Meanwhile, on Vulcan, Spock is preparing to undergo the rite of Kolinahr -- the achievement of total Vulcan logic -- and the purging of all remaining emotion. Just then Spock's human half stirs in response to the cloud entity, interrupting his meditation and forcing the Vulcan masters to withdraw Spock's admission to their ranks.

On Earth, the U.S.S. Enterprise is readying to investigate the cloud entity. Admiral Nogura is persuaded by Admiral James T. Kirk to hand over command of the newly refit Starship Enterprise to him, superseding the vessel's present captain, Will Decker, who is unhappy with this new situation. Arriving on board the Enterprise, Kirk requests that Dr. Leonard McCoy, retired now, be recalled into service as the starship's doctor. An unchanged, blustery Dr. McCoy comes aboard and replaces Dr. Christine Chapel, who steps down out of respect. Also on board is a Deltan navigator, Ilia, who in the past was romantically involved with Will Decker.

In a tragic accident, two crew members are killed in a transporter malfunction -- one of which was the new Vulcan science officer, Sonak.

The accident behind them, Kirk gathers much of the crew together to deliver a mission briefing, stressing the enormous power of the entity they are faced with. After a relatively uneventful departure from Earth's drydock facilities, the U.S.S. Enterprise is suddenly faced with a giant wormhole and Kirk, unfamiliar with the design of the new vessel, almost allows the wormhole to destroy the ship. The U.S.S. Enterprise escapes, however, and is hailed by a courier vessel bearing Kirk's new science officer. Overcome with joy at seeing Spock, Kirk is soon confronted with a cold, withdrawn stranger.

The starship eventually encounters the cloud-like being, yet the entity proves to be too strong, damaging the U.S.S. Enterprise on all levels and leaving the starship stricken. When Spock attempts to communicate with the cloud by sending messages of non-aggression, a probe is triggered and sent from the center of the cloud. The crew can only watch helplessly as the probe accesses the U.S.S. Enterprise's consoles and computers, accumulating data from all parts of the ship. In his attempt to stop the violation, Spock is attacked, whereupon the probe vanishes with Ilia.

The U.S.S. Enterprise is then seized by a tractor beam and pulled inside the cloud to a large chamber. Another probe, in the form of Ilia, appears and tells them that it has been sent by "V'Ger" to study the carbon-based units that "infest" the starship. Furthermore, the crew learns that V'Ger is on its way to Earth to join with its "Creator."

In an attempt to establish contact with V'Ger, Kirk trades on Decker's past association with Ilia and assigns Decker to work with the probe. The Ilia-probe tells him that the carbon-units will be patterned for data storage.

Deciding that the best method of gathering more data about V'Ger is directly from the source, Spock dons a thrust suit and leaves the ship. His incredible visual journey to the center of the cloud culminates when Spock sees images of everything that V'Ger has experienced. Spock tries to mind-meld with the life-form, but is short-circuited and barely makes it back to the U.S.S. Enterprise. Taken to sickbay, Spock informs Kirk that his mind-meld did allow him to learn that V'Ger is lonely and seeking to learn why it was created. Furthermore, it is learned that a machine planet built the cloud and craft that house V'Ger.

V'Ger arrives at Earth and signals its Creator. When there is no response, V'Ger blasts energy bolts at the planet in an attempt to rid it of all its carbon infestations. Forced to act, Kirk tells V'Ger he knows why the Creator has not answered. The Ilia-probe, interested by Kirk's remark, says it will cease its attack when Kirk explains. But Kirk replies he will answer to no one but V'Ger itself. With some trepidation, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Decker are lead by the Ilia-probe outside the ship to the "brain" of V'Ger. At the center of the chamber, the Starfleet officers are surprised to discover that V'Ger is in reality a twentieth century Earth robot space probe. In fact, a mounted plaque looks as though it reads "Voyager 6."

Kirk and his crew discover that the probe disappeared into a black hole and emerged at the other end, crash landing on a planet inhabited by living machines. After repairing the probe, the machines then followed its programming -- observe and transmit readings to NASA. Spock deduces that these living machines interpreted those long-ago orders as "Learn all that is learnable and return that information to the Creator."

When the U.S.S. Enterprise transmits old Voyager codes, the V'Ger transmits all of its information. Then, unexpectedly, V'Ger insists that the Creator come in person to finish the sequence. When he realizes that V'Ger wants to physically merge with its Creator, Will Decker volunteers. Decker and Ilia join together and merge into a glowing, non-corporeal entity, which disappears.

The U.S.S. Enterprise crew humbly realize that a new life form has just been created. The experience has left Spock more at peace with himself and he decides not to return to Vulcan. Kirk has command of his beloved U.S.S. Enterprise and McCoy is back in charge of sickbay.

Having witnessed events suggesting that "the human adventure is just beginning," Kirk commands the starship out to space for a real shakedown cruise and future missions.

