Hoshi is convinced her body's molecules are destabilizing after enduring a traumatic trip through the Enterprise transporter to escape a sudden storm on a primitive planet.

When a lethal neutronic storm approaches faster than Enterprise can escape, the crew takes shelter in the reinforced but cramped maintenance shafts inside the warp nacelles for eight days. They also provide refuge to three Takret, who aren't exactly honest about themselves. They claim to be stellar cartographers. But, they deserted the Takret Militia due to its corrupt leadership known to seize and plunder alien vessels, killing their crews without provocation. The three have been pursued for weeks by a Takret Militia ship. With the Takret immune to the storm's radiation, the Militia ship's crew attempts to seize Enterprise.