- While searching for a missing Federation medical transport, the Enterprise is accosted by two scientists from a nearby planet who claim that cumulative exposure to warp energy is weakening the fabric of space.
- The Enterprise investigates the medical transport Fleming's disappearance, perhaps hijacked for its valuable gel cargo in the Hekaras Corridor, a region uniquely dense in tetryon interference which complicates navigation. DaiMon Prak's large Ferengi ship, the prime suspect, is stranded. He denies having attacked first, but helps with the search in exchange for engineering repairs. Geordi tries to boost the sensors as a matter of rivalry with his former classmate, and gets Data to try to 'train' cat Spot, who is of course too smart to be manipulated. The Enterprise runs into an immobilizing field, then gets boarded by Hekaian sibling doctors Rabal and Serova, who claim warp fields have fatal effects for their planetary population. They admit to having immobilized ships by buoys to make the Federation sit up, a theory Data can't verify for sure. Serova hijacks the Fleming to prove her theory at the ultimate price.—KGF Vissers
- The Enterprise investigates the medical transport Fleming's disappearance, perhaps hijacked for its valuable gel cargo in the Hekaras Corridor, a region uniquely dense in Tetryon interference which complicates navigation. The Hekaras corridor is the only safe passage for vessels in this sector who are using warp. The planet Hekaras II is inhabited but deny having any contact with the Fleming and say only a Ferengi ship passed through the corridor.
DaiMon Prak's (Lee Arenberg) large Ferengi ship, the prime suspect, is stranded in space with no warp and no impulse. He denies having attacked the Enterprise first, but helps with the search in exchange for engineering repairs. Prak also tells Picard that he encountered a Federation buoy which emitted a Verteron beam that drained the ship of all energy. He assumed that this was a new Federation weapon.
The Enterprise runs into an immobilizing field (the same Verteron beam that the Ferengi ship encountered), then gets boarded by Hekaian sibling doctors Rabal (Michael Corbett) and Serova (Margaret Reed), who claim warp fields have fatal effects for their planetary population due to its geological effects. They admit to having immobilized ships by buoys to make the Federation sit up and take notice, a theory Data can't verify for sure. The closest analogy is going over the same piece of carpet again and again, eventually the carpet wears out. Rabal says that the warp field effect is cumulative. Serova says she will fix the Enterprise engines, so it can continue to look for the missing Fleming, if Picard agrees to review their research and data.
Data recommends further research by the Federation science council, but Serova says this will lead to more delays and more lives will be lost. She is angry. Enterprise locates the Fleming on long range sensors. Serova gets into her own ship (without Rabal) and creates a warp core breach in her own engines. The ship explodes and creates a Tetryon field flux of gigantic proportions. It is a subspace rift like Serova predicted. The Fleming is caught inside the rift and has 21 hours before the shields will fail.
To rescue the crew, Data suggests using a warp pulse on the Enterprise, outside the rift, to gain some velocity. Then move into the rift, beam the crew off the Fleming and escape. But as the Enterprise enters the rift, the Fleming initiates its warp engines and causes a huge explosion leading to rift intensity increasing by 2.3%. The Enterprise no longer has sufficient velocity to escape, but they beam everyone off from the Fleming. Geordi and Data come up with a plan to use the distortion waves inside the rift to ride it like a surfer and gain sufficient velocity to move out. It increases pressure on the hull of the Enterprise, but the plan works, and the ship is clear of the rift.
Picard presents the data to Federation science, who simply limit the warp speeds through the sector. This will stop new rifts from forming, but the old ones will not be contained, and they will continue to grow. Picard and Geordi are sad that Warp drives, the centerpiece of their exploration has a negative side effect as well.
Geordi tries to boost the sensors as a matter of rivalry with his former classmate Lieutenant Cmdr Kaplan who is serving as Chief Engineer on board the Intrepid and went to the Academy with Geordi. Data tries to 'train' his cat Spots (after Geordi points out that pets should respond to verbal commands from their masters), who is of course too smart to be manipulated. Seems like Data is more trained according to Spots needs than the other way around.
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