"Disaster" is the fifth episode of the fifth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 105th episode overall. It was originally released on October 21, 1991, in broadcast syndication. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, the crew of the Enterprise must deal with several tasks outside their normal responsibilities, such as Counselor Troi commanding from the bridge, Captain Picard leading children to safety, and Chief of Security Worf delivering a baby. The character Molly O'Brien is born in Ten Forward and this character is later shown growing up in the spin-off TV show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (aired 1993–1999) with her parents Miles and Keiko. Troi's experiences in this episode also lead to her pursuing the rank of commander in later seasons. Plot The crew of the Enterprise are undertaking routine tasks when suddenly the ship is struck by some outside force, rendering much of it inoperable and cutting communications between different sections. They eventually discover that the ship had collided with a fragment of a quantum filament, make emergency repairs, and set course back to the nearest starbase for a full overhaul. Several different sub-plots are followed among the various crew members: Counselor Troi hesitantly takes command of the ship, as the highest-ranking officer on the bridge at the time, and is accompanied by Chief O'Brien and Ensign Ro. They find that the antimatter containment field in the warp core is rapidly deteriorating, and Ro suggests that they separate the saucer and drive sections of the Enterprise in order to save those in the former. O'Brien objects to this plan, not wanting to abandon any survivors in the drive section; Troi agrees and directs him to divert some of their minimal power reserves to the appropriate panel in Engineering, hoping that someone there can rectify the situation. This is later done by Commander Riker and Lt. Commander Data. Ro apologizes for considering such a drastic action while Troi acknowledges that she could have easily been correct. Riker and Data are in Ten Forward along with Worf and a pregnant Keiko O'Brien at the time of the disaster. Ten Forward is set up as a triage area with Worf and Keiko tending to the wounded. Riker and Data realize that without functioning turbolifts, it would be