Trama

Wesley Crusher's team has an accident at Starfleet Academy. Picard offers to help a Starfleet investigation as to what happened, and begins to suspect they are hiding something.

SPOILERS: Captain Picard is delighted to be the commencement speaker at Starfleet Academy on Earth, but even before the Enterprise arrives for graduation, he must deliver the news to Dr. Crusher that her son cadet Wesley's Nova squadron has had an accident during Saturn maneuvers, in which his teammate Josh Albert was killed. While Picard remembers with grounds keeper Boothby a potentially career-breaking incident during his own training, the official investigation he is part of soon discovers Nicholas Locarno's team is trying to cover up what really happened, for one thing deviating from the original flight plan and blaming the deceased panicking. Picard has Data and Geordi take part in the flight recorder analysis. A random Saturn satellite sensor sweep shows they lied by omission, and Picard realizes their cocky intent. They can get off with a formal reprimand for lack of proof.—KGF Vissers

The Enterprise returns to Starfleet Academy where Captain Picard will give the commencement address at the graduation ceremonies. They are of course looking forward to seeing their former shipmate Cadet Wesley Crusher. Just as they arrive however they learn that Wesley and several of his classmates have been involved in an accident. Wesley and three others escaped unhurt but one of their classmates was killed. A formal inquiry has been opened but the cadets testimony doesn't conform to the facts and it's obvious that they are lying. Captain Picard has the crew working on an explanation but when he concludes that Wesley has lied, he gives the young man only one choice.—garykmcd

Against his better judgment, Wesley Crusher is drawn into a cover-up regarding an accident at Starfleet Academy which cost a fellow cadet's life...and which might destroy Wes's Starfleet career, plus three of his classmates', if too much about the accident becomes known.—Patrick Jackson

Captain Picard is delighted to be the commencement speaker at Starfleet Academy on Earth. Even before the Enterprise arrives for graduation, he must deliver the news to Dr. Crusher that her son cadet Wesley's (Wil Wheaton) Nova squadron has had an accident during Saturn maneuvers. Close formation flying during which there was a collision. All 5 ships were destroyed and only 4 cadets managed to transport out, in which his teammate Joshua Albert was killed. Wesley has some minor injuries.

Admiral Brand (Jacqueline Brookes), head of the academy informs Picard that was very little wreckage, and data recorders have been recovered. Picard is part of the investigation & offers his help (& of the Enterprise) to Brand. Commander Albert (Ed Lauter) is Josh's father. Captain Satelk is helping Brand with the interrogations. Nicholas Locarno was Wesley's squadron leader at the time of the accident and is his fellow cadet at the academy. Nicholas tells Wesley to stick together with the rest of the squad during inquiry.

While Picard remembers with grounds keeper Boothby (Ray Walston) a potentially career-breaking incident during his own training. Picard feels he would have never graduated had Boothby ratted him out. Boothby says he knew Picard made a mistake and learned from it.

The official investigation Picard is part of soon discovers Nicholas Locarno's (Robert Duncan McNeill) team is trying to cover up what really happened. For one thing deviating from the original flight plan which was filed at the academy before the flight. Secondly, blaming the deceased panicking during a risky trajectory. Hajar (Walker Brandt) and Sito (Shannon Fill) were other members of the team that day. Hajar was the navigator and says that decision to change the flight plan was taken on route to Saturn and since they were within the safety parameters, she did not consider it relevant to mention it. Sito was in the tail of the formation and should have seen the collision but tells the court that she didn't. She says she was flying on sensor readings alone and had no visual contact with Josh's plane when he broke formation. When Brand pushes her, Nicholas steps in says that Josh panicked. Nicholas indicates that the whole accident was Josh's fault as he had been making mistakes recently.

Wesley is upset that Nicholas painted Josh as an incompetent cadet. Wesley is worried that Nicholas lied as Josh was not responsible for the accident. Albert meets Wesley later and thanks him for taking care of Josh and helping him with his studies. Picard has Data and Geordi take part in the flight recorder analysis. Wesley's flight recorder was the only one recovered and even it had data only prior to the collision, as most of it was destroyed.

Wesley testifies that the Nova squadron was in formation during the Yaeger loop performed, just prior to the collision. A random Saturn satellite sensor sweep shows they lied by omission. They were not in the standard formation during the flight path. Captain Satelk (Richard Fancy) is able to prove that Wesley lied during his testimony that the team was in formation throughout.

Later, talking to Geordi and Data, Picard figures out that during the flight Wesley had his engine coolant valve open, which is the first step before discharging the plasma. But with the live engine, it would mean that the plasma would ignite. Picard realizes that that's what the team was trying to do. They were trying to perform the Kolvoord Starburst, a very difficult maneuver in precision flying and not performed at the academy for over 100 years. It is banned since at the last instance all 5 cadets lost their lives. Nicholas wanted to graduate a living legend and Joshua Albert paid the price. Picard confronts Wesley and is angry with him for lying.

Wesley informs Nicholas that Picard knows. The cadets know that they can get off with a formal reprimand for lack of proof. Picard only has a theory. Nicholas wants Wesley to stick to their story, but Wesley cannot call Picard a liar. Nicholas says that Wesley should resign if he can't keep his mouth shut. He says the team is more important than Wesley's guilty conscious.

The next day, Wesley testifies and tells the truth. Nicholas is expelled from the academy but protects the rest of his team and takes full responsibility for the incident. As punishment, Wesley is ordered to repeat his class at the academy.