Meanwhile, Dr. Carol Marcus, an old love of Kirk's, and her son, David, complete the final computer simulation of the Genesis project -- a program designed to grant life where there is none -- on the space laboratory Regula I. However, Dr. Marcus is concerned that Genesis could also be used as a weapon. At the same time, the U.S.S. Reliant arrives at Ceti Alpha VI with a mission to check for signs of life on the planet, a possible test site for Genesis. Curious, Captain Terrell and Chekov beam to the surface where they are confronted by Khan Noonien Singh, the former tyrant of Earth's Eugenic Wars, exiled to the planet in 2267 by Captain Kirk. With the aid of mind-controlling Ceti eels implanted in Terrell and Chekov, Khan gains control of the Reliant.

At the Regula I space laboratory, Dr. Marcus is contacted by the Reliant and told that Ceti Alpha VI has met the conditions required for testing of the Genesis Device; the Reliant will therefore now take the Genesis Device, months before the scheduled test. Furious at this encroachment by Starfleet, Dr. Marcus contacts Kirk on the Enterprise, expressing her outrage at the Admiral and Starfleet for their militaristic intentions. Although Kirk, McCoy, Uhura and Sulu are leading a training mission for the Starfleet cadets, the crew decides to head to Regulus I to investigate Dr. Marcus' complaint. When they arrive, the Enterprise is inexplicably fired on by the Reliant. Khan finally reveals himself from the bridge of the Reliant, demanding that Kirk give him the Genesis information. Kirk pulls a brilliant bluff, allowing the Enterprise precious computer time to secretly lower the shields of the other starship. The Enterprise then damages the Reliant, forcing the captured starship to withdraw for the moment.

When Kirk and company board Regula I, the crew is shocked to find that the scientists have been tortured and killed. They follow transporter traces to the interior of the planetoid below, finding Chekov and Captain Terrell alive and seemingly well in an underground dwelling. Just then, David Marcus pulls a surprise attack on Kirk, believing the Admiral to be the cause of all of the station's trouble. Carol is then forced to reveal that Kirk is David's father. Surprised and bewildered by the sudden turn of events, Kirk and David form an uneasy truce. Carol then shows Kirk and crew the Genesis torpedo.

Unbeknownst to Kirk and the rest of the group, Terrell, still under the influence of the Ceti eels, secretly gives Khan the coordinates of the torpedo. Khan quickly beams the valuable device aboard the Reliant, then orders Terrell to assassinate Kirk. Terrell, however, cannot bring himself to kill the Admiral. Instead, Terrell turns his phaser on himself. When Chekov also resists Khan's orders, the Ceti eel exits his ear and is subsequently destroyed. Khan, thinking he is stranding Kirk and his crew on the planet, departs Regula I. Carol Marcus then shows Kirk the Genesis cave, where an entire biosystem has been created. She explains that this amazing breakthrough means that barren planets can now be made safely habitable for colonists. Kirk, impressed but concerned for his crippled starship, regains contact with the Enterprise and has the landing party and scientists beamed aboard.

Meanwhile, a repaired Reliant under Khan's control obsessively searches for the U.S.S. Enterprise. Left without warp drive in the previous skirmish, the U.S.S. Enterprise hides in the Mutara Nebula. Kirk then deliberately goads Khan, hoping to throw the former tyrant off balance, while the rest of the crew searches for the Reliant in the static of the nebula cloud. Eventually, the U.S.S. Enterprise is successful in fatally disabling the other starship. But Khan, in his desperate hunger for revenge, arms the Genesis torpedo, knowing full well that both ships will be destroyed upon its detonation. With the Enterprise doomed without warp power, Spock suddenly enters the starship's radiation chamber to repair the warp drive. McCoy tries to stop the determined Vulcan, but Spock takes the upper hand and touches the doctor's forehead cryptically, murmuring "Remember." Just as the Genesis torpedo explodes, destroying Khan and the Reliant with it, the Enterprise zips into warp. The crew and ship have been spared, yet Spock, dying of severe radiation, has willingly given his own life.

With the Enterprise safely away, McCoy tells Kirk to come to the ship's engine room. There, a stunned Kirk must bid an emotional farewell to his dearest friend. Kirk need not mourn, says Spock, for his sacrifice was logical. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one" he tells his captain. Spock dies, but in contrast to a new birth -- the new living star and planet formed from the nebula and Genesis. A sullen and mournful funeral is held for Spock, and, accompanied by Scotty playing "Amazing Grace" on his bagpipes, Spock's coffin is sent to rest upon the new planet.

With Khan defeated, David Marcus finally makes peace with his father. Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise then go to Ceti Alpha V to pick up the abandoned Reliant crew, and the ship heads for Earth. Kirk, though saddened at the loss of his friend, is hopeful for the future, because as Spock once said, "there are always possibilities."

In Kirk's quarters, Sarek, Spock's father, confronts the Admiral, saying that Spock's body should have been returned to Vulcan so that his katra could have been stored in an ancient Vulcan repository on Mount Seleya. Sarek tells Kirk that he must retrieve the coffin from the Genesis planet and, since Spock performed a last-minute Vulcan mind-meld with McCoy, thus transferring his "katra" or spirit, the doctor must also return to Vulcan.

