As the U. S. S. Titan ventures beyond the outermost reaches of known space, the telepaths in her crewâincluding Diplomatic Officer Donna Troiâare overwhelmed by an alien cry of distress, leading the ship to the scene of a shocking act of carnage: a civilazation of insterstellar âwhalersâ preying upon and exploiting a familiar species of sentient spacebource giants.
Appalled but reluctant to rush to judgement, Captain William Riker and his crew in investigate, discovering a cosmic spawning ground in a region of active star formationâthe exosystem for a bewildering array of diverse but similarly vast life-forms. While attempting to negotiate an end to the victimizeation of these creatures, Rikerâs crew inadvertently grants them the means to defeat their huntersâ purposeâŚonly to learn that things are not exactly as they seem.