Captain's Log, Stardate 57322.8.
The USS Melbourne is in orbit around Ravaya, the homeworld of the felinoid Na-Zek. It has been more than a century since a Starfleet vessel has visited the Na-Zek, making this possibly the longest gap between a First and Second Contact in Federation history. Commander Partav is already on the surface with Security Chief Tir, her security team, and Natala Korex, the aide to the Federation ambassador, conducting a preliminary inspection of the facilities that will house the new Federation embassy. Up here Lt. Cmdr. Ahn'Kress is coordinating the engineering teams and embassy personnel ahead of the Away Team's all clear to begin setting up the embassy. Meanwhile, Ambassador Sh'Rassa and I are awaiting the signal from the Na-Zek government to beam down for a formal greeting ceremony with their senior leaders.
Down on the planet, in the capital Mampoa City, Commander Partav is working most directly with Associate Tokolo Namdi, the Na-Zek liaison to the Federation embassy as the work continues on the embassy building. Lt. Cmdr. Tir is focusing on the building security while also coordinating with local security, dealing with a Na-Zek security officer, Lt. Cmdr. Ceytal Nzame. The work on the embassy is progressing on schedule, and the teams expect it will be ready for Ambassador Sh'Rassa and his staff to move in within a few days.
The Melbourne finally receives word from the planetary government that they are ready for the welcoming ceremony, so Ambassador Sh'Rassa and Captain Mitchell beam down to the government center accompanied by two security officers. Though among the tallest buildings in the capital, the government center is still only around six stories high. The Ambassador and Captain materialize in a courtyard circled by pillars, near the foot of the broad steps leading up into the main government building. Awaiting them are the leader of the Na-Zek, Premier Endom Karak, also referred to as the Chief of Chiefs, and the leaders of the twelve clans of the Na-Zek. An exchange of formal greetings ensues, welcoming the Federation to Na-Zek territory and marking the official start of the new era of diplomacy between the two powers.
Back on the Melbourne, Lt. Stuart has been called to Sick Bay. The medical staff have had no luck reviving any of the six Ferengi rescued the previous week, so knowing of Stuart's experience with neurology they hope he might be able to provide an alternate perspective on the problem. Lt. Stuart opts to work with the Melbourne's Mark IV Emergency Medical Hologram and together they review the detailed brain scans of the Ferengi. Ultimately, Lt. Stuart determines that five of the six are brain dead, with many of their neural pathways blocked or destroyed by tissue somehow turned to a silicon-based material similar to the makeup of the spider creatures that had overrun the Ferengis' ship. The damage to the sixth Ferengi's brain was not as bad as the others, however, and Lt. Stuart believes he can develop a cybernetic prosthetic that can help the Ferengi's brain bypass the damaged areas.
After the welcoming ceremony, Captain Mitchell and Ambassador Sh'Rassa visit the embassy, where Commander Partav briefs them on the status. The Ambassador opts to remain at the embassy site while Captain Mitchell and Commander Partav beam back to the Melbourne, and Partav sets about preparing the ship for a visit from the Na-Zek defense minister. Captain Mitchell stops by Sick Bay to get an update on the Ferengi, and is encouraged by Lt. Stuart's proposal to revive one of them.
The next day Capt. Mitchell and Cmdr. Partav welcome two guests: Vice General Votor Fane, the Senior Officer in the Defense Estate (ministry) and Capt. Bige Grimma, a starship captain in the Na-Zek fleet. The two Na-Zek are taken on a tour of the ship, including the Bridge, Shuttlebay, Holodecks, Engineering, and select Weapons control rooms. The tour is finished with a formal dinner before the guests are beamed back to the surface. This is followed by the news that the embassy building will be ready ahead of schedule, and that Ambassador Sh'Rassa plans on hosting a reception for senior members of the Na-Zek government and military.
At the embassy, the reception is being held in the central courtyard and Ambassador Sh'Rassa is making conversation with many of the Na-Zek clan chiefs. Sticking close to the Ambassador, Captain Mitchell overhears one of the younger chiefs, Sezair, questioning the benefits of relations with the Federation and starts to speak to the Vulcan IDIC philosophy. In response an older chief, Kelay, jokes that the only diversity that Sezair is interested in is in his drinking and Mitchell, identifying that the the Na-Zek beverages are a form of fermented fruit, starts into a discussion on various Earth alcoholic beverages, demonstrating by pouring Sezair a glass of Scotch brought from Earth, before deftly bringing the conversation back around to the benefits of variety and diversity.
