- As undetectable parasites devour the ship, Deanna's mother arrives, taking young Alexander under her wing en route to meeting a man she's blindly agreed to marry.
- Enterprise destroys an asteroid headed for a planet. Unknown to everyone, the debris of the asteroid clumps together and comes to rest on the hull of the Enterprise. Worf and Alexander are having issues living together as Alexander won't take orders from Worf regarding house chores. Worf is angry and Deanna suggests drawing up a contract, clearly listing down the responsibilities of each member of the family. Worf wants Alexander to do his own laundry. Alexander wants Worf not to yell at him, and to let him visit the Holodeck, after he has finished his chores.
Deanna's mother Lwaxana (Majel Barrett) arrives. Lwaxana takes young Alexander (Brian Bonsall) under her wing, after she learns that Deanna is trying to get father and son to agree to a contract of duties and chores. Lwaxana admonishes Worf for trying to draw a contract with Alexander and decides to guide and protect Alex. She says contracts are only for people who do not trust one another. Alex admits to Lwaxana that he hates Worf and misses his mom. Lwaxana spends more time with Alex and even takes him to the Holodeck. This means that Alexander is not doing his chores, as outlined by Worf. Deanna is angry that Lwaxana is giving Alex mixed messages and straying him from the responsibility that he needs to learn.
Deanna is on route to meeting a man she's blindly agreed to marry. Her beau is Third Minister Campio of the Conference of Judges on planet Kostolain. He is royalty. They haven't met, only exchanged profiles with each other. She wants to get married on board the Enterprise and for Picard to give her away. Deanna is angry as she wants Lwaxana to at least meet the person, before she commits to spending the rest of her life with him. Deanna gets suspicious when she learns that Lwaxana will not be naked at her own wedding (which is a Betazed tradition). Picard is angry at Lwaxana for using the Enterprise for her personal use, but agrees to the wedding as it would bring him great pleasure to give Lwaxana away.
Meanwhile, undetectable parasites devour the ship from the inside. Ship's systems start giving minor problems (like food replicators malfunctioning). As Geordi and Data investigate, they find that crucial electronic interfaces have been transformed into jelly like substances. Things get serious when Enterprise loses helm control and inertial damping. Backup generators manage to save it for now. Lwaxana is depressed seeing her wedding dress sent by Campio (which is absolutely hideous) and admits to Alexander that this is a compromise wedding as she is alone and doesn't have many choices at her age. Alex gives her comfort and company, as a child can.
Campio arrives on board with his protocol master Erko (Patrick Cronin). Lwaxana is pretty upset when Campio and Erko try to control her with their traditions and protocols. She escapes to the Holodeck with Alexander.
Data and Geordi figure out that something is eating away all the Nitrium on the ship. They discover the parasites near the Dilithium chambers as well. Nitrium is used across all of ships systems including life support. They conclude that the parasites came to the Enterprise from the asteroid. Picard says that the asteroid came from the Pelloris belt and orders the Enterprise there at max warp. He speculates that the belt rich in Nitrium would make for a natural feeding ground. To slow down the parasites Data suggests reducing the temperature throughout the ship.
But it's too late as the parasites are deep inside. Major systems start failing. Somehow Geordi keeps the ship going as life support start failing aboard the ship. It is still 2 hours and 23 minutes to the asteroid belt. Data is ordered to execute the plan if the bridge loses consciousness. The plan is to reach the asteroid belt and fire a Nitrium beam at the field. The parasites will follow the beam into the belt.
Data executes the plan, and the parasites leave the ship for the Asteroid belt. Lwaxana appears at her wedding completely naked. This shocks Campio and Erko, and they leave.
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