The Protostar engine drops the ship out of intense warp 4000 lightyears from their starting point. The engine is now inoperable.

The crew approach Dal about going to find and join the Federation, but they can't find Murf, who appears to be stranded on a snowy precipice.

Pog finds Murf on the holodeck. Janeway explains it to Pog and Dal. Dal starts the Kobayashi Maru program to prove he's as good as any Starfleet captain.

Rok-Tahk finds Murf eating the equipment.

Zero examines Gwyn and finds her in perfect health. She explains that she's depressed. Zero encourages her to find a place on the crew.

The Diviner is growing weaker. He and Drednok argue over how to proceed. The Diviner insists Drednok help him to create a new progeny.

Dal orders the computer to provide him with the best crew. He is given Uhura, Crusher, Odo, and Spock. He fails the simulation but insists on trying again.

Gwyn and Zero ask Janeway about the Protostar's purpose but she is unable to answer.

Dal has failed the simulation over a hundred times and boots Pog from the holodeck. He summons Scotty as an engineer.

Rok-Tahk is worried about Murf ingesting torpedos but he just burps.

Gwyn tries to decrypt the information Janeway can't access and discovers it is written in the language of Vau N'Akat.

Dal manages to complete the simulation successfully but then blows up the Enterprise by accident. Spock leaves him with some lessons.

Dal returns to the bridge where the crew is examining the raw data Gwyn unlocked.

Rok-Tahk activates a replay of Captain Chakotay of the Protostar and his Janeway hologram. Janeway realizes this isn't her first crew.