"On the Scent of Trouble" is the second of four TNG short stories released in Amazing Stories magazine, this one in Issue 593 in summer 1998. Pocket Books collected John Gregory Betancourt's story in August 2002's The Amazing Stories omnibus.
Description[]
- When the Enterprise encounters a new civilization, both sides are eager to communicate. But are Captain Picard and his crew prepared to receive what the Pelavians are sending?
Summary[]
- Captain's log, supplemental.
- As the Enterprise nears the Pelavos star cluster, long-range sensors are detecting signs of an advanced civilization — six planets and ten moons have been terraformed and colonized. Clearly the beings who live here are spacefaring and highly intelligent. Starfleet has directed us to postpone our star-charting assignment in order to make contact with the Pelavians.
Upon entering the system, the Enterprise is approached by a spherical starship without viewports. The USS Enterprise makes first contact with the Pelavians, but Counselor Deanna Troi is momentarily overwhelmed by their strong form of telepathy. She assures Picard that they are enthusiastically interested in meeting, and a small spherical shuttle lands in Shuttle Bay Two.
Picard welcomes two ambassadors aboard. They communicate through telepathy and also by means of airborne scented chemicals detected through gills, and they manage to convey their thoughts clearly enough for the captain to understand them. Having no ears or eyes, they sense by echolocation. Picard conducts them on a tour of the Enterprise, but soon he starts exhibiting signs of paranoia. He sends away Troi and William T. Riker, calls for security guards, then starts acting as if the Borg were boarding the ship. Riker beams the two ambassadors back to their ship for their own safety.
- Captain's log, supplemental.
- Dr. Crusher's tests proved conclusively that the chemicals that the Pelavians exhale cause hallucinations in humans. They break down fairly quickly in open air, but when they are inhaled, they enter the bloodstream. Prolonged exposure leads to hallucinations and paranoid delusions. Fortunately, Dr. Crusher has already begun work on a solution....
Picard meets the Pelavians again, this time while wearing a respirator to filter out the harmful chemicals. He invites them to continue the tour, and he thinks this will be a successful first contact.
References[]
Characters[]
- Beverly Crusher • Data • DeCandido • Geordi La Forge • Ordover • Parker • Jean-Luc Picard • William T. Riker • Deanna Troi • Worf • unnamed Pelavians
- Referenced only
- Lwaxana Troi
Starships and vehicles[]
- USS Enterprise-D • Pelavian starship • Pelavian shuttle
Locations[]
- Pelavos • the galaxy
- Referenced only
- Earth • Romulan Neutral Zone • Vulcan
Races and cultures[]
States and organizations[]
Science and classification[]
- artificial gravity • astrogation • Borg implant • combadge • computer • engine • force field • hydroponics • impulse • laboratory • linguistics • medical tricorder • medscanner • nose filter • phaser • safety webbing • sensor • star chart • terraforming • transmission • transporter • transporter cell • turbolift • universal translator • viewport • viewscreen • warp core • weapon
Ranks and titles[]
- ambassador • anesthezine • assassin • captain • chief engineer • chief medical officer • commander • counselor • doctor • engineer • ensign • navigator • number one • second-in-command • security officer
Materials and substances[]
- apple • adrenaline • berry • blood • cabbage • caraway • cider • cedar • charcoal • chemical • chocolate • cinnamon • coffee • copper • corn • cream • fur • gas • hay • honey • lilac • metal • nitrogen • oxygen • pheromone • pine • plasma • plastic • rosemary • rubber • sulfur • vanilla
Other references[]
- alert status (red alert) • alien • Arcturan honeycomb • bat • beam • beard • bridge • captain's log, USS Enterprise-D, 2369 • colony • communications • corridor • creeper • decade • dress uniform • duty shift • echolocation • elephant • engineering • first contact • flower • gill • hail • hallucination • headache • kilometer • language • lifeform • medical • meter • minute • mountain • paranoia • peace • planet • quarters • race • satellite • second • security • shuttle bay • sickbay • space • species • star cluster • Starfleet uniform (early 2270s) • telepathy • universe • vacuum
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- TOS comic: "Aberration on Abaris" – Prolonged contact with the fungi-based physiology of Abaris natives affected humans as if they were being exposed to psychoactive drugs.
- ST - Telepathy War comic: "Reality's End" – The telepathic Xoxians also evolved a lack of ears, eyes and vocal cords.
Background[]
- Long before he wrote his Star Trek stories, author John Gregory Betancourt once worked as an assistant editor at Amazing Stories and also published a novel under the Amazing Stories brand.
Images[]
Connections[]
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous story: Last Words |
The Amazing Stories | Next story: Life Itself is Reason Enough |
| Previous story: The Heart of the Warrior |
Stories by: John Gregory Betancourt |
Next story: Infection Double Helix |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous adventure: A Fistful of Datas |
Pocket Books Timeline | Next adventure: Future Shock Strange New Worlds VII Eighth & Ninth entries |
| Previous adventure: A Fistful of Datas |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next adventure: Future Shock Strange New Worlds VII Eighth & Ninth entries |