On a joined Starfleet/Son'a cultural survey mission on the Ba'ku planet, Data suddenly runs out of control and reveals his and his crew's presence to the local population. Picard and Worf succeed in apprehending Data, and they further investigate the case. When they discover a cloaked vessel with a holographic replica of the Ba'ku village, it becomes clear that the plan was to relocate them. The Federation and the Son'a were planning to harvest the rejuvenating metaphasic particles surrounding their planet, which would have made the place uninhabitable. Picard and some of his crew defend the Ba'ku way of living on their planet, while Riker on the Enterprise takes on the Son'a ships. Ru'afo of the Son'a, however, wants to fulfill his mission at any cost, against the will of Starfleet Admiral Dougherty, whom he kills. After trying to beam out the Ba'ku by force, he attempts to use his particle collector without evacuating the planet, which would kill all inhabitants. Ru'afo can be tricked with a simulation of the particle collection and finally dies when Picard blows up his collector ship. A reconciliation takes place after it is revealed that the Son'a are actually the same race as the Ba'ku and left the planet 100 years ago.