2364  

Events of the first year of Star Trek - The Next Generation (1987-1988 season). Stardates 41000-41999.

January 2364            

Encounter at Farpoint, Parts I & II      

In the pilot episode for the series, while en route to investigate problems on Farpoint station, the Enterprise meets the mysterious super-powered Q. Q condemns humanity and challenges them to solve the mystery at Farpoint.   

(78 years after the Star Trek Classic movie era, according to promotional information in 1987).

Naked Now, The
 

A sequel episode to "The Naked Time" episode of the old series. The Enterprise rendezvouses with the science vessel U.S.S. Tsiolkovsky and find the entire crew dead. Unknowingly, they bring back to the Enterprise the strange infection that caused the crew of the science vessel to go crazy. The crew of the Enterprise discover that the cure found by the first Enterprise for this disease does not work due to a mutation in the virus.

Code of Honor
 

The Enterprise travels to Ligon II to obtain a rare vaccine needed to avert a plague on another planet. The Logonian leader kidnaps Tasha as part of the traditions of his planet. Eventually she is forced to fight a battle to the death with the wife of the leader in order to gain her freedom and the vaccine.

Haven

The Enterprise arrives at Haven, a paradise planet. There, Troi meets her fiancee of a pre-arranged marriage for the first time and is torn between her life in Starfleet and her devotion to her family and customs.

Where No One Has Gone Before

An engineer and his alien assistant board the Enterprise to perform an experiment that would increase warp engine output. During the experiment, something goes wrong and the Enterprise ends up in a place where thoughts become real. The assistant from a race of "travelers" with the scientific capabilities far beyond ours who tour the universe seeking those with potential. The traveler confides to Picard that Wesley is one of those beings with potential and should be guided and helped to grow. It is as a result of these comments, plus the knowledge and help that Wesley provides in Engineering that prompts Picard to make Crusher an acting ensign.

Last Outpost, The

A Ferengi vessel steals an energy unit from a Federation base and the Enterprise pursues. Both ships are rendered immobile as they pass an unknown solar system. Believing each other responsible for the immobility, they discuss surrender. Meanwhile, an Enterprise probe discovers that a force-field on the nearby planet is actually responsible and a joint expedition of Ferengi and Federation personnel, beam down to explore. They encounter a mysterious being known as Portal who presents them a test.

Lonely Among Us

While on a mission to transport emissaries of two warring races to Parliament for negotiations, the Enterprise encounters a strange cloud consisting entirely of energy. As they pass, a bolt of energy strikes Worf and passes from crewman to crewman, killing one crewman and eventually taking over Picard's mind.

Justice

The Enterprise travels to the idyllic world of Rubicam 3, home to a race of people known as the Edo, for shore leave. Wesley falls afoul of their justice system which demands that anyone who commits a crime be executed immediately. Picard must then choose between Wesley and obeying the Prime Directive. To complicate matters, a strange alien presence surrounds the world and is worshipped by the Edo as a God. It has unlimited power and does not want Picard interfering with the Edo's laws.

The Battle

The Enterprise meets a Ferengi Vessel whose captain, Bok, blames Picard for the death of his son while Picard commanded the Stargazer. Bok returns the derelict Stargazer to the Federation as a gift but has secretly placed a mind altering device on board. Using this device, Bok attempts to get revenge on Picard by causing him to believe that he still commands the Stargazer and the Enterprise is the alien ship.

Hide and Q

Again, the control of the Enterprise is seized by the mysterious alien known as Q. This time, Q transports the entire bridge crew except Picard to a desolate planet and forces them to play a deadly game. The game's true purpose is to test Riker to see if he is worthy of receiving the power of the "Q".

Too Short a Season

Admiral Jameson is transported by the Enterprise to Mordan IV to negotiate with terrorists who have captured the Federation ambassadors. For some reason, they will talk only with the admiral. Meanwhile, the Admiral has taken a strange drug which is causing him to age backwards.

The Big Goodbye

In a pastiche of Philip Marlowe's "The Long Goodbye" and other detective films of the 40's, Picard enters the holodeck and the fictional world of the detective, Dixon Hill. Picard becomes the investigator involved in his latest case. Meanwhile, an alien probe shakes the ship and damages the holodeck controls accidentally turning the fantasy world into a deadly trap. This episode won a Peabody award.

Datalore

The Enterprise travels to the Omicron Theta star system, where Data was discovered years, ago in order to investigate the disappearance of a colony. In a hidden cave, they find another robot, Data's twin brother Lore, and revive him. They discover, almost too late, that Lore is a megalomaniac and out to destroy the Enterprise.