However, Starfleet refuses to allow the antiquated U.S.S. Enterprise to leave spacedock. Released from the hospital and faced with this news, McCoy tries to hire a craft to go back to the Genesis planet. He then starts a brawl and is subsequently arrested, pending further psychiatric examination. The arrest proves futile, though, when McCoy escapes with the help of Kirk, Scott, Sulu, Uhura and Chekov. The crew then beams aboard the deserted U.S.S. Enterprise. To avoid pursuit, Scotty removes an integral engine part from the U.S.S. Excelsior and, knowing that they've all probably destroyed their careers, the six friends take the U.S.S. Enterprise out for one final voyage.

Meanwhile, the Klingons have learned of the new Genesis Device and planet, and fear that it could be a new Federation weapon. Lead by the treacherous Captain Kruge, the Klingons set out to either destroy or capture the valuable device.

On board the U.S.S. Grissom, David Marcus and Lt. Saavik arrive at the Genesis Planet for scientific observation. They quickly discover a lifeform reading coming from the surface. Intrigued, the two beam to the planet's surface to find Spock's empty coffin. Tracing the lifeform reading, the two then find the living body of a child-Spock, aging with erratic rapidity but lacking a consciousness or spirit.

Suddenly, the Klingons arrive, destroying the Grissom and taking Saavik, Marcus, and the young Spock prisoner. Shortly thereafter, the U.S.S. Enterprise arrives in the Mutara Sector and is crippled by Kruge and his Klingon cohorts. With the Klingons threatening the lives of their prisoners, Kirk tries a bluff to regain control of the situation, but is unsuccessful. David Marcus is killed by the Klingon landing party. Faced with no other choice, Kirk surrenders the U.S.S. Enterprise to the Klingons, yet in a last-ditch effort to gain the upper hand, activates the starship's self-destruct mechanism. The small U.S.S. Enterprise crew then beams to the surface of the Genesis Planet, watching as their historic starship is destroyed in a streak of light, taking with it most of Kruge's nefarious crew.

Kirk and party rescue Spock and Saavik from the Klingons and learn that an unstable element used in the Genesis Device threatens the stability of the planet, which is likely to explode within minutes. One factor of this instability, however, is the rejuvenating effect it had on Spock's body. With the planet reaching critical mass, Spock finally achieves the age he was just before his death on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Kruge, still alive on the Klingon Bird-of-Prey and angry at the death of his comrades, beams down to the planet. There, he fights one-on-one with Kirk, eventually falling to his death. The U.S.S. Enterprise crew, Saavik, and Spock then escape in the Bird-of-Prey, just as the planet violently explodes, a victim of its own dangerous growth.

Under Sarek's diplomatic protection, the Klingon ship then speeds to Vulcan. Once there, the risky ceremony fal-tor-pan is performed, fusing Spock's katra, which resides in McCoy's mind, with the Vulcan's body. With the ceremony seemingly successful, a revived Spock begins the long journey of remembering his past and his friends. He questions why the Enterprise crew risked their lives and careers to rescue him. As his friend Jim reminds him, sometimes the "needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many."

The crew arrives to find Earth in turmoil, threatened by a deep space probe that has drained all power and is vaporizing the oceans, producing a worldwide cloud cover which begins to block the sun. Because of the enormous storms ravaging the entire planet, Starfleet warns all approaching spacecraft to keep their distance.

Spock manages to identify the probe's unusual communication, which turns out to be a transmission to long-extinct humpback whales. When the probe's signal is not answered, it increases its output, causing more clouds and even more storms. Kirk and crew, orbiting the doomed planet, decide that the only way to save Earth is to time-travel back to the twentieth century, when whales still existed, and return to the present with a pair of the mammals. With any luck, then the probe's signal might be answered and Earth spared.

The crew, still piloting the Bird-of-Prey, use the slingshot effect to travel back in time. They pick up whale songs emanating from the West Coast of North America. They land the Klingon warbird in a San Francisco park, where thanks to its cloaking device, the ship is concealed from view. However, the time traveling damaged the ship's valuable dilithium crystals. The small crew then splits up, with Uhura and Chekov assigned to locate an atomic reactor for photons to recharge the ship's power, and McCoy, Scotty and Sulu ordered to create a tank in the cargo bay that will safely house a pair of whales.

Kirk and Spock, after a humorous trip through twentieth century San Francisco, locate Dr. Gillian Taylor and her mated pair of whales, George and Gracie. Due to cut-backs at the Maritime Cetacean Institute, where the whales are on exhibit, they are due to be released in the sea. Once there, Taylor fears the pair will be in danger from whale hunters. When Spock performs a Vulcan mind-meld with the whales, he learns that Gracie is pregnant. Kirk tries to convince the doctor that he's from the future and that Starfleet will take good care of her whales, but Taylor is, understandably, incredulous. Meanwhile, Chekov and Uhura have located enough photons from a reactor to complete their mission -- from the U.S.S. Enterprise CVN 65 aircraft carrier, no less. Scotty, however, can't beam both crew members back at once. Faced with a decision, Chekov sends Uhura up with the needed photon collector. Chekov is then captured and questioned by FBI agents. The Russian escapes, is chased by Marines, and eventually falls and ends up hospitalized, in critical condition.

McCoy and Scotty have concurrently arranged a trade for a large piece of Plexiglas to build a whale tank on board the Klingon ship.

