During a brief respite from duty, the Enterprise plays host to three young winners of a primary school science contest. Just as Picard begins to take them on their promised tour of the ship, the craft is struck by a natural phenomena that shakes it violently and causes power failures to occur throughout. Communication between different areas of the ship is cut off and crew members are trapped. Picard and the kids are caught in the Turbolift; Beverly and Geordi are stuck in the Cargo Bay where they are threatened by the combination of a radioactive fire and containers of hazardous materials; while Riker, Worf, Data and O'Brien's pregnant wife Keiko treat the injured in the Ten-Forward. Meanwhile, Troi, the highest ranking officer remaining on the Bridge, finds herself acting as a reluctant ship's captain.
