Editing Neural Parasites (section)

==2364 Infiltration==

Admiral Quinn suspected that something was wrong at the highest levels of Starfleet Command in mid-2364. Seeking allies he could trust, he ordered Lieutenant Commander Dexter Remmick to investigate Captain Jean-Luc Picard to determine his trustworthiness. Remmick's investigation found that, despite a sense of over-familiarity among the USS Enterprise-D's bridge crew, Picard was above reproach. Quinn told Picard of his suspicions and that he wanted to promote Picard to Admiral, so he could take over as Commandant of Starfleet Academy. Picard turned down the offer, believing he could serve Quinn better by remaining as captain of the Enterprise. (TNG: "Coming of Age")

Other high-ranking officers had their own suspicions. Admiral Norah Satie was instrumental in discovering the conspiracy. (TNG: "The Drumhead") Captains Walker Keel, Rixx and Tryla Scott noticed a pattern of unusual orders and activity coming from [[Starfleet Command]]. Officers they had known for years were, in Keel's words, suddenly "bluffing their way through talk of old times," Starbase 12 was mysteriously evacuated for two days without explanation and Onna Karapleedeez, Ryan Sipe and McKinney had all died under mysterious circumstances.

Quinn and Scott fell victim to the parasites, both becoming hosts, and Remmick became host to the parasites' mother creature. However, Captains Keel and Rixx were unaware of this and called Picard to a meeting on [[Dytallix B]] via a Code 47 signal. They warned Picard of the threat, and to watch his back. Keel's ship, the USS Horatio, was destroyed shortly afterwards, with Keel aboard. This incident, and evidence of a pattern in Starfleet's unusual orders found by Lieutenant Commander Data, led Picard to order the Enterprise to Earth to confront Starfleet Command directly.

Quinn boarded the Enterprise, and while Picard was on the surface Quinn attempted to implant Dr. Beverly Crusher with one of the parasites. However, Commander William Riker caught Quinn's attention first, and Quinn attempted to infect Riker instead. Riker attempted to fight him off, but was easily overpowered, as were Worf and Geordi La Forge. He was only subdued when Dr. Crusher shot him repeatedly with a phaser set to stun.

Having subdued Admirals Savar and Aaron and Captain Scott, Picard and Riker tracked one of the parasites to a room where Dexter Remmick, inhabited by the parasite's mother creature, was waiting. Both Remmick and the mother creature were killed by heavy phaser fire at the hand of Captain Picard and Commander Riker, thereby also killing all other parasite infiltrators on Earth. Admiral Quinn, at least, made a full recovery.

:''It remains unclear whether and to what extent the other admirals and Captain Scott recovered. However, given that Admiral Quinn suffered equivalent, if not greater, physical trauma than the others, it seems probable that all the afflicted officers survived. ''

However, the parasites' mother had sent a signal into deep space which Data identified as a beacon, indicating that their return would only be a matter of time. (TNG: "Conspiracy")

:''Despite this, the parasites were not seen again, though that might be simply because the signal hadn't reached its destination by the end of The Next Generation's run.''