Kirk finally is able to convince Gillian Taylor to help him, first in retrieving Chekov, then the whales. Joined by McCoy, the three pull off a wild rescue, springing Chekov from the hospital. With twenty-third century medical technology, McCoy is able to quickly repair Chekov's otherwise fatal condition. Kirk says goodbye to Gillian, assuring her that her whales will be safe and, what's more, will be saving the entire planet in the future. At the last second of Kirk's transport, she throws her arms around him, transporting herself to ship along with the captain.

Using the radio frequency provided by Gillian, the crew locate the whales, now at sea. Just as they are about to transport George and Gracie on board the Klingon ship, a whaler ship comes into view, threatening the two mammals. The future of Earth at stake, the Bird-of-Prey valiantly fights off the whaler and beams up the whales, along with tons of water, to the prepared tank in their cargo bay.

Off the planet and en route to the Sun for the time-traveling slingshot maneuver, Spock makes his calculations and the ship is propelled to the twenty-third century. Arriving at Earth, the ship is rendered powerless by the probe and crash-lands in San Francisco Bay. Kirk then releases the whales and they answer the probe. Apparently satisfied, the probe retreats back into deep space once more.

With Earth safe and the storms gone, Kirk and his crew are brought before the Federation Council to be reprimanded for stealing and destroying the U.S.S. Enterprise in the rescue of Spock. Although Kirk disobeyed direct orders and violated numerous Federation laws, the Council praises the Admiral and his crew for saving Earth. And even though Kirk is "demoted" to Captain, he is given the only job he ever wanted -- the command of a starship. And the ship he is given? A new U.S.S. Enterprise, registry NCC-1701-A.

Meanwhile, on a nearby Klingon Bird-of-Prey, Captain Klaa learns of the mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise and the hated Kirk and sees an opportunity for advancement in the Klingon ranks. In an effort to intercept the U.S.S. Enterprise, he orders the ship to Nimbus III.

The U.S.S. Enterprise is the first to arrive at Nimbus III and Kirk sends a shuttlecraft and landing party to the planet's only town. It is soon discovered that the town is held by a band of scruffy colonists led by a telepathic insane Vulcan, Sybok. In addition, the team learns that the hostage situation was just an elaborate ruse to obtain a Federation starship. Sybok believes that his destiny, the discovery of Sha Ka Ree, meaning "heaven" in Vulcan, has finally been fulfilled, but he needs a starship for transportation. Sybok forces the shuttlecraft to take his people to the U.S.S. Enterprise, where he fights with Kirk for control. Strangely, Spock has the opportunity to kill the insane Vulcan, yet he doesn't. Forced to explain his actions, Spock reveals that Sybok is his half-brother, exiled from Vulcan for choosing emotion over logic. Family relations aside, Kirk and the rest of the crew are thrown in the starship's brig.

Scotty finally helps Kirk, Spock and McCoy escape from the brig and sends an urgent message to Starfleet. Yet the message is intercepted by Vixis, Klaa's first officer.

In an effort to gain valuable followers, Sybok uses his powers to reveal to McCoy and Spock their inner-most pain, then helps each "heal." Kirk, however, refuses to allow the Vulcan to use his telepathic powers. Sybok is angered, yet he knows that he needs Kirk to pilot the U.S.S. Enterprise to "Sha Ka Ree," and thus a reluctant truce is declared.

The Enterprise sets course for the center of the galaxy, a mythical planet bound by an energy field -- the Great Barrier. Sybok and the captured crew are successful in penetrating the barrier, and find a small blue planet. Sybok takes a landing party to the planet's surface, where he suddenly calls out to God. In a blinding flash of light, an entity appears, questioning him about the U.S.S. Enterprise. When Kirk asks why a god would need to ask such mundane questions, he is stricken down with bolts of electricity. McCoy brusquely tells Sybok that he has trouble believing in a god who enjoys inflicting pain. This seems to affect Sybok, and the Vulcan slowly begins to doubt his own quest. Afraid that the entity might be let loose in the galaxy, Sybok tries to use his telepathic powers to make the creature realize its own pain. The two grapple and mysteriously disappear underground. Convinced that the entity must be destroyed at all costs, Kirk orders a photon torpedo be fired at the planet. The U.S.S. Enterprise transporter can only bring up two crewmen at a time, so Kirk sends McCoy and Spock. With Kirk left all alone on the planet's surface, the enraged being suddenly appears and tries to destroy the Captain for ruining its plans of escape, via the starship, and subsequent galactic conquest.

Just then, Captain Klaa's ship arrives and uncloaks to fire on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Spock demands that the first officer, General Korrd, pull rank and beam Kirk up to the Klingon warbird and fire upon the mysterious being. Spock transfers with Korrd to the Klingon ship in order to insure that his "suggestion" is carried out.

With Kirk saved and the evil entity destroyed, there is a reception on board the U.S.S. Enterprise to celebrate this unusual Klingon-Starfleet cooperation. Scotty and Korrd enjoy drinks while Klingons cautiously mingle with U.S.S. Enterprise crew. McCoy suggests that the Great Barrier is in place to keep the entity boxed in, not to keep others out, which implies an even greater being at work.

Having saved the galaxy yet again, the three officers return to their interrupted vacation at Yosemite.

