Investigating the mystery of missing starships, the Enterprise finds that a brother and sister have been misleading and damaging all warp-capable vessels that enter the region of space near their home world, claiming that warp engines are agitating a sensitive subspace rift which threatens to destroy everything nearby if it becomes active. Reluctant to accept this theory, Picard and the crew plan to rescue the damaged ships and move along, but when one of the protesters opens the subspace rift with a burst of warp energy, the Enterprise may be unable to escape.
