ÿþ<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>The Loss</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR=#000000"> <TABLE ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="595" CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="3" BORDER="0"> <TR> <TD ROWSPAN="2" WIDTH="150" VALIGN=MIDDLE ALIGN=CENTER><IMG SRC="STTNG Pictures/Next-Gen-Logo.gif" WIDTH="175" HEIGHT="117" BORDER="0" ALT="Star Trek The Next Generation Logo"></TD> <TD WIDTH="245" VALIGN=CENTER ALIGN=CENTER><FONT COLOR="#99CCFF" SIZE="3" FACE="Arial, Helvetica, Comic Sans"><B>'The Loss'</B><BR><BR><FONT SIZE="3">(Story Code 184)<BR>by Hilary J. Bader,<BR>Alan J. Adler<BR>and Vanessa Greene<BR>Story by Hilary J. Bader</TD> <TD ROWSPAN="2" WIDTH="200" VALIGN=CENTER ALIGN=CENTER><IMG SRC="STTNG Pictures/STTNG S4 Cast.jpg" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="148" ALT="Star Trek The Next Generation Cast"></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT COLOR="#99CCFF" SIZE="2" FACE="Arial, Helvetica, Comic Sans"> The <I>U.S.S. Enterprise</I> detects a strange pattern of plane-polarized objects in its path, which quickly vanish; Captain Picard and his crew then discover that they are being pulled off course by an unknown force. Concerned that his ship is unable to break free Picard convenes an emergency meeting amongst the senior officers; but when he asks Counselor Troi if she can sense a life form, Troi suddenly realises that her empathetic powers have vanished. Doctor Crusher examines her, but believes that Troi s powers may be gone for good. The counselor is unable to cope with the loss of her empathy; finding it difficult to relate to patients without her abilities she begins to panic, lashing out at her friends in frustration. Meanwhile, Lieutenant LaForge and Lieutenant Commander Data discover that the force drawing the <I> Enterprise</I> is actually the gravitational wake of a cluster of two-dimensional lifeforms; these creatures are heading towards a cosmic string - a force similar to a black hole - and unless they can find a way to escape, the ship will be completely destroyed& <BR><BR> Patrick Stewart (<B>Captain Jean-Luc Picard</B>), Jonathan Frakes (<B>Commander William Thomas Riker</B>), LeVar Burton (<B>Chief Engineer Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge</B>), Michael Dorn (<B>Security Chief Lieutenant Worf</B>), Gates McFadden (<B>Doctor Beverly Crusher</B>), Marina Sirtis (<B>Councelor Deanna Troi</B>), Brent Spiner (<B>Lieutenant Commander Data</B>), Kim Braden (<B>Ensign Janet Brooks</B>), Mary Kohnert (<B>Ensign Tess Allenby</B>), Whoopi Goldberg (<B>Guinan</B>) <BR><BR><B>Directed by Chip Chalmers <BR>Produced by David Livingston <BR>Co-Produced by Peter Lauritson <BR>Executive Producers Michael Piller, Rick Berman and Gene Roddenberry </B> <BR><BR><B>TX:</B> <FONT COLOR="#99CCFF" SIZE="2" FACE="Arial, Helvetica, Comic Sans"> <BR>31st December, 1990 <BR><BR><B>Notes:</B> <BR>*Featuring Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commander William Thomas Riker, Chief Engineer Lieutenant Geordi La Forge, Security Chief Lieutenant Worf, Doctor Beverly Crusher, Councelor Deanna Troi, Lieutenant Commander Data and Guinan <BR><BR><BR> </BODY> </HTML>