Captain Spock suggests that the U.S.S. Enterprise be Gorkon's escort, forcing Kirk, who still harbors deep resentment for the brutal death of his son at the hands of the Klingons, to meet the Chancellor's ship. The two ships rendezvous peacefully and are proceeding towards the conference when the U.S.S. Enterprise suddenly appears to fire on the Klingon ship; Federation-uniformed men beam to the ship and mortally wound Gorkon. After beaming over to the Klingon ship with Kirk to lend assistance, Doctor McCoy is unable to save Gorkon's life. McCoy is arrested, along with Kirk, for the murder. After a quick trial before the Klingon High Council, the two men are sentenced to imprisonment on a Klingon penal colony. Unknown to the Klingons, however, is that prior to Kirk's beam-out from the Enterprise, a quick thinking Spock surreptitiously attached a homing patch to the back of Kirk's uniform.

On Rura Penthe, the ice-cold Klingon penal planet, Kirk and McCoy meet a Chameloid, Martia, who approaches the pair with an escape plan. The proposed plan, however, turns out to be an elaborate ruse designed to lure Kirk and McCoy into the open, where they can be killed as escapees.

Arriving in the nick of time, the U.S.S. Enterprise tracks Kirk's homing signal and rescues the two officers just before they are killed by the colony's nefarious prison warden. Safely aboard, Kirk and McCoy decide to avoid contact with Starfleet while they work to figure out what happened to the Klingon Chancellor's ship and to identity Gorkon's true killer. They are assisted in this investigation by Captain Hikaru Sulu, commander of the U.S.S. Excelsior.

Meanwhile, Gorkon's daughter, Azetbur, works to continue her father's plan of peace with the Federation, putting her life in serious danger. Learning of this, Kirk and Spock become convinced that there is an organized conspiracy behind the assassination intended to prevent the peace. They set a trap for the suspected conspirators on the U.S.S. Enterprise. Ultimately, Lieutenant Valeris, a promising young Vulcan protege of Spock's is revealed to be one of the leaders of the dissident movement. When Spock performs a Vulcan mind-meld with Valeris, he finds that both Federation and Klingon conspirators are in league against the proposed peace.

The Federation ships proceed to the location of the conference, at Khitomer, but before landing parties are able to beam down both the U.S.S. Enterprise and the U.S.S. Excelsior are attacked by an invisible vessel -- one capable of firing while remaining cloaked. The audio transmissions of the vessel identify it as Klingon General Chang's Bird-of-Prey, an unknown prototype. Faced with an unstoppable new form of technology, the two starships sustain considerable damage. Racing against time, equipment on the U.S.S. Enterprise usually used for studying gaseous anomalies is fitted into a photon torpedo. Using some new technology of their own, the U.S.S. Enterprise tracks the cloaked Bird-of-Prey and destroys it.

With the orbiting Klingon threat gone and Valeris apprehended, the U.S.S. Enterprise crew arrives at the peace talks just in time to prevent the planned assassination of the President of the United Federation of Planets. The conference continues, and the first steps are taken towards peace between the Klingon Empire and the Federation.

The U.S.S. Enterprise is recalled by Starfleet Command for decommissioning, but Kirk, in typical fashion, indulges himself and takes the ship out for one last voyage before passing the baton to a new generation of explorers destined "to boldly go where no one has gone before."

Kirk goes below deck to work on the deflector relays, but the ribbon suddenly strikes the starship, tearing a large gash through the hull and leaving only debris where Kirk was working. Scotty and Chekov stare out into space, bewildered by the sudden loss of their friend.

78 years later, in 2371, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-D join together on the holodeck for a ceremony to promote Lt. Worf -- a Klingon officer -- to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. The ceremony is conducted using a 19th Century sailing ship and corresponding uniforms. The merriment is suddenly interrupted, however, when Picard receives an urgent personal message. Suddenly depressed, Picard leaves the festivities to contemplate in privacy.

Meanwhile, officers Geordi La Forge and Data successfully install an emotion chip designed by Data's creator, Doctor Noonien Soong, into the android. Although La Forge questions the wisdom of the installation as a potentially painful step in the growth of his friend, Data ignores him. After installing the chip, Data quickly discovers the vast array of emotions now available to him and believes he has the necessary skills to integrate them into his programming.

Sent to the Armagosa Solar Observatory to investigate a distress call, the U.S.S. Enterprise finds two dead Romulans and five humans left alive after a mysterious and brutal attack. One of these survivors is a Doctor Tolian Soran. Data and La Forge later return to the starship's laboratory and find traces of a volatile explosive which Soran has secretly concealed in the lab. While Data watches in abject terror, Soran kidnaps La Forge, taking him to a cloaked Klingon ship. When questioning La Forge proves unsuccessful, Soran releases the starship officer -- after modifying his VISOR to transmit its signals back to the Klingon vessel.

Soran then fires a trilithium probe into the sun, which causes an incredible shock wave. The Klingon ship, on which he is a passenger, is commanded by the Klingon Duras sisters. In exchange for the formula for Soran's trilithium explosive, they have agreed to take him to the planet Veridian III, where he wants to conduct another solar implosion.

