The USS
Enterprise docks at Starbase 133, where Dr. Beverly Crusher (McFadden) greets her elderly friend and mentor, Dr. Dalen Quaice (
Bill Erwin). After taking him to his quarters, discussing the loss of old friends, Dr. Crusher visits her son Ensign
Wesley Crusher (
Wil Wheaton) in Engineering. Wesley attempts to create a
static warp bubble, but the experiment appears to fail. As the
Enterprise leaves Starbase, Dr. Crusher finds that Dr. Quaice is missing, with no record of him coming aboard the ship. As she performs a medical test on transporter chief
O'Brien (
Colm Meaney), she realizes that her medical staff is missing; further investigation and discussion with the crew show that she has always worked alone in
sick bay. Dr. Crusher continues to try to track down the disappearing people and finds more and more crew members that she remembers being completely unknown to the crew or the computer. At one point, a vortex appears near Dr. Crusher and attempts to pull her in, but she is able to hold on to a fixture until it dissipates; the ship shows no record of the vortex's appearance when she investigates. Eventually, no one but
Captain Picard (
Patrick Stewart) and herself remain on the ship, but Picard believes that the situation is normal. Dr. Crusher orders the computer to give Picard's vital signs over the ship's speakers so she knows he is still there, but shortly thereafter, even he disappears. Then, the vortex reappears, and once again tries to claim Beverly. She is blown across the bridge, but she manages to hang onto
Lieutenant Commander Data's (
Brent Spiner) chair until the vortex disappears. At this point, the viewer is shown the actual
Enterprise, where Wesley had successfully created the warp bubble, accidentally trapping his mother within it. With the warp bubble collapsing rapidly, Wesley's fears lead
the Traveler (
Eric Menyuk) to appear and help Wesley attempt to stabilize the bubble. The Traveler recommends the
Enterprise return to the Starbase, where the warp bubble was formed and may be more stable. Within the warp bubble, Dr. Crusher attempts to direct the
Enterprise to the home planet of the Traveler, but soon finds the ship is unable to set that destination, as it no longer exists. More of the universe she knows disappears, soon leaving only the
Enterprise. She recognizes the shape as being that of Wesley's warp bubbles, and determines that she is trapped, the earlier vortex being the
Enterprise crew's first attempt to save her. As the warp bubble shrinks, erasing parts of the
Enterprise, she races for Engineering, the center of the warp bubble, and finds a vortex waiting there. She jumps in at the last moment, finding herself back in Engineering along with Picard, Wesley,
Geordi La Forge (
LeVar Burton), and the Traveler. She embraces her son and obtains confirmation from Picard that the
Enterprise's population (1,014 at the time, including her guest Dr. Quaice) is the correct number. ==Reception==