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Though the title sounds generic, "The Chase" is anything but. In this historical mystery with conspiratorial underpinnings, Professor Galen (Norman Lloyd), an archeology legend and Picard's old mentor, tries to lure his favorite student for one last adventure. When Galen is killed en route to a far-flung planet, the
Enterprise picks up his quest and finds the Klingons and the Cardassians on the same trail, which has something to do with ancient genetic codes and a DNA pattern. Part intergalactic
Indiana Jones and part diplomatic poker game, it's a modest episode with epic dimensions: the search for the secret of the origins of life in the universe, or at the very least its primordial roots. For that reason it all feels a little rushed; this is the kind of story that cries out for a larger arc. Though the series never really revisited the revelations or dealt with its reverberations, "The Chase" remains one of the more conceptually ambitious and hopeful shows in the utopian vision known as
Star Trek.
--Sean Axmaker
From the Back Cover
Professor Galen (Norman Lloyd), Picard's (Patrick Stewart) old archaeology professor, pays a surprise visit to the
Enterprise and invites Picard on a secret expedition. Though intrigued, Picard must refuse and the professor angrily leaves the ship. Soon afterward, his shuttle is attacked and he is killed.
While investigating his death, the crew find 19 blocks of numbers stored in the professor's computer. Later, they learn that the numbers are mathematical representations of DNA fragments, each from a distinct life form from 19 different worlds. Now, the Enterprise is in a race with the Cardassians, Klingons and Romulans to solve a four-billion-year-old genetic puzzle. Who knows what prize awaits at the end of the chase?
