Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew discover a gigantic alien ship that has been drifting through the emptiness of space for decades. The sensors detect signs of life aboard the wreck - members of an alien species in cryogenic sleep. Although it appears to be a massive sleeper ship, it is actually a weapon capable of wiping out entire worlds, the last trick from a conflict that spanned generations in a system nearby. The weapon itself originates from the future and was sent back in time for one reason: to end the interplanetary war before it even begins.