| abstract | - Ardra was a female con artist of the 24th century who made a living impersonating people in order to gain wealth and favors. Prior to 2367, she gained access to a ship and crew which had cloaking, transporter technology and energy beams which could create planetary tremors. She also had an implant put in her which allowed her to control her technology with eye movements. She successfully maintained 23 aliases in the same sector as Ventax II, as well as more in other sectors. She knew of other evil spirits as well. In 2367, she learned of the Ventaxian myth of Ardra and the lore surrounding her return. She studied the myth and history, including the Contract of Ardra, and revealed herself to the Ventaxians, fooling them into believing that she was their deity. Acost Jared, the Ventaxian leader, immediately surrendered to her. She demanded a census and a measure of their productivity. Her knowledge was sufficient to deceive the Ventaxians and evade any accusations. At the same time, Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the USS Enterprise-D arrived on the planet to respond to a Federation station distress call. Seeing her, he decided to help Acost Jared to disprove her assertions. Seeing Picard's defiant and disbelieving nature, the imposter immediately took interest in him, and attempted to seduce him, unsuccessfully. The impostor also claimed she owned the Enterprise and her crew, due to the terms of the Contract, and had her ship's cloak extended over the Enterprise so Picard could not return to it. When Picard requested an arbitration of this situation, she agreed on condition that, if Picard lost, he would give himself to her willingly. She then participated in questioning Jared and Picard with Data acting as an arbitrator. "Ardra" continued to use her "powers" to prove to the court that she was indeed "real", while Picard focused on disproving her existence and role in events. He pointed out that all of the changes on Ventax were gradual, natural changes, with no indication that Ardra had so much as picked up a single piece of rubbish while Ventax was rebuilding its civilization. The impostor, in turn, simply had to establish that Jared believed she was Ardra and that her appearance long ago effected the change. Data confirmed that Ventaxian law validated her argument. Unbeknownst to her, Geordi La Forge and Doctor Howard Clark, the station's director, were pinpointing her ship in orbit. Commander William T. Riker led an away team to arrest the ship and crew, and used the technology to prove to Jared that "Ardra" wasn't who she appeared. As a result of Picard's testimony, the impostor was taken under arrest by the Ventaxians. (TNG: "Devil's Due" )
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