Admiral John Harriman and his wife Amina Sasine are celebrating their sixtieth wedding anniversary at Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf when Harriman is informed that the USS Enterprise-D has responded to a distress call at the Amargosa observatory. Between Harriman and Montgomery Scott, a guest at the party, they figure out that one of the Lakul survivors, Tolian Soran, is going to destroy Amargosa. They contact Fleet Admiral Alynna Nechayev, but it's too late to stop Soran. Harriman reports for duty, with Scotty tagging along, and they do what they can on Earth as events unfold in deep space. Eventually, Scotty must deliver the news of the real death of James T. Kirk to Harriman.