Troi is surgically disguised as a Romulan agent.
Troi wakes aboard a Romulan warbird, surgically disguised as Major Rakal of the Tal Shiar. Her kidnapper, Subcommander N'Vek, is part of a dissident network, and he forces her to play the role to help smuggle a defecting Romulan official to the Federation.
Troi must hold her own against the ship's commander, Toreth, who resents the Tal Shiar. As the plan unfolds, she grows more confident in her role and takes command when it counts, while N'Vek is killed. The defector reaches the Enterprise, and Troi is returned to her ship.