.
this contains all the information you'll need to build a trilithium weapon. it's been coded. once i'm safely to the surface, i'll transmit the decryption sequence to you.  not before.
there's no time for this. eliminate them.
i think it's time we gave mister la forge his sight back.
you must think i'm quite the madman.
the only possible reason you're here is because you're not entirely confident you can shoot down my probe after all. so you've come to dissuade me from my horrific plan. good luck.
i've spent eighty years looking for another way, captain. this is the only one. of course, you could always come with me. you fancy yourself an explorer. here's a chance to explore something no human has ever experienced.
nice try.
you're right. and there was a time when i wouldn't have hurt anyone. then the borg came.  and they showed me that if there is one constant in this universe, it's death. afterwards, i began to realize that none of it mattered. we're all going to die anyway. it's only a question of how and when. you will too, captain. you might contract a fatal disease.  you might die in battle.
 or burn to death in a fire.
you looked surprised. but you shouldn't be. i've been to the nexus, captain. i know things about people. aren't you beginning to feel time gaining on you? it's like a predator. it's stalking you. you can try to outrun it with doctors.  medicines.new technologies.  but in the end, time is going to hunt you down.  and make the kill.
what if i told you i found a new truth.
time has no meaning there. the predator has no teeth.
careful, captain. that's a fifty gigawatt forcefield. i wouldn't want to see you get hurt.
don't you have anything better to do?
now, if you'll excuse me, captain, i have an appointment with eternity and i don't want to be late.
now, if you'll excuse me, captain, i have an appointment with eternity and i don't want to be late.
no.
you!!