Angel One
 

The Enterprise travels to a planet controlled entirely by women in order to search for survivors from a Federation ship which disappeared in that sector seven years earlier. The away team is thwarted in their efforts by the female-run government. Meanwhile, a highly contagious virus plagues the Enterprise.

11001001

The Enterprise docks at Starbase 74 for a refit. The maintenance crew, four Binars, program the 

antimatter containment to fail causing the crew to evacuate the ship in a panic. Meanwhile, Picard and Riker, in a Binar-enhanced program on the holodeck, are totally unaware of the situation. After the crew, except for Riker and Picard, leave the ship, the Binars hijack it to return to their home planet to save their computers from the effects of a supernova.

Home Soil

The Enterprise visits a terraforming station on Velara III where they encounter a new life form which, after being beamed up to the Enterprise for examination, attempts to take over the Enterprise.

When the Bough Breaks

The Enterprise discovers the legendary planet of Aldea and the advanced civilization that lives there. The inhabitants have extraordinary technology including the ability to cloak their entire planet, but lack the capacity to have children. When the crew of the Enterprise refuse to trade some of the children from the ship for technology, the Aldeans kidnap Wesley and six other children from the ship.

Coming of Age

The Enterprise travels to Relva 7 where Wesley takes his entrance exams to enter Starfleet Academy. Meanwhile, an old friend of Picard's, now an admiral, arrives with an aide from the Inspector General's office to investigate the ship and its crew on the pretext that something is wrong on the Enterprise.

 Heart of Glory

In the Neutral Zone, the Enterprise finds a Talarian ship with three Klingons aboard. The Klingons claim to be have been passengers on the ship but turn out to be dissidents, opposed to the Federation-Klingon peace. They attempt to get Worf to help them when a Klingon cruiser enters the area and demands the return of the criminals.

Arsenal of Freedom, The

The Enterprise arrives at Minos, a planet once inhabited by weapons manufacturers who have been destroyed by their own creations. Automated salesmen and weapons display systems still function and the away team is forced to fight for their lives against weapons that keep getting more sophisticated and intelligent as time passes. Meanwhile, in orbit around the planet, Geordi in command of the Enterprise is forced to fight another weapons system with the capability to cloak itself.

Skin of Evil
 

A shuttle containing Troi and a pilot is returning from a conference when it crash-lands on Vagra II. When the Enterprise locates the shuttle interference prevents them from using their sensors or transporters to beam up the two occupants. The away team find an alien named Armus which appears like an oil slick but is able to assume humanoid shape at will. Armus blocks their path and prevents them from rescuing their comrades. During the encounter, Armus taunts the crew as they attempt to reach the shuttle.

Symbiosis
 

While investigating a sun with very strong magnetic-field fluctuations, the Enterpise intercepts a distress call and rescues a nearby freighter. Safely on board the Enterprise with their cargo, four of the inhabitants fight over ownership of the cargo - a very addictive narcotic.

We’ll Always Have Paris
 

The Enterprise encounters a time loop which leads them to a scientist performing lethal time warp experiments. To close a rift to another dimension accidentally opened by the experiments, the away team must shutdown the experiment by dropping a specific amount of antimatter into the rift at a specific time. The scientist's wife turns out to be one of Picard's old lovers whom Picard failed to meet at a rendezvous in Paris 22 years ago.

c. November 2364    Conspiracy

The Enterprise is diverted from a mission by a special transmission for Picard's eyes only. The message is from Keel, an old friend of Picard's who asks to meet him on a nearby mining planet. Picard beams down to find the captains of several ships waiting there. Keel and the other captains, after ascertaining Picard is who they think he is, tells him about a suspected conspiracy within Starfleet citing a strange pattern of orders from Command as evidence. They urge him to be careful. After leaving the planet, the Enterprise comes upon the debris of Keel's ship. Picard asks Data to review the last few months of orders issued by Starfleet. Data reports that there has been an unusual amount of changing of people within the command areas of Starfleet. Picard orders the ship back to Earth where they discover several admirals, including Picard's friend Quinn have been infected by parasitic creatures.

December 2364            

The Neutral Zone

While Picard attends an emergency conference, the Enterprise discovers a 20th Century Earth-craft with three humans aboard frozen in suspended animation. The humans are revived and have trouble acclimating to the changes in the 370 years they have been asleep. Meanwhile, Picard returns from his meeting to inform the crew that several outposts at the edge of the Neutral Zone have been destroyed and Romulans are suspected. The Enterprise has been sent to investigate.   

(Note:  The year when The Neutral Zone takes place is given in the episode - the first definitive statement of when Star Trek is set, and the date around which this timeline revolves).