In the 25th Century… “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire” by The Ink Spots plays.

A ship lit with red lights flies towards a Federation vessel. In the hold, the camera pans by an orchid, a string of pearls, a set of comedy/tragedy masks, and a variety of equipment. Picard’s voice is heard reading a captain’s log from Stardate 43996.2, chronicling the Enterprise’s encounter with the Borg in “The Best of Both Worlds” (TNG 326).

We see a plaque engraved “Medical Away Team: Honorary Citizens, Cor Corali V” (TNG 318) and a case belonging to Lt. Cmdr. Jack R. Crusher.

An alarm begins to sound, warning of a security breach and hull damage. Beverly Crusher wakes suddenly. She orders the computer, Eleos, to activate the warp drive. Another voice is heard asking how “they” found them. Crusher punches in a code and the door to the next chamber closes and locks the other person on the other side which he protests loudly.

Crusher arms herself with a weapon. The ship is boarded by masked, non-English-speaking bipeds. Crusher opens fire on them but the rifle’s power cell runs out and she takes a hit from the enemy’s weapon.

She makes a desperate grab for another weapon, drawing instant fire from the invaders. She hits one, and it disintegrates. Spotting the other in a reflection, she damages a pipe, causing it to spew gas, providing her with cover and giving her the advantage. She wounds it, takes it to the ground, and then hits it again with a kill shot.

Recognizing her injury is severe and learning more enemy ships are approaching, she instructs the computer to send a subspace message to Admiral Jean-Luc Picard.

From outside, we see three more ships arrive as Crusher’s ship jumps to warp.

“Part One: The Next Generation” At Chateau Picard, Laris and Picard examine his painting of the Enterprise-D. She comments she’d like to send it away for cleaning. Picard decides to give it to La Forge instead. La Forge now runs the fleet museum.

Laris prevents a staff member from packing it up.

Laris asks if Picard will miss his things when he goes with her to Chaltok IV. He plans to relax while she sets up diplomatic security.

That evening, he is writing personal correspondence and hears an alert beep that the computer cannot locate. He searches through his belongings and discovers the alert is emitting from the com badge of his old uniform.

The computer analyzes the com badge and detects an encrypted long-range subspace message. It requires a passcode to access.

Struck by a memory, he instructs the computer to try accessing the message with Codec Myriad and his authorization – Picard 47 Alpha Tango. It works.

Beverly’s message appears. She provides encrypted coordinates, tells him the word, “halbard” and warns him to bring no Starfleet, to trust no one.

He discusses this with Laris. Picard hasn’t spoken to Beverly for over twenty years. She cut contact with everyone. Laris reminds him that he and Beverly were friends and even lovers. Laris analyzes the message as an intelligence operative and sees the fear as genuine, not the result of paranoia.

Laris tells him he has to go to Beverly, recognizing he may not be back in time to travel with her. She promises to save him a seat at a great bar on Chaltok IV. In Ten Forward, Guinan’s been selling miniatures of Starfleet ships for Frontier Day. No one’s been buying the Enterprise-D, much to Riker’s chagrin. Picard greets him, and they discuss the speeches they’re expected to give at Frontier Day.

Riker confesses that things are strained between Deanna and Kestra, and himself. He and Picard sit down and Picard shares Beverly’s message and its implications. He gives Riker the coordinates and the word “halberd,” and Riker recalls it was a computer virus that added 3 to every digit, scrambling their navigational systems.

By adding 3 to every digit of Beverly’s coordinates, they find a new set that pinpoints the Ryton System outside Federation space.

Realizing they need a starship, Riker gets an idea and leads Picard out of Ten Forward. A man at the bar watches them leave, dropping an Enterprise-D model into his drink.

At M’Talas Prime, District Six, Raffi makes her way among a sketchy crowd. She sits down with an Orion and he sells her drugs. She starts to walk away but comes back and gives him a sob story about breaking up with her girlfriend, falling off the wagon, and losing her position at Starfleet.

She begs him for some information about a break-in at the Daystrom Institute. He tries to run her off, but she shows him some credits she could pay him for the information. He tells her something’s going down with The Red Lady.

She gets away from him, and her posture changes as she opens a communicator and checks in with Starfleet as an operative. After sending her message, she considers the drugs she bought for a long time, eventually dropping it.

Riker and Picard approach space dock, discussing their plan to pretend to do a surprise inspection. They dock with the U.S.S. Titan.

The Titan’s been refit as a neo-Constitution Class. The plan requires them to convince the new captain, Liam Shaw, to change course in order to get them close to the border of Federation space in order to take a shuttle to find Beverly.

Riker warns Picard that Shaw won’t be friendly. However, Picard is familiar with the First Officer.

Seven is the Commander and First Officer on the Titan. She welcomes Riker and Picard to the ship.

At introductions, Seven corrects Picard to refer to her as Commander Annika Hansen, the title Shaw prefers she use onboard.

Riker and Picard inspect the crew standing at attention. One gives Riker the side-eye as they move past.

Seven brings Riker and Picard to the bridge. The ensign at the helm is Sidney La Forge, Geordi’s daughter. Riker recalls her nickname, “Crash” La Forge, to her embarrassment.

Seven offers Picard the con, but he insists she takes them out of space dock.

When they arrive at Shaw’s quarters for dinner, he’s already started eating. He’s not welcoming, making snide remarks about Picard’s gift of wine and Riker’s enjoyment of jazz. He is unimpressed by their history and track record.

They request the course change as a bragging rights run to have a story to tell at Frontier Day. Picard misspeaks in naming a station for the final inspection that’s been shut down. Seven corrects with an operational station. Nevertheless, Shaw denies the request.

He stands firm. He bids them good night, leaving Seven with the con. He hopes Riker and Picard find their accommodations satisfactory.

They head to bed, stymied by how they’ll get to Beverly without inciting a mutiny.

On M’Talas Prime, Raffi watches a video of her granddaughter. Her handler opens a channel and she reports no news on The Red Lady. She requests a face-to-face, but it is denied. She is frustrated, feels like she’s spiraling.

Her handler acknowledges that it is a difficult mission but states that she is the right person to fulfill it. They encourage her to find The Red Lady.

Riker and Picard are sleeping in bunks. They discuss how things were the last time they saw Beverly. They are summoned to Observation.

Seven greets them. She demands to know what they’re up to. Picard reads her in, explaining they didn’t tell her because they didn’t want to make her complicit and endanger her career. She scoffs at that since she’s unhappy that being Starfleet means ignoring her instincts in order to follow orders.

The helm notifies Seven the Titan is dropping out of warp. They’ve arrived at the Ryton system. Seven informs them they’ve detected a vessel about 200km inside the nebula’s outer edge. She lets them know which shuttle will be unguarded and when.

Shaw wakes up and realizes the Titan isn’t where it should be. He rushes to the bridge and orders the ship locked down. Unfortunately for him, a shuttle launches from Shuttle Bay 3 just then.

Shaw warns Seven this is the end of her career.

Raffi’s research into The Red Lady leads her to consider it may be a target. In looking into major public events, the Frontier Day plans include a dedication of a red statue of Captain Rachel Garrett as part of the Pre-Frontier Day Recruitment Drive in District 7.

As she approaches the Recruitment Center in District 7, she is unable to contact Starfleet despite her warning that there may be a terrorist attack. Suddenly, a portal weapon is deployed, and the entire center collapses only to fall out of a corresponding portal in the sky nearby, dropping a mountain of debris on innocent people.

As their shuttle approaches Beverly’s vessel, sensors pick up two life signs. The ship is badly damaged, and Beverly’s life signs are critical.

They dock and enter. The music is still playing, and Picard recognizes it as the compilation of classics he made for her.

They inspect the damage left from Beverly’s battle with the assailants. Riker notes the ashes left from her phaser kill shot are peculiar.

Picard finds Beverly in a stasis pod on the bridge. The other person on board finds Riker and trains a weapon on him.

When Picard sees that Riker is held prisoner, he talks to the young man, identifying both of them and offering their help. The man is defiant but puts his weapon away when they point out they can help Beverly. He tells them he is Beverly’s son.

An alarm sounds and Beverly’s son realizes the enemy has found them again. He tells Riker and Picard how they were attacked at Sarnia and have run multiple times only to be hunted down again and again, each time the enemy has a different face.

When asked who is hunting them, he just tells them to see for themselves.

An X-winged crescent ship emerges from the nebula cloud, dwarfing Beverly’s ship with its size.