- Disguised as an alien prior to First Contact, Will's life becomes imperiled when incurred injuries reveal his foreign internal structure to a xenophobic alien population.
- Commander William Riker has been on an acculturation mission under an alias for months on the Malcorian planet, surgically altered to appear as a local, but he gets badly wounded, beyond their medical skills to correct because his internal organs are unknown to them. Captain Jean-Luc Picard decides to speed up his official diplomatic approach (a.k.a. First Contact protocols) and intercede on Riker's behalf, but they are told by a fascinated, open-minded Malcorian scientist that her planet's culture is particularly xenophobic and would reject any alien as being unequal to them. The Malcorian government keeps the matter secret but is internally divided: while Chancellor Durken is in favor of Riker's release without his people finding out and establishing friendly relations with the Federation, his powerful security minister, Krola, is prepared to go to any length to preserve their traditional way of life, including framing Riker for murder.—KGF Vissers
- Captain Picard and crew are about to engage in one of their more dangerous exercises - making first contact with the Malcorians, a race on the cusp of developing warp power. Experience tells the Federation it is better to make first contact before they set off into space. An advance team has already been on the planet for some time, Commander Riker among them, posing as Malcorians to make final arrangements. Unbeknown to Picard, Riker is in a hospital, having been severely injured in a riot. Picard and Counselor Troi make contact with native scientist Mirasta Yale (responsible for the warp program), who is enthusiastic at what they propose. Not all Malcorians welcome contact, however, and the planet's leader, Chancellor Durken, must decide to what extent his people are prepared to learn definitively that they are not alone in the universe.—garykmcd
- Commander William Riker is injured while visiting a planet on a First Contact mission. Hospitalized, the planet's inhabitants discover he is not one of them. Riker's predicament forces the Enterprise crew to speed up the First Contact timetable in order to save him, even though some on the planet believe the Enterprise is on a mission of conquest instead of peace.—Moviedude1
- Commander William Riker has been on an acculturation mission under an alias for months on the Malcorian planet, surgically altered to appear as a local, but he gets badly wounded, beyond their medical skills to correct because his internal organs are unknown to them. Dr Nilrem (Steven Anderson) and Dr Tava (Sachi Parker) find out that he is not Malcorian (from his fingers and placement of organs). When Riker comes to, he claims he is Malcorian and was born with genetic defects. They find his phaser, which Riker explains as a toy for a neighbor's child. His communicator is missing. Dr Berel (George Hearn) is the chief of medical staff at the hospital and wants to keep things quiet till they are able to verify all available facts and reach a conclusion.
Malcorians are on the verge of warp flight and Mirasta Tale (Carolyn Seymour) is head of their space program. Chancellor Durken (George Coe) is a forward-looking person and wants to pursue a technologically progressive agenda, while his powerful security minister, Krola (Michael Ensign) wants Durken to be more conservative and abandon space flight altogether.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard decides to speed up his official diplomatic approach (a.k.a. First Contact protocols) and intercede on Riker's behalf, but they are told by a fascinated Mirasta, who was beamed aboard the Enterprise by Picard to prove that they are not playing a joke on her, that her planet's culture is particularly xenophobic. They believe that Malcorian is a superior race and that their planet is the center of the universe. They would reject any alien as being unequal to them.
Picard informs Mirasta that Riker went missing on the planet when he was finalizing the details for the observation team. Mirasta promises to help but warns Picard the Durken and Krola will not be understanding at all in this matter. They will view this as an intrusion, an invasion even, of their society.
Realizing the urgency of the situation, Mirasta introduces Picard to Durken by herself. Durken understands the diplomatic language of Picard and has a favorable impression of the Federation. A nurse, Lanel (Bebe Neuwirth) is willing to help Riker escape the hospital, but only if he makes love to her. But Riker is caught by Nilrem and is beaten up badly, aggravating his injuries. Berel saves him and transfers him to surgery. Berel saves Riker, but only barely. The matter is escalated to Krola now. Meanwhile Mirasta discusses the matter with Durken and Krola. Krola informs Durken that the aliens have already sent a spy amongst them, and the threat cannot be ignored. Mirasta tells Durken that Riker is Picard's first officer.
Durken confronts Picard who defends the observations, saying that years ago a first contact with Klingons went wrong and led to decades of war. Since then, the policy of observations before first contact was formulated. Durken won't confirm Riker's release when asked by Picard.
The Malcorian government keeps the matter secret but is internally divided: while Chancellor Durken is in favor of Riker's release without his people finding out and establishing friendly relations with the Federation, Krola, is prepared to go to any length to preserve their traditional way of life, including framing Riker for murder. Krola puts the phaser in Riker's hand and aims it at himself. He thinks that his death will preclude any peaceful accord with the Federation and the traditional way of life on the planet will succeed. Mirasta begs Duken to give Riker's position to Picard, else Riker will not survive interrogation by Krola.
Krola fires the phaser and lies on the floor, when he is discovered by the hospital staff. That's when Beverly beams down with Worf. They find the phaser, but Riker had changed the setting to stun, before Krola fired it. Beverly saves both. Durken tells Picard that his people are not ready for this change (Krola was ready to die for that philosophy) and decides to keep the whole thing a secret. Mirasta asks Picard to take her on the Enterprise, a request that is granted by Durken
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