Imaginary Friend

Stardate 45852.1: As the Enterprise begins an investigation of a nebula, Ensign Sutter and his young daughter Clara are in Troi’s office, where Clara is talking about her imaginary friend Isabella. Ensign Sutter, whose Starfleet career hasn’t allowed him to stay in one place long enough for Clara to make any friends, is concerned that Clara’s insistence on Isabella’s existence is abnormal, but Troi doesn’t think it is anything to worry about. An energy form enters the Enterprise, it materializes just as Clara imagines Isabella and begins to have Clara show it around the ship. Meanwhile, other energy-beings like “Isabella” begin to weave a web of strands around the ship to slow it down so they can feed off its power source. The crew realizes that the only way to try to communicate with the energy-beings is by having Clara try to summon Isabella.

teleplay by Edithe Swensen and Brannon Braga
story by Jean Louise Matthias & Ronald Wilkerson and Richard Fliegel
directed by Gabrielle Beaumont
music by Dennis McCarthy

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker), LeVar Burton (Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge), Michael Dorn (Lt. Worf), Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troi), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Noley Thornton (Clara), Shay Astar (Isabella), Jeff Allin (Ensign Sutter), Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan), Brian Bonsall (Alexander), Patti Yasutake (Nurse Ogawa), Sheila Franklin (Ensign)