Why, when the crew evacuated the main bridge at the beginning of "Brothers," didn't they go to the battle bridge? Why did they go to engineering?
Brothers and the Battle Bridge
- Thread starter DavidGutierrez
- Start date
Because they were just there a couple of episodes ago.
I assumed they thought they would have the best chance of regaining control of the ship from engineering, since that's where most of the equipment is. *shrug*
Though it does seem like they should've headed towards the battle bridge when Picard initiated the separation sequence. But I can see how, from a visual and production perspective, having the characters start for the battle bridge only to turn around and go back to engineering when Data stops the separation would've been kind of awkward.
Though it does seem like they should've headed towards the battle bridge when Picard initiated the separation sequence. But I can see how, from a visual and production perspective, having the characters start for the battle bridge only to turn around and go back to engineering when Data stops the separation would've been kind of awkward.
Ah, the elusive battle bridge. 
The funny part is that during the bridge evacuation, the Turbolift that Data was pretending to walk to was the Battle Bridge Express and Picard didn't seem to think anything odd about Data heading to the battle bridge when everyone was ordered to reassemble in engineering.
Also, why should Data evacuate in the first place? He is not reliant on life support, the impending failure of which was the reason for the evacuation!
Considering that the ship was accelerating out of control, moving from one bridge to another would not have been particularly fruitful. Odds would not be good that the secondary bridge would have any more control over the warp engines. Brainstorming at engineering would be the way to save the ship; after that was done, the officers could return to one bridge or another.
Once life support on main bridge started to fail, though, Picard might have suspected specific problems with that facility, in which case the battle bridge might indeed still have been functional and capable of controlling the warp engines. But engineering would still be the generic solution to all the woes.
Timo Saloniemi
IIRC the ship wasn't considered to be accerlerating out of control (at least not in an emergency manner) at the time. The ship goes to warp (or accelerates and changes course or such), and just as Picard starts asking what's going on Data cuts off life support. In any event, the life support failure was the main reason for the evacuation.
It does seem a bit odd to immediately evacuate everyone just because the life support shut off. With a room that size there should be a couple hours' worth of air, especially if you move some of the random minions hanging around the back. If nothing else break out some air masks.
OTOH, malfunctioning ventilation might be a symptom of further malfunctions awaiting just around the corner. Or "life support" might include such things as artificial gravity, meaning that the next maneuver might turn everybody into strawberry jam.
But basically it's not as if abandoning the bridge would be a great inconvenience, as we already know the ship can be efficiently run from other locations, and are basically told this again in this very scene.
Timo Saloniemi
But basically it's not as if abandoning the bridge would be a great inconvenience, as we already know the ship can be efficiently run from other locations, and are basically told this again in this very scene.
Timo Saloniemi
Wouldn't life support also include heating?
Things don't get instantly cold in space, quite the opposite.
Not instantly, but it would still be prudent to leave the bridge and not wait until it's cold. By cold I mean below 65-60F.
At what temperature is the ship set?
I think it was mentioned before that no one would see a problem with Data remaining on the Bridge. Once life support was restored he could regain control of the ship from the bridge until the rest of the Bridge crew can take their place. It might even be a standing order from Picard for Data to stay and try to fix things up there or until called.
...Although from "The Last Outpost", we know that the Enterprise-D is built so that loss of most power indeed results in cooling, not overheating. And that the cooling results in uncomfortable temperatures in the outer parts of the ship within hours. Still not reason enough for a mad scramble out of the bridge, though.
Timo Saloniemi
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