On board the U.S.S. Enterprise, Picard learns that Soran is 300 years old and, like Guinan, a survivor of the El-Aurian incident that killed Captain Kirk. In an effort to understand what is happening, Picard finally goes to Guinan. She tells him that the energy ribbon, called the Nexus, is a temporal anomaly moving through space. To anyone or anything inside the Nexus, linear time has no meaning and a person can experience anything that he or she desires. There is an overpowering feeling of joy so addictive, that once there, no one wants to leave. Soran is desperate to return to the Nexus and recreate that joy with the family he lost when his world was assimilated by the Borg.

Picard, still depressed from his previous message, informs Troi of his family lineage and that he never intended to have any children because his brother had children who would carry on the Picard name. However, according to the message he received, his brother and nephew were killed in a fire on Earth. Therefore, Jean-Luc will now be the last Picard.

In Stellar Cartography, Picard and an emotionally troubled Data plot the course of the Nexus and the changes that have occurred since the sun was destroyed. They conclude that Soran plans to destroy another sun when the Nexus passes close to the Veridian system -- killing as many as two hundred and thirty million inhabitants on one of the system's planets. Destroying the suns alters spacial forces, thereby changing the path of the Nexus. With the Veridian sun destroyed, the Nexus will then pass along the surface of Veridian III, allowing Soran to re-enter.

Picard, learning of the situation, beams down to Veridian III to try to dissuade Soran. In the meantime, La Forge has been returned to the U.S.S. Enterprise in exchange for Picard; the Duras sisters watch with great interest as La Forge moves about the ship. Finally they see what they've been waiting for -- the U.S.S. Enterprise deflector shield modulation. Seizing this information, the cloaked Bird-of-Prey fires through the starship's deflector shields, severely damaging the U.S.S. Enterprise. Ultimately, however, the U.S.S. Enterprise succeeds in destroying the Klingon warbird, killing all aboard. Unfortunately Soran has already beamed down to the planet Veridian III.

Due to damage sustained by the Klingon's attack, the U.S.S. Enterprise suffers a warp-core breach and Riker orders the saucer section separated. Before he can get the saucer away safely, however, the battle section explodes, hurtling the saucer and its entire crew toward the surface of Veridian III. After a terrifying ride, the U.S.S. Enterprise saucer crash lands on the planet's surface. Fortunately, most of the crew are uninjured.

Elsewhere on the planet's surface, Picard and Soran fight to the death as the Nexus rapidly approaches. Soran manages to fire his trilithium probe into the sun, destroying it as the ribbon engulfs both men, taking them inside the Nexus. In their wake, the inhabitants of the Veridian system, as well as the survivors from the U.S.S. Enterprise, are engulfed in a giant cloud of fire.

For a time, Picard is bewildered but delighted to be spending Christmas with his large, happy family -- a family he's never had the time to start. But then, just as the captain gazes at a sparkling ornament, he is suddenly reminded that this experience is not real and that he must get on with his mission. Picard remembers that Guinan had told him he would find someone in the Nexus to help him defeat Soran. Just then, an "echo" of Guinan appears, telling Picard that he can have anything he wants in the Nexus, but that he can also leave -- and he can leave prior to when he came. There might still be time to stop Soran's destruction, but Picard believes he needs help if he's to be successful.

With Guinan's help, Picard finds a slightly puzzled but happy James T. Kirk in the Nexus. Kirk wasn't killed 78 years earlier on the U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-B, but was drawn into the Nexus instead. Picard meets a content Kirk who is now a happy farmer in Iowa, complete with his life's loves -- "Antonia" and his horses. Picard is successful in convincing Kirk of the spurious nature of the Nexus realities, and he awakens Kirk's taste for adventure, duty, and the chance to "make a difference again." The two U.S.S. Enterprise captains leave the Nexus and materialize on Veridian III, just as Soran is preparing to set off his solar bomb. This time, Kirk grapples with Soran while Picard races to sabotages the probe.

Although Kirk wins the fight, knocking Soran off the edge of the cliff, the diabolical doctor manages to cloak the launch mechanism before Picard can disarm it. Yet Soran, hanging on for dear life at the end of a rope, loses control of the remote after the line suddenly gives. The remote control is thrown into the air, landing on a nearby bridge. Kirk races to recover the remote, as does Soran, who fires on Kirk and the bridge with his deadly disruptor. Although Kirk is saved in the nick of time by Picard, the bridge is broken in two, with the remote resting on the opposite portion across the void.

Picard urges Kirk to accept his help, yet Kirk, stubborn as always, goes after the remote himself. With the second half of the bridge about to give, Kirk jumps to the other side, escaping certain death by seconds. Just as the remote is about to fall into the chasm, Kirk miraculously grabs it out of thin air. With time running out and the Nexus fast approaching, Kirk decloaks the launch mechanism. Suddenly the second half of the bridge collapses into the chasm, carrying Kirk with it.

Picard, now able to see the mechanism, races to the controls. Yet his plans are seemingly cut short when Soran, frantic that he might miss his last chance at gaining access to the Nexus, aims his disruptor directly at the captain. Although Picard escapes, capitalizing on Soran's distraction, the evil doctor doesn't care. His moment of triumph is at hand. Soran's smile slowly fades, however, when he realizes that Picard has secured the missile's locking clamps; although about to ignite, the rocket will not launch.

