Dr. Crusher is serving bridge duties on the Enterprise on the night shift when Counselor Troi returns from a class reunion. Crusher informs Troi that Data has gone to a pre-Industrial planet, Barkon IV, to retrieve the radioactive remains of a deep-space probe that crashed there. Also, because of the remote location of the crash site, there is no danger of Data encountering any of the native inhabitants. During the exchange that follows, Troi inquires as to why Crusher would want bridge duties when they aren't required for her medical duties, to which Crusher replies that she wanted "to stretch herself a little."