A Romulan defector brings warnings of an attack.
A Romulan who calls himself Sublieutenant Setal flees across the Neutral Zone in a small scout ship and asks for asylum. He warns that the Romulans are building a secret base at Nelvana III, inside the Neutral Zone, in preparation for an attack. He soon admits that he is really Admiral Alidar Jarok.
Picard takes the Enterprise into the Neutral Zone to check his story, with Klingon ships secretly nearby as backup. The base does not exist; the Romulans had fed Jarok false information to test his loyalty. Tomalak's warbirds surround the Enterprise, but the arrival of the Klingon ships forces a standoff.
Jarok, unable to go home, takes his own life. Earlier, Data rehearses Shakespeare's Henry V on the holodeck with Picard's help.