The launch mechanism explodes into a giant fireball, killing Soran and preventing the destruction of the entire Veridian system. Picard runs to Kirk, where he stays until the former captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise dies. "It was fun...oh my." are Kirk's last words. After Picard has buried and mourned the loss of his new friend, a shuttlecraft from the U.S.S. Enterprise finds Picard and takes him to the ship's crash site where survivors are being rescued by the U.S.S. Farragut.

Believing he has finally mastered human emotions, Data finds himself wrong when he and Counselor Troi manage to find the android's cat in the U.S.S. Enterprise wreckage. Data, bewildered, is overcome with tears of joy. Riker is saddened as they leave the wrecked starship, but Picard assures him that this is not likely to be the last ship named "Enterprise."

Picard calls a meeting and informs his senior officers that their ship has been instructed to patrol the Neutral Zone. Their orders are to protect the area from any possible Romulan uprising during a Borg attack. Despite protests from his officers, Picard remains faithful to his orders and the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-E begins to patrol the area. Later, Picard regretfully tells Riker that it is his own fault they are stuck in the Neutral Zone. Starfleet believes Picard to be too emotionally involved with the Borg because of his previous assimilation to tactically complete a mission against them.

The men return to the bridge to learn that Starfleet has engaged in combat with the Borg. Intercepting messages between the starships, the crew learns that the Federation is losing. Picard, with his Borg experience, knows he can help the fleet. He informs his staff that he will make a decision directly in opposition to Starfleet commands. With no objections from his crew, Captain Picard gives the order and the starship Enterprise sets a course for Earth and the attacking Borg cube.

A massive battle ensues and it appears that the Federation will lose the fight. Despite serious structural damage to the Borg cube, their strength does not weaken. Even the U.S.S. Defiant, commanded by Worf, does not appear to be able to turn the tides of the battle. As the starship Defiant is about to ram the Borg ship on a suicide run, the U.S.S. Enterprise beams aboard its crew, including Worf. Picard, having an inside perspective of the Borg and their vessel, focuses the firepower of the fleet on coordinates he knows to be critical. Just as the main ship is destroyed, a spherical escape pod flies out. The sphere creates a temporal vortex, catching the starship Enterprise in its wake. Immune to the paradoxes created by the time travel, the starship's crew learns that Earth at the present time appears to be inhabited entirely by the Borg. The commanding officers realize that the Borg have gone into the past and assimilated Earth, so they follow them back in time to repair the damage the Borg have done.

On Earth, over three centuries earlier, a somber Lily Sloane accompanies a stumbling, drunk Zephram Cochran out of a bar after a night of revelry. Then, Lily notices a fast moving light. She hardly has time to ask what the object is, when the Borg vessel attacks. Back aboard the Starship Enterprise, Picard demands that Data tell him the exact date and location the Borg ship is attacking. The location: central Montana. The date: April 4, 2063 -- the day before first contact. Realizing that the Borg have come to prevent first contact between alien life forms and humans, the crew knows they must stop the Borg and facilitate this exchange. They destroy the Borg sphere, and Dr. Crusher, Captain Picard, Commander Data, Commander Riker, Counselor Troi and other U.S.S. Enterprise crew transport down to Earth to survey the damage.

At the Borg attack site in Montana, the crew finds destruction and chaos. They split into groups to search for Cochran. Data and Picard hunt for Cochran's warp ship, the Phoenix. There they encounter a very angry and confused Lily, who believes Data and Picard to be members of a coalition that broke the cease-fire after World War III. She shoots at them in a rage, but impervious to bullets, Data approaches Lily. Overcome by fear and radiation, she falls to the ground. Dr. Crusher diagnoses Lily with radiation sickness caused by the damaged Phoenix, and inoculates the entire crew. Against Picard's better judgment, Crusher takes Lily to sickbay. Geordi is called to help repair the warp vessel and Picard becomes intrigued by its historical significance. In this vessel began the future as the world would know it, and the past as Picard remembers it. He reaches out to touch the ship. Data, curious about the human need for tactile reinforcement, attempts to create the same feelings he observes in Picard, but is unsuccessful in duplicating this aspect of humanity.

Aboard the ship, two crewmembers are sent to examine unexplained maintenance problems, and both disappear. Picard is called to the ship and discovers that the survivors from the Borg sphere have transported onto the ship and are taking over Deck 16. While Picard arranges teams to fight them, the Borg manipulate the climate of the deck to suit their needs and begin to spread throughout the ship. When the Borg attack sickbay, Crusher, her staff, and Lily escape through a Jeffries tube, thanks to a distraction by the ship's Emergency Medical Hologram. While Crusher leads the group down the passageway, Lily steals away in a different direction.

On Earth, Riker finds Troi and Cochran drunk in a bar. Troi justifies that the only way she could get Cochran to talk to her was by shooting Tequila with him. Denying her drunken state, Troi offers her professional opinion on Cochran. She explains, "He's nuts."

