On a routine mission to survey Domarus IV—a class M world with no intelligent life—a USS Enterprise shuttle crewed by Data, Troi and Wesley Crusher is captured by a race called the Tenirans who claim the world for themselves. As Captain Picard tries to negotiate with the captain of the Teniran ship, the shuttle suddenly disappears in a blaze of color and light.
Picard demands to know what's happened to the shuttle and its crew, but the Tenarins deny any part in their disappearance. Suddenly, Captain Picard vanishes from the bridge and finds himself alone on the planet's surface with the Teniran captain. As the two captains begin to work together, they realize that they are not alone on Domarus IV as they confront an incredible alien force with the power to transform a world—or to destroy it.