Mariner acts out hoping for a demotion, then helps recapture a creature escaped from a menagerie.
Convinced that Commander Ransom plans to demote her, Mariner decides to get it over with and behaves recklessly during a rescue mission at an alien menagerie. When a creature called Moopsy, which drains the bones of its victims, gets loose, Ransom accuses her of releasing it, but he also tells her he believes in her and will not let her sabotage her career. The two recapture Moopsy and learn that the captives freed it themselves.
Rutherford worries that Tendi's promotion will come between them and keeps getting outshone by a new engineer, Ensign Livik. After Tendi learns he has turned down promotions before, she asks Billups to promote him, and he does.