[Chateau Picard]

PICARD: I remember family stories of how the château got shot up when my ancestors were reoccupying it in the 21st century. These are the same bullet holes.
RIOS: Do you think that means we're on the path to the right future?
PICARD: I'm not certain.
RIOS: I keep turning it over in my head, that prophecy Agnes said.
PICARD: To succeed, there need to be two Renées. One who lives and another who dies.
RIOS: What does that mean? How... how is that even possible?
TALLINN: Picard, later. We all set?

[Tallinn's apartment]

RAFFI: Impressive.
TALLINN: These should work a lot like your tricorders.
SEVEN: Raffi, can you tag Soong's GPS?
RAFFI: On it. His entire fleet of vehicles is still at his house.
RIOS: Jurati jacked into our transporters from there. He must have massive remote capabilities.
SEVEN: So that's where we head. Tallinn, you can just walk into quarantine?
TALLINN: They break quarantine on launch day, but I'm going to transport in to avoid security and the bio-scanners in the front lobby.
PICARD: Transport in?
TALLINN: Don't worry. I've been planning this for a long time.
PICARD: Well, what do you intend to do?
TALLINN: I'm going to watch out for her, Picard. It's what I do.
SEVEN: Good luck.
TALLINN: You, too.
(Picard steps into the zone as Tallinn transports.)
RAFFI: What the hell is he doing?
MAN [OC]: Preparing for CAPCOM status. All systems report out. Five...
(We zoom in from Jupiter to Earth as various launch control voices overlap.)

[Launch site]

MAN [tannoy]: T minus 21 minutes until launch.
TALLINN: What are you doing?
PICARD: More to the point, I know what you are doing or what you intend to do. Tallinn.
TALLINN: Get back.
PICARD: I'm so sorry, but I can't let you do this.
TALLINN: What, my job?
PICARD: You do not have to sacrifice your life to save hers.
TALLINN: Okay. Did Jurati have any reason to lie to you?
PICARD: Thousands. She's part Borg.
TALLINN: But she was more Agnes. More your friend. With a view of the future, of all possible futures.
PICARD: I don't rely on prophecy. And even if I did, there are so many different ways to interpret what she said. And because you think you know what she meant, I won't let you sacrifice yourself...
TALLINN: You won't let me? It's not up to you. This is my life. You don't get to stop me from fulfilling my purpose because you're scared I'm gonna die. My fate is not yours to decide. I understand. I've seen the heart of this in you. But other people's lives aren't up to you. And their deaths aren't your fault. Not mine if it comes. Not your mother's. That's a fantasy, Jean-Luc. We can't control who we lose, and we can't spare ourselves the pain of it. But people's choices are their own to make, and this one is mine. I don't need saving. I never have.

[Soong's lab]

SOONG [OC]: Computer, recalibrate orbital eccentricities. Synchronise drone targeting systems on the shuttle's RCS thrusters.
(Rios, Seven and Raffi beam in.)
COMPUTER: Flight path analysed. Sectors six through clear for launch.
SOONG [OC]: Computer, time till drone launch.
COMPUTER: Four minutes, 27 seconds.
SOONG [OC]: Adjust flight telemetry to...
(Rios stops playback of Audio_298188-K02.3)
SEVEN: Shit. Picard, do you copy? We were wrong.

[Mission Control Foyer]

LEE: Doctor Soong?
SEVEN [OC]: Soong is not here.
PICARD: That's because he's here, at the launch.

[Soong's lab]

RAFFI: Goddamn it! This entire bullshit scenario was designed to draw us here and away from Soong.
RIOS: What if his voice is fake but... the drones aren't?
RAFFI: I've got four heat signatures... behind here.
RIOS: Whatever he's doing at the launch, I think we found his backup plan.
SEVEN: If he can't stop Renée from boarding, he's gonna use the drones to take out the rocket itself. Raffi, how much time do we have?
RAFFI: Er, three minutes, 45 seconds.
RIOS: Can you get remote access?
RAFFI: System's encrypted. If I had La Sirena, I could crack it, but without it, I can't stop them.

[Mission Control]

WOMAN [tannoy]: Hydraulic instrument power is a go. Activation...
(Tallinn waits for the female mission personnel to appear.)
MAN [tannoy]: Clear launchpad of all nonessential personnel.

[Soong's lab]

RIOS: How about we cripple them? Can't hit the shuttle if they can't fly.
RAFFI: Soong knew we would find this, right? Why bother creating a recording? He calculated that we would try to destroy them. Here, it's... Damn it. He hardwired them to explode. We even tap it wrong, we all go boom.
RIOS: So what are you saying, that's it?
RAFFI: Hell no. I need tools. Pliers, scissors, whatever you can get your hands on. We might not be able to disable them, but maybe I can gain manual control.

[Mission Control]

(Tallinn is now in Europa Mission overalls. She follows the other personnel through the checkpoint.)
MAN [tannoy]: You're clear to do that. Strip 1-A is now closed. We are in lockdown...
(Meanwhile...)
LEE: Doctor Soong, we weren't expecting you. We would have prepared a VIP booth.
SOONG: Nonsense. I'm not the VIP today. I just want a few minutes with the astronauts. Shake hands with the men and women who are about to create the future.
LEE: Well, with all the quarantine protocol...
SOONG: I'm sorry? Did my donations not buy me five minutes of face time?
LEE: Of course. They're preparing to suit up.
SOONG: All right.

[Suit-up room]

(Tallinn lets herself into Renee's suit-up room.)
RENEE: Oh, God. It's happening. And I'm actually ready.
WOMAN [tannoy]: Europa Mission launch commencing in T minus 60 minutes.
RENEE: Who are you? Where's Maya?
TALLINN: Maya wasn't feeling well. No one wanted to take any chances, so...
RENEE: Bullshit. I know every person on every suit-up crew. You're not on any of them. Why are you wearing Maya's uniform?

[Mission Control]

LEE: I can't believe it's here. The day. History. I never would have thought we'd make it.
SOONG: You didn't? What a terrible attitude.
LEE: I guess what I mean is that, er, it didn't seem like it would ever be real.
SOONG: Yeah, you really are disrespectful. I'd like to leave you right here.
LEE: Oh...
SOONG: I will leave you right here.

[Suit-up room]

RENEE: Who are you? I've seen you before, somewhere.
TALLINN: Renée, I need you to listen to me, or your life will be in grave danger. When you were a little girl, at your mother's funeral, you put a small spaceship figurine into her casket because still, to this day, you think that if you fly out far enough you'll find her. You do know me. I tried to hide it, but there were times I couldn't.
(Picks a pendant up off the copy of Pallid Son.)
TALLINN: I gave this to you a long time ago. That time your little sailboat capsized off Martha's Vineyard. You remember? What were you, ten? Two nights ago at the gala, a dozen other glimpses. Maybe I couldn't help it. That's what I tell myself. But the truth is a part of me wanted you to see me, to know I was there. You've always said you had a guardian angel, and you were right. Well, not the angel part. It's... me.

[Soong's lab]

RAFFI: How about now?
RIOS: No signal. Maybe we can bypass...
COMPUTER: Drone uplink complete. Primary activation initiated.
RAFFI: Whoa, whoa.
(A drone launches.)
SEVEN: We're too late.
RIOS: He staggered the launches so we can't stop them all at once.
(Second drone launches.)
RIOS: Raffi, can you get me manual control?
RAFFI: Er, maybe, but I'll need to hardwire its subroutines.
(Third drone launches.)
SEVEN: Raffi, whatever you're doing, do it faster.
RAFFI: I just need more time to override the system.
(Fourth drone launches. Picard watches Soong leave the Europa Mission building.)

[Suit-up room]

TALLINN: Renée, all I want to do is get you on that ship. I have a hunch, and I'm not sure if I'm right, but... right now your life depends on trusting me. Can you do that? Please.

[Corridor]

RENEE: Mister Soong, thank God. There's a crazy woman. She says she's my guardian from space. She...
SOONG: It's all right, it's all right, it's all right. I'll call someone. Come with me.

[Soong's lab]

RAFFI: Goddamn Soong.
RIOS: Holy shit. I've got full control.
SEVEN: Rios, take those other drones out.

[Staircase]

(Renee is not looking well.)
SOONG: The suit-up room. Get up there now.
RENEE: What did you...
SOONG: Don't worry. Won't last long. This neurotoxin... is fast. And fatal. Looks like you're about to create the future after all.
MAN [tannoy]: Transfer ignition. Go internal power.

[Soong's lab]

SEVEN: Come on, Rios.
RIOS: These analogue controls aren't helping.

[Building 6]

RENEE: Picard.

[Soong's lab]

RIOS: Come on, come on.
(Mid-air collisions.)
RAFFI: Ha!
COMPUTER: All drones terminated. Strike sequence cancelled.

[Building 6]

PICARD: You must have something that would help. Med tech.
RENEE: It's too late, Jean-Luc. We both know it. I need to see.
PICARD: Oh, come.
(The rocket launches beyond the buildings.)
PICARD: Look up. Look up.
('Renee' deactivates her disguise.)
TALLINN: You're off.
PICARD: Tallinn...
TALLINN: I know something now. The secrets we keep. All the reasons we never tell someone we love them. They're worthless.
PICARD: Tallinn. I'm so sorry.
TALLINN: Sweet Picard. Your guilt must have saved planets by now. Countless lives in trade for the one you couldn't. I got to tell her. Maybe she'll remember me... and know that she was worth all of it. You helped me give that to her. Absolve yourself, or the only life left unsaved will be your own. Her eyes... they were so beautiful.

[Soong's lab]

(It's a wreck.)
ANNOUNCER: The Shango just passed the thermosphere as we check in with Mission Specialist Doctor Renée Picard. Renée, how's the view up there?
RENEE: Dynamic pressure decreasing. All systems normal. We are away, on the wings of... those who came before us. Europa, here we come.
ANNOUNCER: On behalf of all of us, to you and the entire crew, Godspeed.
SOONG: Pah. Godspeed.
(A red line of code flashes on a computer screen.)
SOONG: What? No. No, no, no, no, no. Goddamn it!
(Files are deleting. Kore is using a virtual interface in a library.)
KORE [OC]: Hi, Dad.
SOONG: Kore. Please, what did you do?
KORE [OC]: Made a new future for us both. This is for my sisters.
COMPUTER: 100% file deletion confirmed. System-wide purge complete.
(Soong takes a paper file from a drawer. Project Khan. Confidential funding report. June 7th 1996. Kore gets a message on her Pad - Curious what's next? Watch and observe. 460 Lowry Avenue Los Angeles CA)

[Echo Park]

KORE: I swear to God, if this is another one of your games, Q...
WESLEY: No. No, no. I can assure you we are very different. Hello, Kore.
KORE: And you are?
WESLEY: That's a very long and very complicated story.
KORE: Honestly, I've got nothing pressing.
WESLEY: Okay. A long time ago, I was known as Wesley Crusher, but now I am a traveller of all of Space and Time.
KORE: You're kidding, right?
WESLEY: The last time I told a joke, I inadvertently changed a century's worth of history, so I work really hard to not be misunderstood.
KORE: That's a lot.
WESLEY: You have no idea. My colleagues and I, we dispatch those we call supervisors to help ensure the proper flow of Time. So the universe is essentially a grand tapestry. It is flawless. It is fragile. It is exquisite. Yet it is somehow always a thread's pull away from total annihilation. A star is born, but a ship is lost. A new species thrives, but a civilization collapses. Knowing when to step in... that's the tricky part. And so my colleagues and I, we watch. We protect everything.
KORE: Big job.
WESLEY: Tell me about it. Two paths are before you. The first one leads to a perfectly normal life.
KORE: Wait, is this a recruitment speech?
WESLEY: I'm not done. The second... that path leads to everything else. And it offers a chance to give your life purpose and meaning. But I cannot guarantee your safety. Okay, that's it. That was the recruitment speech.
KORE: I've never been safe.
WESLEY: Welcome to the Travellers.
(They beam away.)

[Chateau Picard]

RIOS: A tricorder, a couple of comm badges, a broken phaser. I think that's all of it. Every butterfly I could find.
SEVEN: So we'll never know if it worked.
RAFFI: It did. It had to. Now, that's the only way that never seeing the people we're never gonna see again is okay.
SEVEN: Right. We live here now. So, what do we do? I mean, how does money work?
RIOS: Come to L.A.
RAFFI: That's a bit presumptuous, isn't it?
RIOS: Suppose I should ask first.
RICARDO: Hey, Chris. Look at these cool rocks we found outside in the field.
RIOS: Wow. Whoa. These are, like, really old.
SEVEN: I've never seen Rios so happy.
RAFFI: You really okay with this?
SEVEN: Maybe better than okay.
RAFFI: And hey, if you're done running from your Borg past, I hope you won't think all of a sudden that, "Oh, my God, I got to stay super still and spend every waking moment with Raffi," 'cause, you know, I'm actually feeling like I wanna, you know, focus on me for a change. Yeah, 'cause, you know, maybe... maybe this isn't half bad to hang out with, so if that's your...
(Seven kisses Raffi.)
RAFFI: So... what does that mean?
SEVEN: Oh, my God, Raffi. Let it breathe.
RAFFI: Okay, well, I just... Er, where did JL slip off to?
(To hid the skeleton key behind a loose stone near the end of a corridor.)
Q [OC]: Bravo. Destiny. Left for the little boy you will be in the future to find.

[Solarium]

Q: You considered destroying it, didn't you? Well, let me ask. If that key is not there for the boy to find, does he grow up with his mother? Does the shame instantly lift? But you accepted your fate. You accepted you. You chose the Jean-Luc you are. You absolved yourself. And because you choose him, perhaps he will now be worthy enough for someone else to choose, and maybe this time you will even give him the chance to be loved. I told you this was about forgiveness, Jean-Luc. Yours.
PICARD: Why?
Q: Well, isn't that the eternal question? Know thyself.
PICARD: There's been so much loss. So much death.
Q: But you fixed all that.
PICARD: Elnor, Tallinn.
Q: Well, maybe not all of it. But Tallinn always dies in every timeline. This is the only one in which she meets Renée.
PICARD: I ask you once again. Why?
Q: Finish the sentence.
PICARD: Me. From the very beginning, for over 30 years... why me?
Q: I am moving on. In your parlance, I am dying.
PICARD: Yes, I know.
Q: Alone. I am dying alone. I do not want that for you. Humans... your griefs, your pains fix you to moments in the past long gone. You're like butterflies with your wings pinned. My old friend, forever the boy who, with an errant turn of a skeleton key, broke the universe and his own heart. No more. You are now unshackled from the past. As I leave, I leave you free.
PICARD: But... why does all this matter? Is something going to happen for which I will be required?
Q: Must it always have galactic import? Universal stakes, celestial upheaval? Isn't one life enough? You ask me why it matters. It matters to me. You matter to me. Even gods have favourites, Jean-Luc. And you've always been one of mine.
PICARD: Q...
Q: Time's almost up. I have one last surprise in store.

[Chateau Picard]

SEVEN: What's wrong?
PICARD: Nothing. Quite the opposite.

[Countryside]

Q: Well, hello. Nice to see you all.
RAFFI: Q. Motherf...
SEVEN: Try not to kill him until we find out what he wants.
RAFFI: Try is right.
Q: And now, as they say, for my final act.
RAFFI: What about Elnor?
Q: Who?
RAFFI: You killed him.
Q: Actually, it was other-her's idiot husband, to be precise. In my weakened state, you might be able to kill me. Certainly, my sending you home will. Well, as you like. Now, are we all ready to go home? Bags packed?
RIOS: No. I'm staying.
PICARD: Chris. You know you can't do that. The timeline.
RIOS: I never fit, you know? Nothing stuck. I mean, I was living alone in a cargo ship with five holographic versions of myself. Not very encouraging. And then I met you. I never had a family in any real way. You changed all that. All of you did. This is where I belong. Jean-Luc... I'm home.
PICARD: Make a good future.
RIOS: Maybe it was always supposed to be this way. Time's a funny thing.
Q: Yes, it is. Interesting.
RAFFI: No...
RIOS: I'm gonna miss you, Raf.
RAFFI: Yeah, you are. He's a handful, you know?
TERESA: Piece of cake.
RAFFI: Piece of cake.
RIOS: I should go 'cause...
RAFFI: Yeah.
Q: Most unexpected. Perhaps now there'll be some surplus energy? Call it a surprise, a gift. Farewell, mon capitaine. It's time for me to go.
PICARD: But not alone. Isn't that the point of all this?
(Picard hugs Q.)
Q: See you out there.
(Snaps fingers.)

[USS Stargazer]

(Under Borg attack.)
COMPUTER: The ship will detonate in T minus... ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three...
PICARD: Computer, cancel auto-destruct sequence.
COMPUTER: Auto-destruct cancelled.
PICARD: Stand down. Stand down! That's an order. Let her proceed. I once told a dear friend what that song meant to me. Now, while I don't have time to teach you the words, I believe that she has had 400 years to consider them. Haven't you, Doctor?
(Borg Queen Agnes retracts her tentacles.)
PICARD: It's good to see you, Agnes.
RAFFI: What the hell's going on here? Jurati?
PICARD: I'm glad you still remember the song that calmed me when I was a boy.
QUEEN: We hoped it would calm you now.
MAN [OC]: Stargazer, this is Fleet Command. Please report in.
MOSHE: Admiral?
PICARD: I want to believe you mean us no harm and that is why you sent the signal. One that you knew I would understand. That is still you in there, isn't it?
QUEEN: Yes. In part. But if we don't act, many will die. This here, this now.
PICARD: What is the threat? Why have you assumed control of our ships?
KEMI: Captain, I'm picking up a massive spike in neutrino emissions focused on the centre of the quadrant. Where's Captain Rios?
PICARD: Stay on task, helm. That's an order. Show me what you see.
RAFFI: Er, what the hell is that?
SEVEN: Unclear. But if its triquantum waves keep increasing, it's going to expel a massive amount of energy. Enough to destroy most of this sector.
RAFFI: That's a galactic event.
QUEEN: By our calculations, the only way to protect the quadrant is to harmonise the fleet's shields with our own. That is why we needed access to the fleet.
PICARD: That's why you asked for me. You needed someone with authority you could trust. Who would trust you.
MAN [OC]: Stargazer, what is your status?
QUEEN: We needed a friend.
MAN [OC]: Stargazer, report in, or we'll assume you've been compromised.
SEVEN: Inform Starfleet we are in active negotiations with the Borg, otherwise they're gonna blow us out of the sky.
PICARD: Considering you know more about the Borg than anyone else on the ship, Seven, by my authority, consider this a field commission.
SEVEN: Hail the fleet. The admiral has authorised full control by the Borg Queen. Tell them do not resist. Agnes, be brilliant.
QUEEN: Always. Initiating grid formation. We are out of time.
PICARD: Then let's hope that this works.
JURATI: Harmonising your fleet's shields.
MOSHE: Excelsior's harmonics are off.
RAFFI: Excelsior, your shield emitter needs to be recalibrated. Do you copy?
ELNOR [on screen]: We copy. Realigning now and... Raffi?
RAFFI: Elnor?
ELNOR: The last thing I remember, I was on La Sirena.
RAFFI: Make the adjustment, cadet. Q. Goddamned Q.
PICARD: What did he call it? A surprise, a gift.
KEMI: That thing is about to blow.
PICARD: Brace for impact.
(Energy bombards the mega-shield right at the Borg ship's position. It finally peters out.)
KEMI: Shields holding. I think it worked.
SEVEN: Phew.
PICARD: You just saved billions of lives.
QUEEN: That was the idea... mister.
RAFFI: Guys, you seeing this?
PICARD: What is it?
SEVEN: I believe we have just witnessed the creation of a transwarp conduit, but unlike any I've ever seen before.
PICARD: Created by whom?
QUEEN: Even with our collective knowledge, the answer remains elusive.
PICARD: But you know more.
JURATI: What you see is a piece of the puzzle whose final image is unclear, but is tied to a threat. One which requires close observation. We request provisional membership in the Federation so that we may remain here, a guardian at the gates.
PICARD: Thank you, Agnes.

[10 Forward Avenue]

GUINAN: I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner. I just knew that if I guided you right, set you straight, you'd circle around eventually. And I also want to thank you for setting me straight first. I can't believe if you don't say it. You know, I wondered if it was gonna be a bit of a spoiler keeping it there, but you have always been more clever than observant.
(A photograph by the bar.)
PICARD: Rios.
GUINAN: Yes. You know, he and Teresa started a medical movement together. The Mariposas.
PICARD: Butterflies.
GUINAN: Yeah. And he captained them through hard times and tough terrains, and she... she helped whoever needed help, whenever they might need it.
PICARD: And er... the boy, er, Ricardo?
GUINAN: He put together a team of the brightest minds in the world, and they found a way to heal the ocean and clean the sky using an alien organism that his Auntie Renée discovered during the Europa Mission. You know, they would come in here when they were in town. We all got pretty close. Did you know that Chris could drink but Teresa could drink him under the table? Every time. They were such good people.
PICARD: And how did they...
GUINAN: Ah. Teresa of old age. Rios slightly younger, in a Moroccan bar fight over medical supplies. And best of all, his last breath was into a cigar. So he died like he lived.
(Picard takes drinks to a table.)
PICARD: Elnor, this is for you.
RAFFI: Oh, no. No. Oh dear.
PICARD: To family, then. Because... that's what we are, after all.
ELNOR: That is awful. Is it meant to burn like that?
RAFFI: Burns?
SEVEN: No.
PICARD: So, with that toast, there's somewhere it's time I got to. If you will all excuse me.

[Chateau Picard Solarium]

PICARD: Extraordinary.
LARIS: I had it restored so I could leave it with you before I go. I thought maybe a little looking back might do you some good.
PICARD: I think I've had just about enough of that. Better to look forward.
LARIS: Is that right?
PICARD: So... where is it that you're going?
LARIS: I'm going on adventures of my own, Jean-Luc.
PICARD: There are moments in our lives we fear to relive and others we long to repeat. While time cannot give us second chances... maybe people can.