Colin Blakeney, 21st century inventor of the technology that will give Earth the transporter and the holodeck, is the victim of a treacherous attack that beams him out of his world...and into forever. Three hundred years later, the crew of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E spot a stray trasporter beam in deep space. On their way to an encounter with the Palami - a hostile race that may be preparing for interstellar war - Captain Picard and crew have other things on their minds, but realizing there''s a living being inside the wayward beam, they bring it aboard...and encounter a mystery for the ages!