The Tashas of Track A and C encounter each other, with Tasha-A reacting with amazement at her C counterpart's harsh appearance; Jack Crusher confronts his ex-wife about the affair she is having with Track-A Picard; during the argument, which Track-B Picard witnesses, she is accidentally killed; additionally, members of Track C attempt to kill Worf, and believe all the members of the crew from the other two universes are really Klingon impostors.

Eventually, Q manages to overpower Trelane and the universes are once again separated, though not always perfectly (at the end of the novel, Track-A Data appears to be stuck in Track C).

Q also spends part of the novel lost in time and space, trapped by the barrier around the galaxy; this relates to the original series episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

The plot of this novel continually shifts among three different parallel universes, or 'Tracks', each identified by a letter: In addition, the final chapter of the book is called 'Derailment', in which the various realities coalesce into a single timeline.

In real life, Caryn Johnson is the birth name of Whoopi Goldberg, who played Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation.