Ensign Ro

It is Monday but I feel like it is like Sunday or something. I have been off of my summer job since the end of June, for a total of about 11 days. The last few days have been great but I am really looking forward to going back to work tomorrow morning. This may seem weird but I crave structure in my life so when I go a few days without work I start to get a little bored. This is the very reason that I do work in the summer because the idea of a three month vacation just scares the crap out of me. By the second week of August I know I will be getting the itch and I will start going into work to get my stuff ready for the upcoming school year.

Elliptical Machine: Calories- 651, Miles- 3.86

Ensign Ro

The outpost on Solarion Four has been destroyed and the Bajorans have claimed responsibility for the event. The Bajorans are trying to show the Federation that they are desperate to get their planet back from the Cardassians, desperate enough to attack and destroy a Starfleet outpost. Admiral Kennelly meets with Picard to outline a plan to get the Bajorans to stop attacking the Federation in exchange for political help. Kennelly assigns Ensign Ro Laren to the Enterprise, which does not make Picard or anyone on the Enterprise happy. Ensign Ro apparently comes with a lot of baggage and has gotten into a lot of trouble on her last few assignments and was taken out of prison for this assignment. Ro and the rest of the crew have an uneasy beginning but she eventually helps to make contact with some Bajoran leaders that lead them to the man who has apparently taken responsibility. While they are moving the supposed terrorists to their home base the Cardassians show up somehow they know that the terrorists are on board. Starfleet orders Picard to back away and the ship is destroyed. Picard reports the ships destruction but also reports that the ship was merely on auto pilot and that no one died. Picard and Ro have developed a working relationship by this point in part because of her help with the mission and Guinan’s support of Ro. She decides to stay on board the Enterprise in the end to see if it is something she can live up to.

This is the first appearance of Ensign Ro and the introduction of the Bajoran/Cardassian situation that later becomes the focus of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Ensign Ro is a strong female character with a complex story that brings more depth and drama to the cast and crew of the Enterprise. There are as with any story line a few changes that occur after the introduction of these characters. One such change is that the Bajorans have not been totally expelled from their home world as is stated in this episode.