In the nebula, The Shrike pursues the Titan, firing and hitting the ship strategically.

Jack helps Beverly into sick bay where a crew member accuses Jack of being the cause of the attack.

Shaw wants to run but warp isn’t possible and the impulse drive is offline. The nebula is causing interference with the sensors.

Picard points out that the Shrike could’ve destroyed them if Vadic wanted to. Riker advises Shaw to hide. Shaw orders the ship deeper into the nebula.

Vadic’s crew reports the Titan is out of sensor range, that it’s lost to them inside the Nebula.

Part Three: “Seventeen Seconds”

Flashback to Picard and Riker celebrating Riker’s son’s birth. They’ve named him Thaddeus. Riker tells Picard that the delivery wasn’t a smooth one aboard the Titan. He had to be called down to sickbay and it took a very long seventeen seconds for him to get there via turbolift.

Deanna vid-calls as he’s telling Picard about the joys to fatherhood to tell Riker that Thaddeus has vomited all over engineering. Riker leaves Picard at the bar to take care of Thaddeus and give Deanna a break.

In the present day, the lookouts at the stern see no sign of The Shrike. The ship shudders. T’Veen reports that it was caused by an energy surge from the nebula, with electrical and biological signatures.

Shaw sends Esmar, La Forge, and Mura off-shift as they’ve just worked for 36 hours straight.

In her quarters, Seven gets frustrated working on a repair. La Forge comes to see her and tells her that she respects her for helping her friends even if Shaw thinks it was insubordination.

In sickbay, Beverly is helping treat the injured despite Dr. Oak’s preference that she not.

Riker and Picard enter sickbay. Riker offers to take Jack for a walk, leaving Picard and Beverly alone to talk.

Beverly reminds Picard of their shore leave on Casparia Prime two months before she left the Enterprise. She points out they both knew at that point their romantic relationship was at an end.

Beverly claims that she wanted to tell Picard about Jack but every time she thought about reaching out, Picard was embroiled in a dangerous mission or situation.

Riker watches Jack pace with a bemused expression. They discuss why the crew feels angry about Jack and how Jack can give them a reason to feel good about resisting Vadic.

Jack tells Riker about how Beverly would tell him about the old Enterprise crew with great warmth and sadness.

Beverly recounts the hunters that came after Jack ever since Sarnia Prime. She thinks they’re after him because of Picard. Picard asks about Jack’s accent. Beverly says he picked up while at school in London and never shook it.

Picard asks if it was fair to keep them apart all this time. Beverly tells him that she told Jack who Picard was and where to find him when he was old enough to seek him out. She encouraged it.

Picard leaves and asks Riker to walk with him, leaving Jack behind.

Riker asks how the talk went. Picard pronounces the situation irreparable and goes to apologize to Shaw for placing the ship and its crew in danger.

At the stern, the lookout sights the Shrike and reports to the bridge. Shaw calls for battlestations, wondering how Vadic found them.

Vadic orders a barrage of fire. One impact knocks Shaw over the consoles, injuring him. He transfers command to Riker, putting the onus on him to get them out of the situation.

The Shrike is still nearby. Riker orders Picard to fire a torpedo and then light it up as it approaches the Shrike, creating a concussion that knocks the ship back and away from the Titan.

On M’Talas Prime, Raffi wakes up to a news report on the attack on the recruitment center.

She hears music and realizes someone else is on her ship. She grabs a weapon and goes looking for them. She finds Worf practicing battle stances. He introduces himself.

Raffi thinks back to the final moments with Sneed and realizes Work is her handler.

Worf confirms Raffi suspicions that there is a bigger attack coming. He tells her a human named Titus Rikka paid Sneed to lie. He proposes they track Rikka down together.

Picard and Riker debate how to deal with Vadic. Riker wants to continue to evade the Shrike. Picard thinks they should press the advantage, knowing Vadic’s ship is as blind as they are.

In sickbay, Beverly and Jack are treating the wounded. Dr. Oak has Shaw but he’s having trouble breathing. Beverly diagnoses internal bleeding that was missed by the scans.

As they treat him, Shaw is still fixated on how Vadic is tracking the Titan in the nebula. Jack hears him and sees the trail of blood Shaw left as he came into sickbay.

On the bridge, Riker checks with T’Veen as the ship experiences another energy burst. T’Veen suspects the nebula is actually some sort of anomaly, something never before reported by Starfleet. She advises they do not go any deeper. Riker changes course and heads for the outer edge where he plans to take the Titan to maximum warp.

Jack is refused entry to the bridge. He turns around.

As the Titan clears the effects of the nebula, warp is ready to go, but the Shrike is suddenly right on top of them. Vadic orders the device deployed. It opens a portal in front of the Titan. The Titan is pulled through and emerges directly in front of the Shrike, deeper inside the nebula.

When Riker orders La Forge to try to go to warp again, the device is deployed, and the same thing happens. Picard encourages Riker to stop running and fight. Instead, Riker orders the ship back into the nebula.

On M’Talas Prime, Worf and Raffi spot Rikka. After a confused chase, Work apprehends him, and they take him back for questioning.

The Shrike pursues the Titan, firing on it and pushing it further into the nebula. Picard warns Riker they’re running out of chances. Riker is conflicted on what to do next.

The door sensor sounds in Seven’s quarters. She finds Jack at her door. He proposes that the Shrike is tracking the Titan the way a shark follows blood in the water. As a former Fenris Ranger, she suggests that the ship is leaking verterium, the material that insulates the warp coils.

When a crew member tries to keep Seven confined to quarters, Jack punches him out.

They can smell the leak when they get to the warp stations. Wearing masks because verterium is toxic, they find a valve purposefully left open. Seven declares it sabotage.

Seven lets the bridge know about the verterium. Picard proposes they use it to create a dead-end and ambush the Shrike. Riker decides to make a run for it instead.

Picard is frustrated but Riker is adamant that his mandate is to keep the ship and crew safe and get them home.

Jack’s alone when Ensign Foster comes in and knocks his mask off. Jack fights back and punches him in the face which causes his face to change and then revert back.

Foster moves to reset the leak but hears Seven reporting back. He runs out the door. Jack is left on the floor without a mask.

Raffi and Worf have Rikka in chains where he’s suffering from shakes. Raffi is threatening him while Worf wants to talk.

Raffi believes Rikka is suffering withdrawl. She reminds Rikka no one knows he’s there so he can’t leave until he tells them what they want to know.

Jack revives and sees Seven standing over him with a red root structure spreading over the ship ceiling behind her. She says, “Connecting the branches… find me.”

In his mind, he sees a red door opening. Then the real Seven is there, dragging him out of the bay. She lets the bridge know that Jack is injured and she’s taking him to sick bay.

On the bridge, Riker urges Picard to go to Jack.

Picard arrives as Beverly tries to resuscitate Jack. He’s flatlined, but he revives.

Under interrogation, Rikka reveals the portal weapon was a misdirection. Something else was stolen from Daystrom that the perpetrators didn’t want Starfleet to notice.

Rikka freaks out and his face starts to warp and flicker. Worf realizes Rikka’s a Changeling.

Picard returns to the bridge and tells Riker he must fight despite his fearfulness. Riker takes that badly and tells him he’s out of line and orders him to take a seat when Picard continues to argue in front of the crew.

Worf spells out Rikka’s behavior as the need to regenerate in liquid form. Rikka lashes out at Worf and Raffi as “solids” warning them that their worlds are on the verge of destruction. Rikka liquifies. Worf fires on the blob and it disintegrates.

In sickbay, Jack recounts how Foster’s face changed and changed back. He identifies the saboteur as a Changeling on board the ship.

As Foster sets a bomb on the ship, Worf narrates the backstory of the Changelings and the faction that is now threatening the Federation. He and Raffi decide to investigate Daystrom to learn what else was stolen. Worf names Raffi as his partner in this mission.

T’Veen reports the leak has been closed off and the trail is cold. Riker orders them to go to warp. Seven reports in that Jack believes there’s a Changeling on board just as Foster’s bomb goes off, knocking out the warp engine.

Picard urges Riker again to fight. They come around to fire on the Shrike, but they deploy the portal weapon and send the barrage of weapon’s fire right back on the Titan.

The Titan has no ship control left and they are headed straight to the center of the nebula and its gravity well.

Riker orders Picard from the bridge, accusing him of killing them all.