Their destination is a diplomatic conference on the planet Babel and his planned retirement ceremony, when it encounters a ship flying at fantastic speeds directly into a supernova.
The Enterprise attempts to assist by grabbing the vessel with a tractor beam and locking onto it, but instead both ships are pulled through the supernova and into a negative universe where time flows backwards and "everything works in a counterclockwise fashion.
With Captain Kirk and his crew members reduced to children, "April, now a thirty-year-old man, retakes command and must bring the Enterprise to safety before it's too late.
Actress Majel Barrett, who commonly voiced Nurse Christine Chapel, Communications Officer M'Ress and the Enterprise computer, was given screen credit for this episode but was not part of it.
[4]: 3–10 At the conclusion of the material from the animated episode, Foster adds new story about the Enterprise being sent on a mission to secure a reclusive brother-sister team of scientists who are reported to have a new weapon capable of destroying planets.
[4]: 177 Mark A. Altman and Ed Gross commented that the episode's premise "works far better than it has a right to, thanks to its message that the elderly have a lot to teach us and can be productive members of society."