Stardate 1630.1 Enterprise is charting a new binary system with USS Cayuga. Captains Pike and Batel are having dinner together. Batel brings a gift. Both captains are in constant demand by their crew.

Batel’s gift is an Appelian Mariner’s keystone, worn by captains to guide lost sailors home. Pike is very appreciative but Batel is called away by an incoming transmission from the Admiral.

The Admiral’s call is not good news. Batel has been passed over for promotion to Commodore. She sees it as Judge Advocate Pasalk punishing her for the outcome of Una’s trial.

Pike expresses concern that their relationship is affecting her career detrimentally. He suggests they take a break. She suspects he’s using Pasalk as an excuse and leaves.

Una contacts Pike with news there’s a sensitive communication from Command regarding Rigel VII.

In the debrief, Una recounts how they went to Rigel VII five years previously where they discovered the Kalar, a Bronze age caste organized society with a warrior and a ruling class. The entire mission was only four hours because the landing party was ambushed and three officers – M. Aberth, C. Plummer, and Z. Nguyen were killed.

They are being sent because the most recent images from the Rigel VII surface show a garden topiary feature cut into a Starfleet insignia.

They see this as cultural contamination and intend to survey and correct it if possible.

M’Benga, La’an, and Ortegas will accompany Pike.

Una checks in with Pike regarding Batel and points out that whenever someone gets close, he pushes them away.

Ortegas records a personal log at Stardate 1630.3. She’s excited to join the undercover away team.

At the departure bay, Spock informs them there is a debris field that could damage the Enterprise if they don’t have a skilled pilot to course correct continuously. Ortegas has to stay behind.

Pike pilots the shuttle to the surface. After they land, he explains they cannot bring any more tech to contaminate the culture. La’an and M’Benga were chosen for their ability to fight without a phaser.

As they prepare to leave the shuttle, La’an experiences a ringing in her ears. When she becomes aware of her surroundings again, the landing party is six hours from the shuttle.

When they approach the fortress, they find the Starfleet delta on the entryway as well. La’an and Pike discover the Kalarans have Federation weapons. M’Benga draws their attention to incoming Kalarans.

Pike tries to tell them they’re travelers from the North. The guards don’t believe them, telling them they know about Starfleet. M’Benga experiences the ringing sound and comes to as the group is marched into the castle.

They approach the throne plinth and discover Yeoman Nguyen, Zack, has crowned himself High Lord Zacharias of the Kalar.

He blames Pike for leaving him behind. Pike asks if the delta in the garden was a signal for them. Zack says the people adopted the delta as his symbol. He never intended to draw Starfleet’s attention.

He explains the radiation of Rigel VII affects your brain. It starts with ringing and lost time, then fear and “the forgetting”.

Zack has the landing party taken away. As they are apprehended, Pike experiences the ringing sound and wakes up in a cage.

M’Benga seems confused and La’an is unconscious. Pike checks on her but she wakes suddenly and attacks him.

She doesn’t recognize them. She doesn’t recognize her name. Pike has difficulty remembering what Zack told them. M’Benga wants to know why they are there.

On the Enterprise, Uhura experiences the ringing and finds that two hours has passed she wasn’t aware of. Una sends her to sick bay and sends Ortegas with her. Chapel looks at Uhura’s brain and finds synaptic degradation all over her brain.

Chapel tells Ortegas if Uhura is an isolated incident, they should be okay. Spock contacts sick bay to tell them that six crew members in Engineering are suffering acute memory loss.

In the morning, the guards open the cage door. When the landing party doesn’t move, he goes to lock them back in but another man runs over to encourage them to come with him to be recentered.

He informs them of their jobs based on the colors of their clothes. He explains that he has a totem that he wakes every morning to and which calms him from the Forgetting.

Pike and La’an work in the stone quarry while M’Benga cuts wood. The man, Luq, promises to guide them through their Forgetting which will make it easier.

He explains the Kalar of the Field forget every night. The Kalar of the Castle do not. He shows them the tattoo that tells him his name is Luq.

Pike and La’an realize they don’t have tattoos and must, therefore, not be of the Field.

Pike realizes he’s wearing the pendant from Batel but can only remember it was a gift from someone. Luq tells him to use his emotions to guide his memories.

Pike and La’an fight the guards, but La’an is badly wounded.

Luke offers to lead them to somewhere safe.

Chapel is explaining the situation to Una. Spock brings each of them a PADD with their personal information file in case of memory loss. Una’s suffering from memory loss and Chapel wants her in sickbay. Spock asks for permission to move them away from Rigel VII. Una tells him to keep the ship close because the landing party may need them soon.

Spock orders Ortegas to take the ship into the debris field in hopes that it’ll shield the Enterprise from the radiation Rigel VII is emitting. He gives Ortegas a PADD with her personnel file.

Luq brings the landing party to his home where La’an can rest. M’Benga recalls La’an is a friend and plans to try to repair the wound.

Pike asks Luq how the palace Kalar keep their memories. Luq believes there’s a casket in the palace that contains a protection from the Forgetting.

Pike pleads with Luq to help save La’an. Luq sees that he’s serious and says they must do it before the next Forgetting starts.

When he brings them closer to the palace, he tells them he doesn’t want his memories back. He believes he had children but they’re gone. He feels their absence but doesn’t want to know where they’ve gone and why.

As Pike and M’Benga prepare to infiltrate the palace, Ortegas is suffering from memory loss at the helm. Spock has also lost his memories.

Ortegas leaves the bridge to find somewhere safe. The turbolift takes her to Deck 6 and she finds the crew wandering, lost, or curled up in fear on the ground. The computer helps Ortegas find her quarters. She feels safe but the ship hits something.

As the ship continues to hit debris in the field, Ortegas panics and pleads for someone to make it stop.

On the planet, Pike revives just as M’Benga attacks a guard. He leaps into the fight but M’Benga is grazed by a phaser blast. He can’t move quickly so Pike leaves him to fight off the guards.

Ortegas hails the computer to get the rocks to stop hitting the ship. The computer asks if she wants to plot a course and tells her who she is. Once she knows that she’s a pilot, she realizes she must get the ship out of the debris field.

She returns to the bridge and takes over the helm.

Pike enters the palace and engages in a shootout with Zack. He defeats Zack and demands to know where the casket where memories are kept is. Zack tells him it’s just a story they spread among the Field Kalars.

Pike finds Zack’s case from the Enterprise. It holds various Federation tech. Zack tells him the radiation from an asteroid causes the Forgetting. The palace is made of an ore that protects the inhabitants from the radiation. The Palace Kalars also wear helmets made of the same ore.

Pike doesn’t believe him and prepares to kill him. Suddenly, his memories return and he’s able to think clearly.

M’Benga heals La’an in the palace with the tech from Zack’s kit. Luq sits nearby, crying.

Once the Enterprise clears the debris field, the crew’s memories return. The unknown elements Spock found were the source of the radiation.

To correct the Rigel VII situation, Pike directs Ortegas to pull the asteroid from the planet and fling it out into the debris field.

Batel returns to take Zack into custody. She and Pike have a conversation and he apologizes. They reconcile.