"Contagion" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 37th episode overall. It was originally released on March 20, 1989, in broadcast syndication. It was written by Steve Gerber and Beth Woods, and was directed by Joseph L. Scanlan. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the USS Enterprise. In this episode, Picard and company try to protect the Enterprise against a catastrophic malfunction and simultaneously unlock the secrets of the once-powerful Iconian empire while keeping those secrets from the watchful Romulans. Plot The Federation starship Enterprise receives a distress signal from its sister ship, the USS Yamato, from within the Romulan Neutral Zone and travels to rendezvous with them in order to assist with repairs. After the two ships meet, the Yamato suddenly suffers a warp-core breach and explodes in front of the horrified bridge crew, leaving no survivors. Shortly afterwards, a Romulan Warbird, the Haakona, decloaks before the Enterprise and demands their retreat from the Neutral Zone. Captain Jean-Luc Picard informs the Romulans that they will not leave until they have determined why the Yamato was destroyed. Picard reviews the ship logs made by his friend, Captain Donald Varley, to see if there was any relation to the destruction of the Yamato to the Romulans. Varley, an archeology buff like Picard, believed he had found the fabled planet of Iconia at a location within the Neutral Zone. Varley believed that the extinct Iconians had developed extremely advanced technology, and that the Romulans might be attempting to acquire this technology for use against the Federation. However, when the Yamato neared the purported planet, the ship was scanned by a probe from the planet, and then began to experience system failures and became stranded in the Neutral Zone. Picard orders the Enterprise toward the coordinates Varley had identified as that of Iconia. Wesley asks Picard how he and the other officers are able to cope with perennially witnessing death and destruction. After reviewing the log, the Enterprise begins experiencing similar system issues that the Yamato had experienced, beginning with Picard's replicator producing a potted plant instead of his usual Earl Grey tea. Picard then orders the Enterprise to the same planet that the Yamato had surveyed to see if a solution to the system issues can be found there