The unpredictable cosmic entity known only as Q has plagued Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise since their very first voyage together. But little is known of Q's mysterious past or that of the unearthly realm from which he hails. Now Picard must learn Q's secrets -- or all of reality may perish! But Q has more in mind than his usual pranks, and while the Enterprise struggles to defeat a powerful inhuman foe, Captain Picard must embark on a fantastic odyssey into the history of the Q Continuum itself, with the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance.