The USS Healdsburg, now under the command of the newly-promoted Captain Asarn, is dispatched on an engineering and survey mission to the fringes of Federation space. After weeks in drydock, the Healdsburg departs with the latest prototypes of the Daystrom Institute’s Bio-Neural Gel Packs wired into her computers, with the sole intention of testing them to their absolute limit.

Little does the crew of the Healdsburg know, that limit will be found sooner than expected when they receive a shocking distress call.