The USS Enterprise received an unexpected communication from Starfleet Command concerning Commander William Riker. Following the death of a civilian woman on Earth, records revealed that she had a sixteen-year-old daughter, Guest, and that Commander Riker was her biological father. After paternity was confirmed and no other suitable guardians were identified, legal custody was granted to Riker, leaving him stunned by the discovery that he had a daughter he never knew existed. The news quickly became known among the Enterprise's senior staff. Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Counselor Deanna Troi, Doctor Beverly Crusher, Lieutenant Commander Data, Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge, and Lieutenant Commander Worf immediately offered their support, each recognizing that both Riker and Guest were about to face a life-changing adjustment. Though each expressed it differently, every member of the senior staff stood ready to help welcome the young woman into their unusual extended family. Adding to the situation was the presence of the legendary officers of the original Enterprise. Captain James T. Kirk, Spock, Doctor Leonard McCoy, Montgomery Scott, Nyota Uhura, Pavel Chekov, and Hikaru Sulu were currently aboard for a combination of diplomatic assignments, advisory roles, and personal reasons. Over the years, the crews of both Enterprises had grown exceptionally close, evolving into something resembling one large found family that spanned generations of Starfleet history. Upon learning about Guest, each of them offered support in their own way, already considering her one of their own before ever meeting her. While the Enterprise prepared for her arrival, Guest packed up the remnants of her life in southwest Georgia. Grieving the loss of her mother and uncertain about the father she had never met, she boarded a Starfleet shuttle bound for the Enterprise. Riker spent the following days attempting to prepare for their first meeting, while the rest of the crew quietly made plans to help the teenager feel welcome aboard ship. Then everything went wrong. During the shuttle's journey to rendezvous with the Enterprise, a sudden systems failure forced the pilot to attempt an emergency landing on a nearby uninhabited Class-M planet. Moments later, all contact with the shuttle was lost. What was supposed to have been a simple reunion instantly became a rescue mission. As the Enterprise altered course, the normally professional concern of both crews became deeply personal. Riker was frantic to reach the daughter he had only just learned existed. Deanna worried for both father and daughter. Picard and Kirk coordinated efforts alongside their senior officers. Data and Geordi began analyzing every piece of telemetry available, while Worf organized search and rescue preparations. Beverly and McCoy prepared medical facilities, and Spock, Scotty, Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu each lent their considerable experience to the effort. Somewhere on the surface of an unexplored world, a frightened sixteen-year-old girl from Georgia found herself stranded and alone. Unaware of it, two generations of Enterprise officers, some of the finest Starfleet had ever produced, were racing across the stars to bring her home.