- [Future Picard is restrained to a biobed by a force field]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Release him.
- Dr. Kate Pulaski: Do you know what you're doing?
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: No. Release him.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Well, they say if you travel far enough, you will eventually meet yourself. Having experienced that, Number One, it's not something I would care to repeat.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [referring to his future self] You still convinced he's me?
- Counselor Deanna Troi: Yes, but you're not convinced.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Not in the slightest. Except for his features, there is nothing about him that I find familiar!
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Captain's log, supplemental - We have apparently intersected with... something.
- Lieutenant Geordi La Forge: So, when we reach that point, whatever happened will happen again; the Enterprise will be destroyed, the other Picard will be sent back to meet with us, then we do it all over again. Sounds like someone's idea of hell to me.
- Commander William T. Riker: Captain, I think this is one instance where you should suppress your natural tendencies.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Oh, really?
- Commander William T. Riker: One of your strengths is your ability to... evaluate the dynamics of a situation, and then take a definitive, pre-emptive step, take charge. Now you're frustrated because you not only can't see the solution, you can't even define the problem.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Hm... Go on.
- Commander William T. Riker: What we're facing is neither a person nor a place, at least not yet. It's time.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: You're saying I should just sit down, shut up and wait.
- Commander William T. Riker: Well, I wouldn't have put it exactly like that.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Not something I'd do easily.
- Commander William T. Riker: Your Persian flaw.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Yes, perhaps it is.
- [Data plays back Picard's log from the future]
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Captain's personal log, supplemental - I have just witnessed the total destruction of the USS Enterprise, with the loss of all hands, save one - me.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: [interrogating his future self] What went wrong? You know, don't you? What did you do? What happened? Why did you leave the ship? Don't turn away. Look at me! Picard! Look at me!
- [Riker makes omelets for his fellow crew members]
- Dr. Kate Pulaski: Ah, you have a practiced hand, Commander.
- Commander William T. Riker: Yes, I have my father to thank.
- Dr. Kate Pulaski: Your father? Liked to cook?
- Commander William T. Riker: No, he hated it. That's why he left the chore to me.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: When you say it wants you, do you mean it's still you, only you, and it's not me?
- Future Jean-Luc Picard: [looks at him, bewildered] You're confusing me.
- Lieutenant Worf: There is the theory of the Moebius. A twist in the fabric of space where time becomes a loop, from which there is no escape.
- Lieutenant Geordi La Forge: So when we reach that point, whatever happened will happen again. The Enterprise will be destroyed, the other Picard will be sent back to meet with us and we do it all over again. Sounds like someone's idea of Hell to me.
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard: No. I can not allow you to leave. Before we can go forward, the cycle must end.
- Commander William T. Riker: Flair is what marks the difference between artistry and mere competence.
- Commander William T. Riker: When we brought the shuttle and the other Picard on board, we committed to a sequence of events which may be unalterable.
- Commander William T. Riker: Like a rag in a dog's mouth.
- [after Picard has been twice hit and thrown about by an energy beam]
- Capt. Picard: [discussing duplicate shuttle and Picard on board, Picard paces as Riker is seated] What force or... phenomenon could cause the shuttle to be thrown back in time?
- Cmdr. William Riker: None that we've encountered. In theory, accelerating beyond Warp 10.
- Capt. Picard: Using the gravitational pull of a star to slingshot back in time; is that what happened here?
- Cmdr. William Riker: The shuttle doesn't have warp capability.
- Capt. Picard: No. So, some external force was needed.
- Cmdr. William Riker: We've never encountered a natural force that powerful. Why only six hours? Why not a day, or a year?
- Capt. Picard: Are you saying that... there was some conscious mind at work here?
- Cmdr. William Riker: There's no evidence either way.
- Capt. Picard: [sits] The Traveler moved through time using the power of his mind.
- Cmdr. William Riker: I don't think that's the case here.
- Capt. Picard: No...
- [pauses]
- Capt. Picard: And, Mannheim's experiments with gravity and time were rudimentary... and uncontrollable.
- Cmdr. William Riker: Captain, I think this is one instance where you should suppress your natural tendency.
- Capt. Picard: Oh, really?
- Cmdr. William Riker: One of your strengths is your ability to evaluate the dynamics of a situation, and then, take a definitive preemptive step. To take charge. Now, you're frustrated because you not only can't see the solution, you can't even define the problem.
- Capt. Picard: Hmm. Go on.
- Cmdr. William Riker: What we're facing is neither a person or a place, at least not yet. It's time.
- Capt. Picard: You're saying I should just sit down, shut up, and wait?
- Cmdr. William Riker: [grins] Well, I wouldn't have put it exactly like that.
- Capt. Picard: It's not something I do easily.
- Cmdr. William Riker: Your Persian flaw.