Picard and his team are tracking the Borg through the starship. As Crusher and her staff find Worf's team, Picard's team encounters the Borg, who have begun to assimilate U.S.S. Enterprise crewmembers. Worf's team engages the Borg in combat, but the enemies adapt to the crew's weapons too quickly to make any difference. The teams are ordered to regroup on Deck 15, but Data is captured. Picard cannot save him, so he quickly crawls into a Jeffries tube to escape. Face to face with Picard, Lily steals his phaser and demands an explanation and escape route. Picard agrees.

Geordi shows Cochran the starship Enterprise through a large telescope on Earth and tries to convince him to launch his vessel the next morning. Geordi glorifies Cochran by explaining that his ship will make first contact with alien life forms. Humanity will be saved if Cochran launches his ship. Still drunk, Cochran agrees.

Aboard the ship, The Borg Queen introduces herself to a bound Data, claiming that she is the Collective. Reactivating Data's emotion chip, the Borg begin to graph organic, human skin onto the android's arm. As Data is overcome by this new human sensation of touch, something he never thought possible, the Borg continue their work.

Lily and Picard wander through the service deck as the captain attempts to explain what has happened between Lily's time and his own. She begins to calm down until they suddenly run into a Borg-infested area. Quickly escaping in the Holodeck, Picard activates a Dixon Hill program. At a dance, he and Lily try to blend in without being noticed by the Borg. Following the Holodeck's story, Picard searches for Nicky the Nose and takes his machine gun. Killing the Borg with the gun, Picard retrieves the memory chip that contains all of the information the Borg has received. Lily then notices that the two dead Borg were once crewmembers of the Starship Enterprise.

Back on Earth, Cochran keeps hearing what an amazing historical figure he is and begins to question whether or not he wants to go through with the launch. He doubts his own nobility and flees the launch site. Geordi and Riker attempt to catch up with Cochran in the woods and are forced to stun him with a phaser to return him to the Phoenix.

Lily and Picard join the rest of the surviving crew and discover that the Borg are outside of the ship. The retrieved memory chip reveals that they are reconfiguring the main deflector in order to contact the Borg of this century, calling them to Earth to assimilate the planet. Picard, Worf and Lieutenant Hawk put on space suits and venture onto the surface of the starship to stop the Borg.

Aware of Data's desire to become human, the Borg Queen offers him the chance to be entirely covered in human flesh and join the Borg, in an attempt to get the encryption codes from Data so she can obtain total control over the U.S.S. Enterprise. Outside the Starship Enterprise, Hawk, Worf and Picard attempt to unlock the deflector dish. Attacked by a Borg, Worf's suit begins to depressurize. Two Borg are killed and Hawk is attacked. As the dish is released, a now-assimilated Hawk attempts to kill Picard. Worf saves the captain, but Hawk is killed. Picard and Worf then destroy the free-floating deflector dish.

On Earth, Cochran explains to Riker that his only motivation for inventing warp travel was money. He never expected to save mankind, become a hero, or be instrumental in the founding of a new civilization. He simply wanted to retire in peace.

An argument ensues aboard the starship Enterprise as the majority of the senior officers believe that they should evacuate the ship, destroying it and the Borg. Picard won't give up, and insists they stay. Challenged by Worf, Picard orders him off the Bridge. Lily follows Picard into his ready room and demands that he explain his obsession with fighting the Borg. Picard declares he won't sacrifice the starship, and swears to finally make the Borg pay for all they've done. Lily quietly and calmly compares Picard to Captain Ahab, forever fighting his white wale -- the Borg. Realizing that this fight could only destroy himself and his crew, Picard decides to evacuate the ship. Worf, Picard and Crusher activate the ship's self-destruct sequence. The countdown begins, and the crew leaves in escape pods. Picard surveys his ship and prepares to leave when he hears Data calling him.

Meanwhile , the earth-bound crew and Cochran begin takeoff. Cochran, Geordi and Riker take off in the Phoenix, and with music blaring, the three men launch successfully into orbit.

On the ship, Lily and Picard say good-bye and the captain goes to save Data. Entering Engineering, Picard confronts the Borg Queen, whom he knows from his experience with the Borg. The queen reminds Picard that it was not enough that he was assimilated, but that he needed to give himself freely to the Borg. -- she wished him to stand by her side as an equal to further the power of the Collective. Picard offers himself in exchange for Data, but the android does not comply. He refuses to leave, and at the queen's command, disarms the self-destruct sequence. He quickly enters the encryption codes, offering full control of the starship Enterprise to the Borg.

As Cochran's ship nears warp, Data arms the U.S.S Enterprise's weapons and aims them at the defenseless Phoenix. At the Borg Queen's order, Data fires, but the missiles fail to hit the Phoenix. His deception of the Borg complete, Data smashes a conduit, releasing a gas that floods engineering, killing all organic material. As the Borg are destroyed, Picard climbs to safety and the Borg Queen falls into the deadly gas. With the Borg threat gone, Cochran safely completes humanity's first warp flight.

Celebrating the flight back on Earth that night, Cochran and the starship Enterprise's crew see an alien ship land nearby. The doors open, and Zephram Cochran makes Earth's first contact with an alien race -- the Vulcans. Picard and his crew beam out, having witnessed this historic event, and the U.S.S Enterprise NCC 1701-E returns to the 24th century.