The rest of the senior officers mingle with the reception guests. Partav moves from group to group, mostly listening, while Ahn'Kress tries to learn more about the Na-Zek culture and Mera takes an interest in the Na-Zek hunting excursions into their jungles before entering into conversation with Captain Grimma, learning his grandfather had been one of the Na-Zek first encountered by Starfleet a century earlier.
At one point in the evening Partav notices Natala Korex, the ambassador's chief of staff, looking anxious. She asks Partav if he has seen Ambassador Sh'Rassa, and a quick check with the other officers reveals that no one can see him in the courtyard. Partav and Mera leave the courtyard and go into the embassy building to look, with Partav heading for the offices and Mera for the Ambassador's quarters. Inside the quarters, Mera finds Ambassador Sh'Rassa lying on the floor and she is unable to detect any life signs. She calls the Melbourne for a medical team, then summons Cmdr. Partav. After a quick examination, the medical team beams back to the Melbourne with the Ambassador to get him to Sick Bay immediately.
While awaiting word on the Ambassador's condition, Mera starts to investigate the scene. She finds a bowl of spilled food that she identifies as black licorice, and a scan shows that it came from a replicator but that there is an unidentified substance contaminating it. She calls in Ahn'Kress to look at the replicator in the Ambassador's quarters while Partav returns to the reception to brief the Captain, along the way informing Natala and keeping her from panicking as well as learning that black licorice was favorite vice of the Ambassador's. The two find Capt. Mitchell, who has been holding court with the dignitaries in the Ambassador's absence, and Natala takes over the hosting duties while Partav takes Mitchell aside to fill him in on the situation.
A call to the Melbourne reveals that the Ambassador was clinically dead, but that the doctors have placed him in medical stasis in the hopes that the source of the poison can be identified. Mera has already beamed back samples of the licorice, so they are waiting on the lab results from the tests. Mitchell sends Partav back to the Melbourne to continue the investigation there. Visiting the lab, Partav speaks to the Vulcan scientist Lt. JG. Steck who informs him that the contaminant from the licorice is not in the Federation database, but based on his tests he believes that would be potentially lethal to Caitians, indicating a targeted attack on the Ambassador. Partav goes to the Ambassador's quarters on board the Melbourne to access his personal logs in case there is any clue there to who might want to kill Sh'Rassa.
Back at the embassy, Mitchell and Mera are making subtle inquiries among the reception guests, not revealing what has befallen the Ambassador. Meanwhile, Ahn'Kress has determined that there is a gap in the replicator logs and that someone has removed one of the isolinear chips from the device. She checks the access logs on the door to the Ambassador's room and finds that someone has made a clumsy attempt to erase some of them. She is able to reconstruct the missing log entry and identify the code used as belonging to one of the engineers from the Melbourne who was helping set up the embassy, an Ensign Jomar Avila.
Mera checks with the embassy security and learns that Avila had left the compound shortly before she had discovered the Ambassador and she and Ahn'Kress head out into Mampoa City, with Ahn'Kress using her Caitian hunting instincts to try and track the Ensign. With Mera's help she finds a trail leading to a nearby park where she can smell blood. A quick search finds Ensign Avila's body, with fresh trails of blood trickling from his nose and ears.
Mera and Ahn'Kress examine the scene but do not find the missing isolinear chip or any other clues before having Avila's body beamed up to the Melbourne for examination. They brief Capt. Mitchell and Cmdr. Partav of what they have found before making their way back to the embassy. At the reception, several of the guests are asking after the Ambassador, but Mitchell is able to deflect the inquiries and praises Natala for her stepping up.
Partav believes that if Avila was targeted, someone had to know he would be working at the embassy and so begins looking for potential infiltration when the two Na-Zek officers had visited the ship earlier that week. Reviewing the security footage, Partav identifies some potential points where consoles could have been accessed, but forensic examination of the computers shows no sign of interference.
