Stardate 46357.4/46360.8: Admiral Nechayev appears and assigns Edward Jellico as the new captain of the Enterprise. The crew don't get along with Jellico's strict regime and his apparently inappropriate behavior towards the Cardassians, which seems to lead directly to a war. Meanwhile, Picard, Crusher and Worf are on a classified mission to uncover the presumed production of Cardassian metagenic weapons on Celtris III. They are discovered and while Worf and Crusher can escape, Picard is taken prisoner by the Cardassians. Riker is upset when Jellico refuses any attempt to rescue Picard, whom the Cardassians regard as a terrorist, rather than a prisoner of war. Jellico relieves him of duty. Picard is tortured by Gul Madred, who was already awaiting him because the whole scenario of metagenic weapons was a trap, designed to let the Federation take the first step to a new conflict and to have Picard reveal the defenses of Minos Korva. Jellico's tactics eventually prove successful when he traps a Cardassian invasion fleet in a nebula near Minos Korva. Riker and Geordi take a specially equipped shuttle to lay mines around the ships, which puts Jellico into a position to demand their retreat and Picard's immediate release.

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