The Cerritos is overpowered by the Pakleds after finding a destroyed Starfleet ship, and Lieutenant Shaxs sacrifices himself before the USS Titan comes to the rescue.
Boimler lets slip to the whole crew that Mariner is Freeman's daughter. Answering a distress call from the USS Solvang, the Cerritos finds the ship destroyed by the Pakleds, a species Starfleet has long underestimated, and the Pakleds begin ripping the Cerritos apart. The exocomp Peanut Hamper, newly aboard, refuses to help deliver Rutherford's computer virus.
Shaxs and Rutherford fly a shuttle to the Pakled ship, where Badgey uploads the virus but also tries to kill Rutherford. Shaxs removes Rutherford's implant and dies so that he can escape, costing Rutherford his long-term memory. Captain William Riker and the USS Titan arrive to save the Cerritos, Freeman and Mariner reconcile, and Boimler accepts a promotion and a transfer to the Titan.