In Sick Bay, Loto's efforts to devise a treatment for the Ferengi must wait as the advanced neuroscanner he was using is needed to examine Avila's body. With his own work on pause, Loto offers to help with the autopsy. The detailed examination finds electropathic residue in the brain, indication of a telepathic attack. When Partav is informed he looks for potential suspects in the crew, with the only candidate being a Vulcan lieutenant who has not left the ship. Expanding the search, he identifies a half-Betazoid member of Ambassador Sh'Rassa's staff named Jan Corvin.
Capt. Mitchell heads to speak to Corvin while Ahn'Kress takes over assisting Natala with the guests at the reception. After a quick conversation, Mitchell is convinced that Corvin is not involved, leaving the investigation with no suspects. At the reception, Mera finds the Na-Zek security liaison Nzame and asks for his help with the investigation. After noting that the toxin from the licorice is not known to the Na-Zek, Nzame assigns a team to search the park where Avila's body was found.
The Na-Zek search team is able to locate the missing isolinear chip, which has been snapped into three pieces. Ahn'Kress scans the broken chip and believes she might be able to retrieve the information on it, so beams back to the Melbourne. Continuing the investigation at the embassy, Mera goes upstairs to check the upper floor rooms that have a clear view of the park on the assumption that the telepathic attacker needed a line of sight. She notes footprints in the carpet of a meeting room indicate a Na-Zek was there recently, and checking the security logs she spies a familiar face...
Mera has recognized the person in the security logs as Associate Namdi, the Na-Zek liaison to the Federation embassy. Quickly checking around the embassy, Mera finds that Namdi is no longer in the compound. Mera returns to the reception and fills in Capt. Mitchell who in turn seeks out Namdi's superior, Deputy Sorel, the head of the Na-Zek Foreign Affairs Estate. Mitchell tells Sorel about the attack on Ambassador Sh'Rassa and about their newfound suspicions of Namdi. Sorel summons an aide and tells him to find Associate Namdi and bring him back to the Federation embassy.
Up on the Melbourne, Lt. Stuart and the ship's Emergency Medical Hologram complete the surgery to implant a neural bypass in the surviving rescued Ferengi. They activate the implant and moments later the Ferengi snaps awake. Meanwhile, in one of the ship's engineering labs, Lt. Cmdr. Ahn'kress is attempting to repair the recovered isolinear chip. She is able to get the chip working again, and then begins reconstructing the data fragments. After some effort, she is able to recover the complete molecular formula of the toxin used to poison Ambassador Sh'Rassa and immediately sends the information to Medical so they can start working on a counteragent.
At the Embassy the aide reports back that Associate Namdi is not at his home, so Deputy Sorel orders Lt. Cmdr. Nzame to find Namdi. Mitchell and Sorel then fill in Natala, still acting for the ambassador, and Premiere Karak. The Premiere then informs the rest of the Deputies of the situation.
In Sick Bay, Lt. Stuart speaks with the newly awakened, and very confused, Ferengi. Once the Ferengi clues in that he is the only survivor of his vessel, he claims to be the Daimon (a claim Lt. Stuart doubts). Stuart informs Cmdr. Partav, who decides to come down to Sick Bay to question the Ferengi himself. One of the doctors catches sight of Partav as he enters Sick Bay and informs him of their progress with the counteragent, and adds that the Chief Medical Officer thinks that the toxin could have been engineered using Dominion technology, a piece of information the Commander passes on to Capt. Mitchell and Lt. Cmdr. Tir on the surface. When Partav goes into the Ferengi's room, Lt. Stuart takes his leave and goes to a nearby medical lab where he can monitor the Ferengi's neural implant, theorizing he can use the readings to tell if the Ferengi is lying or not when responding to the Commander. Partav starts questioning the Ferengi, trying to get information of what the vessel was doing in this region of space and where the spider creatures came from. When the line of questioning does reach the subject of the spiders, the Ferengi at first seems to not remember, then starts screaming hysterically. The EMH is forced to sedate the Ferengi when other efforts to calm him down fail.
