- After diverting to a secret meeting with an old friend and some of Starfleet's finest commanders, Picard finds the Horatio blown to bits just hours after the meeting and he returns the Enterprise to Earth looking for answers.
- Captain Walker Keel, an old friend of Picard's, uses a top-secret frequency, thus excluding informing Riker, to summon him to a top-secret meeting with two other captains. The vague innuendo about a plot to take over a strategic sector of the Federation by replacing mysteriously dying Starfleet officers doesn't quite impress Picard, but he reconsiders after Keel and his crew die in an explosion. So he intends with Riker to visit Starfleet HQ, where he will dine with admirals and their aide Dexter Remmick, while Riker keeps an eye on admiral Aaron, who insists to visit the modernized Enterprise, actually carrying an alien brain-parasite.—KGF Vissers
- Captain Walker Keel (Jonathan Farwell), an old friend of Picard's, uses a top-secret frequency, thus excluding informing Riker, to summon him to a top-secret meeting with two other captains Tryla Scott (Ursaline Bryant) & Rixx (Michael Berryman) at Dytallix B. Keel refuses to discuss anything with Picard on subspace frequencies, even though they are deemed secure. He wants a face-to-face meeting. The Enterprise reaches Dytallix B and finds Tryla and Rixx's ships already in orbit. The 3rd ship approaching the planet is an admiral class heavy cruiser, USS Horatio, commanded by Captain Keel. Dytallix B used to be a mining planet but has long been exhausted and now abandoned. Keel greets Picard with a series of very personal questions (where they first met, where did he introduce Jack Crusher to Beverly, name of Keel's brother (he didn't have a brother, only 2 sisters)) to test whether Picard is himself or not.
The vague innuendo about a plot to take over strategic sectors of the Federation by replacing mysteriously killed Starfleet officers doesn't quite impress Picard. Rixx says that the lack of memory is the unseen's enemy's biggest weakness. Picard reconsiders after Keel and his crew die in an explosion. Keel had told Picard that he suspected that it has spread to his own ship. His first officer is not himself and his medical officer can't be trusted as well. Rixx had spoken about change in behavior of the top admirals at Starfleet, but they were always accompanied by a loss of memory. Keel's death impacts Picard very hard. He takes Deanna and Riker into confidence. He also tells Riker about Admiral Quinn's uneasiness a few months ago when he offered him a Starfleet academy job.
Picard asks Data to analyze all Starfleet commands in the last few months for abnormal patterns. He finds a cluster of star bases and outposts where command personnel have been changed recently. And the new folks have spoken directly to highest levels of Starfleet command at high frequency. The purpose of these re-assignments is to control vital sections of Federation territory.
So, Picard intends with Riker to visit Starfleet HQ on Earth, where he will dine with admirals and their aide Dexter Remmick (Robert Schenkkan), while Riker keeps an eye on admiral Aaron (Ray Reinhardt), who insists on visiting the modernized Enterprise. Admiral Quinn (Ward Costello) comes on board prior to the proposed dinner and brings on board an alien parasitic creature in a small box. Picard speaks to Quinn about his apprehensions. Quinn says that Picard misunderstood, and he was simply referring to issues with assimilating new species into the Federation.
Picard's red flags go up. Picard beams down for the dinner but asks Riker to keep an eye on Quinn and get him into a medical exam. As Riker meets Quinn, he attacks Riker. Quinn has somehow acquired incredible strength for a man 80 years old and overpowers him, and later Geordi and Worf as well. Finally, Beverly subdues Quinn with phasers. In the sickbay, she finds evidence of an alien parasite nested on Quinn's brain. The parasite breathes through a small gill protruding through the host's neck and will be visible on anybody who is infected. The parasite cannot be removed without killing the host.
Beverly relays this information to Picard. Picard finds everyone in HQ has been infected with this parasite. Riker beams down and it looks like he has been infected as well (Quinn planted the parasite on Riker before Geordi and Worf could come into his cabin to help Riker), as he stops Picard from beaming back. Tryla Scott is also part of the group. But then Riker starts phasing all attendants of the dinner. The alien protrusion on Riker's neck was faked by Beverly to make it look like he was infected.
Turns out Remmick was the mastermind behind this entire scheme. All the alien parasites get into his body, and when Picard fires on him, they find the parasite "mother" nested inside Remmick's body. Picard & Riker kill it as well. Turns out Remmick was working on sending a homing beacon to an uncharted section of the Galaxy. Meaning there is a whole planet of these things out there.
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