The Enterprise enters the Neutral Zone in response to a desperate plea for aid from the U.S.S. Yamato, which has been crippled by a series of dangerous, inexplicable malfunctions on its voyage to the homeland of the Iconians, an extinct civilization. When the U.S.S. Yamato's captain tries to explain his mission to Picard, the transmission breaks up and the U.S.S. Yamato suddenly explodes.