Back on the surface, Na-Zek security reports finding Associate Namdi's personal vehicle abandoned near the entrance to one of the Hunting Parks. The Na-Zek ready a pursuit team and invite Capt. Mitchell to send some Starfleet officers along with them. Mitchell calls down Ahn'Kress and Stuart from the Melbourne, and Mera requests they be joined by Ens. Haran, an Orion security officer with some experience as a tracker. Capt. Mitchell decides to join the group himself, counting on using his Deltan empathic abilities to help track Namdi in the jungles. To provide additional assistance, Lt. Stuart modifies his portable holoprojector to act as a LIDAR-like sensor to help discern Namdi's trail.
Namdi's trail is still fresh, and Ahn'Kress is able to get a lead on which direction he went. With Stuart's holographic overlay helping point out the path in the dark jungle and the Na-Zek familiarity with the park the hunters make good progress. After following Namdi's trail deep into the jungle for some time, Capt. Mitchell's empathic senses pick up a feeling that the team is in danger. He alerts everyone and Mera immediately looks for signs of trouble. She recognizes the sound and smell of a powerful energy weapon charging and orders everyone to take cover immediately. The order comes just in time as a concealed spacecraft reveals itself seconds before unleashing a beam of energy that cuts a swathe through the foliage, barely missing the pursuers as they dive for cover.
Just as soon as it emerges from its hiding place the ship vanishes as a cloaking device is activated. Capt. Mitchell alerts the Melbourne and Partav orders the ship to move to a position above where the target craft took off from, then tells engineering to vent plasma to create a cloud that would reveal the cloaked vessel if it moves through it. Their target spots the cloud and moves to evade it, but maneuvering while still in the planet's atmosphere creates enough of a disturbance for the Melbourne's sensors to detect the cloaked vessel. Partav is able to get a tractor beam locked onto the ship as it exits the atmosphere and hails it, ordering its surrender.
The cloaked ship responds to the hail and Namdi appears on the Melbourne's main viewer. He protests, but Lt. Reydon's Betazoid telepathy tells him that Namdi is also a telepath and is trying to make Partav turn off the tractor beam. Reacting quickly, Reydon cuts off the communication before Namdi can succeed. With this avenue blocked, Namdi runs his engines to maximum in order to try and break free from the tractor beam, but this only succeeds in burning out the engines, which in turn causes his cloaking device to go offline. With a firm sensor lock on what has been revealed to be a small Dominion Scout Ship, the Melbourne is able to transport Namdi directly to a holding cell.
With the immediate threat over, the Melbourne crew and the Na-Zek authorities are able to piece together the details of Namdi's activities. The big revelation comes from a medical scan of the prisoner which finds that Namdi is actually a Kzinti who has been genetically altered to pass as a Na-Zek. Examination of the captured scout ship, combined with investigation into Namdi's activities for the last few years, reveals that he was planted as a deep cover operative on the Na-Zek homeworld over five years earlier. At the time the Kzinti Patriarchy had been working with the Dominion, who were gathering allies in the Alpha Quadrant. The Dominion provided the technology to allow Namdi to pass as a Na-Zek, as well as enhancing his natural telepathic abilities. Using the Dominion-supplied cloaked scout ship, Namdi was sent to Ravaya, where he infiltrated the Na-Zek government and spent the next several years slowly laying to groundwork for an eventual effort by the Kzinti Patriarchy to create an alliance, and eventual reunification, with the Na-Zek. The announcement that the Federation was going to establish an embassy and open diplomatic relations with the Na-Zek threatened those plans, leading to Namdi's desperate effort to disrupt those relations by killing Federation Ambassador Sh'Rassa.
As for Ambassador Sh'Rassa, the Melbourne's Medical department are able to develop a counteragent to Namdi's poison, halting the progressive damage to the ambassador's organs and allowing them to safely revive him from stasis. Within a few weeks Ambassador Sh'Rassa is well enough to resume his duties, and the entire incident has actually helped reinforce the relations between the Federation and the Na-Zek. As part of the agreements between the two governments, the Melbourne turns Namdi over to the Na-Zek government to face espionage charges. Their first assignment a success, the crew of the Melbourne prepares for their continuing mission in the frontiers of the Alpha Quadrant.