Pandronian drill instructor Shari yn Yem puts the crew through holodeck training scenarios that only Boimler passes, while tension grows between the lower decks and the senior staff.
After several lower decks crew members are left behind during a spacewalk repair, relations with the senior officers sour. Shari yn Yem, a Pandronian Starfleet drill instructor, arrives to run the crew through holodeck scenarios, and nearly everyone fails except Boimler, who obsessively reruns his Borg assimilation drill in search of a perfect score.
Mariner and Freeman's bickering sinks a docking drill, but they start to appreciate each other's positions. The crew learns that Shari rigged the drills to protect her own job, since failing results would see the Cerritos decommissioned. Boimler's drill keeps running long enough for the crew to pass, and the senior officers make amends by giving the lower decks their own premium food replicator.