Samaritan Snare

Picard reluctantly leaves the ship for a starbase, where he is quietly booked in for surgery on his artificial heart. He shares the shuttle with Wesley, who is on his way to Starfleet Academy entrance exams, and on the way he reveals that he lost his heart after being stabbed by a Nausicaan. Back on the Enterprise, Riker answers a distress call from the Pakled ship Mondor. The Pakleds seem simple and helpless, so Riker sends La Forge over alone to fix their engines. Once the repairs are done they take him hostage and demand weapons technology. Their breakdown was a ruse. At the starbase, Picard's operation goes wrong, and only Pulaski's skills can save him. Riker and Worf pass coded messages to La Forge, who persuades his captors to hold fire while the Enterprise puts on a harmless show of force. The Pakleds surrender, La Forge is freed, and the ship races to reach Picard in time.