The Best Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episode 12 Quotes

Captain: Why have you fired on us?
Gul: Curious question, Captain. In war, one attacks one's enemies.

Chief: [singing] The minstrel boy to the war is gone / In the ranks of death you will find him. His father's sword he hath girded on / And his wild harp slung behind him. Land of song, said the warrior bard / Tho' all the world betrays thee. One sword at least thy rights shall guard /
[only O'Brien finishes song]
Chief: One faithful harp shall praise thee.
Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: I'm not going to win this one, am I Miles?
Chief: No, sir.

- Captain, may we speak in private?
- You have the bridge, number one.

- You may take whatever action against him you feel is appropriate.
- I consider the matter closed.
- I'm not sure I would be so generous in your place, captain. Thank you.
- If there is to be a lasting peace, gul macet, neither you nor I must allow any one man to undermine our efforts.

Captain: You don't care for the Cardassians?
Chief: I like them fine. It's just... Well, I know them. You learn to watch your back when you're around those people.

- I was with a group of women and children when two cardassian soldiers burst in.
- I stunned one of them.
- The other one jumped me.
- We struggled.
- One of the women threw me a phaser, and I fired.

- The lasting peace begins here with the two of us.
- Data [over com]: Bridge to captain.
- Picard here.
- Data [over com]: We have located the Phoenix, sir.
- We will intercept it in 22 minutes.

- The man just incinerated there before my eyes.
- I'd never killed anything before.
- When I was a kid,
- I'd worry about swatting a mosquito.
- It's not you I hate, cardassian.
- I hate what I became because of you.

Chief: [about Maxwell] I'd just like to say, sir... he was a good man. What he did was terribly wrong, I know that now. But I'm still proud to have served with him.

- Relay the prefix codes of the Phoenix to the cardassian warship.
- Worf: Sir, they will be able to dismantle its shields.
- The Phoenix will not have a chance.
- I cannot allow Maxwell to ambush that supply ship.
- Mr. Worf, now.
- Yes, captain.

Lieutenant: The Cardassians have no honor. I do not trust them.
Counselor: They're our allies now, Mr. Worf. We have to trust them.
Lieutenant: Trust is earned, not given away.

Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: What the hell has happened to this war?
Chief: Sir... There is - no - war. The war is over!
Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: You're wrong. The Cardassians live to make war.
Chief: That's what everybody thinks about the enemy. That's probably what they think about *us*.
Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: We're not the same at all. We do not *start* wars. We do not make surprise attacks on manned outposts. We do not butcher women and children in their homes! Children... who never had the chance to grow up.

- Yes, sir.
- Welcome to the enterprise.
- I'm first officer William riker.
- Counselor Deanna troi.
- I am gul macet.
- My aides, glinn daro, glinn telle.
- Riker: This is our transporter chief,
- Mr. O'brien.

[last lines]
Captain: Maxwell was right. Those ships were not carrying scientific equipment, were they? A research station within arm's reach of three Federation sectors? Cargo ships running with high-energy subspace fields that jam sensors?
Gul: If you believe the transport ship was carrying weapons, Captain... why didn't you board it, as Maxwell requested?
Captain: I was here to protect the peace - a peace that I firmly believe is in the interests of both our peoples. If I had attempted to board that ship, I'm quite certain that you and I would not be having this pleasant conversation - and that ships on both sides would now be arming for war.
Gul: Captain, I assure you...
Captain: Take this message to your leaders, Gul Macet: we'll be watching.

Captain: When one has been angry for a very long time, one gets used to it. And it becomes comfortable, like... like old leather. And finally... becomes so familiar that one can't ever remember feeling any other way.

Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: You're a fool, Picard. History will look at you and say, "This man was a fool."
Captain: I'll accept the judgment of history.

- Picard: Space, the final frontier.
- These are the voyages of the starship enterprise.
- Its continuing mission: To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Captain: The loyalty that you would so quickly dismiss does not come easily to my people, Gul Macet. You have much to learn about us. Benjamin Maxwell earned the loyalty of those who served with him. You know, in war... he was twice honored with the Federation's highest citation for courage and valor. And if he could not find a role for himself in peace, we can pity him - but we shall not dismiss him.

Glin: We're going to your "Ten Forward." Will you join us?
Chief: If my Commander tells me to discuss the transporter with you, I will. If Captain Picard orders me to tell you everything I know about Ben Maxwell, I will. But whom I choose to spend my free time with, that's my business.

Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: O'Brien has the ability to size up a situation instantly, and come up with options to fit all contingencies. Remarkable!
Chief: Well, if that's true, I learned it from you, sir.
Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: [laughs] But you got that silver tongue by kissing the stone, right?

- then come up with options to fit all contingencies. Remarkable.
- If that's true,
- I learned it from you, sir.
- But you got that silver tongue by kissing the stone, right?
- Well, commander, best I see your captain straightaway.
- We got a lot to talk about.
- Yes, sir.

Chief: [about his experiences on Setlik III] The only people left alive... were in an outlying district of the settlement. I was sent there with a squad to reinforce them. Cardassians were advancing on us, moving through the streets, destroying, killing... I was with a group of women and children when two Cardassian soldiers burst in. I stunned one of them. The other one jumped me. We struggled. One of the women threw me a phaser, and I fired.
[he takes a sip from his drink]
Chief: The phaser was set at maximum. The man just... just incinerated, there before my eyes. I'd never killed anything before. When I was a kid, I'd... I'd worry about swatting a mosquito.
[he gets up]
Chief: It's not you I hate, Cardassian. I hate what I became *because* of you.

Chief: [about dinner] What... Wh-what is it?
Keiko: Kelp buds, plankton loaf and sea berries.
Chief: Sweetheart... I'm not a fish.

- But, gul macet, I meant nothing.
- There was no harm done.
- Go to your quarters.
- You are confined there for the duration of this expedition.
- As you wish, sir.
- Picard: Mr. Worf, please accompany him.
- Worf: Gladly, captain.

- Let me talk to my superiors, find out what is behind this.
- Give me one hour.
- The alternative is for us to continue firing at one another.
- And in such a contest, you would be at a disadvantage.
- Very well.
- One hour.

- When one has been angry for a very long time, one gets used to it.
- And it becomes comfortable, like old leather.
- And finally, it becomes so familiar that one can't ever remember feeling any other way.
- Thank you, chief.

Chief: [singing] The minstrel boy to the war has gone / In the ranks of death you will find him.
Chief: [joint] His father's sword he hath girded on / And his wild harp slung behind him. "Land of song", said the warrior bard / "Tho' all the world betrays thee. One sword at least thy rights shall guard...
Chief: ...One faithful harp shall praise thee."

- Will you join us?
- If my commander tells me to discuss the transporter with you, I will.
- If captain picard orders me to tell you everything I know about Ben Maxwell, I will.
- But who I choose to spend my free time with, that's my business.

Captain: If there is to be a lasting peace, Gul Macet, neither you nor I must allow any one man to undermine our efforts.
[Macet smiles enigmatically]
Gul: There are those who... crave war. Who need it. I am not one of them, Captain. And I'm beginning to see... that neither are you. We have had our full measure. The lasting peace begins here - with the two of us.

- and his wild harp slung behind him
- "land of song," said the warrior bard though all the world betrays thee one sword at least thy rights shall guard one faithful harp shall praise thee

- I will return to my ship.
- Do you understand your orders?
- Yes, captain.
- Mr. Worf, report to my ready room.
- My guest is departing.
- Worf [over com]: Aye, sir.

- Data: Sir, the Phoenix is firing on the...
- The warship carried a crew of 600.
- The supply ship, 50.
- Mr. Data, estimated time to intercept with the Phoenix.
- At our present speed of warp 4,
- 16 hours, 44 minutes.
- Ensign, increase to warp 9.

- Can we confine our discussion to the facts?
- Now, Mr. O'brien...
- Worf [over com]: Worf to captain picard.
- Go ahead, Mr. Worf.
- Worf: Long-range sensors have located the Phoenix.
- Gul macet, will you join me on the bridge?

- He'd never lower his shields and allow you to transport on board.
- The Phoenix is using a high-energy sensor system.
- It cycles every 5.5 minutes.
- Between cycles, there's a window of a fiftieth of a second.
- Trust me, I can get through.
- Make it so.

Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: [about Starfleet bureaucrats] They don't know what's going on out here. But you should, Picard. You know what it's like to be under fire.
Captain: You weren't under fire.
Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: Lives were at stake!
Captain: Whose lives?
Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: We had to act now!
Captain: Why?
Capt. Benjamin Maxwell: [looks around] Smells musty in here - like a bureaucrat's office.