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During a diplomatic mission, the USS Enterprise receives a communication that Lt. Commander Data has gone berserk during an observation mission on the Ba'ku homeworld. The peaceful Ba'ku, whose planet offers regenerative radiation, and therefore incredible lifespans, live in harmony with nature and reject any kind of technology. Their planet and their culture is being secretly studied by the Federation and the associated Son'a in a joint venture under the command of Admiral Matthew Dougherty in which Data was participating.

After capturing and fixing Data, the Enterprise crew find Dougherty eager for them to be on their way -- too eager. Suspecting something, they return to the Ba'ku village on the planet's surface to find out what caused Data to malfunction. They find a Federation ship which contains a holodeck reproduction of the Ba'ku village, apparently so the Ba'ku can be unwittingly relocated without their consent, and learn that Data had stumbled upon it previously and had been shot by one of the Son'a aboard, causing his malfunction. During the course of their investigations, odd effects occur -- Picard seems to grow slightly younger; Riker and Deanna become affectionate and seem on the verge of renewing a long-abandoned relationship; and Geordi's optic nerves begin to regenerate. Picard even becomes attracted to a Ba'ku named Anij, a forty-something-looking woman who claims to be ten times that age. Localized effects such as regeneration, anti-aging, and hormonal increases that at first affected the natives are now also affecting the crew that have been exposed to the planet's environment.

Aided by these clues, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew discover that the Briar Patch (the area of space in which the planet Ba'ku is located) is filled with metaphasic radiation particles, which are especially concentrated in the planet's rings where they impart the "fountain of youth" qualities -- particles that the Son'a and corrupt elements within the Federation wish to harvest. However, harvesting the particles would cause the planet to become uninhabitable; hence the need for the "holoship" to relocate its population, whose destruction Dougherty will not countenance.

Aghast at this clear violation of the Prime Directive, Picard confronts Dougherty about this larcenous scheme only to be ordered to accede to it. Against these orders, Captain Picard and some other senior members of the Enterprise crew return to the planet's surface to prevent the relocation of the Ba'ku. They expose the "holoship," and the plans of Admiral Dougherty and Son'a leader Adhar Ru'afo to the Ba'ku. Ru'afo and Dougherty change their plans and start simply transporting Ba'ku off the planet by force. When Picard and crew lead the Ba'ku to areas resistant to transporter locks, robotic devices are sent after the Ba'ku to tag them to make them easy to lock onto.

Meanwhile the Enterprise, with Riker in command, heads out of the Briar Patch in order to communicate with the Federation and expose what is happening to the Ba'ku. Dougherty seemingly completes his transformation to villainy by acceding to a demand by Ru'afo that he be allowed to send two armed Son'a ships to prevent this. These ships are defeated by the Enterprise due to clever but risky maneuvering by Riker, that involves using the Enterprise's Bussard Ramscoop to scoop up some of the flammable gaseous particles that permeate the Briar Patch. The gas is then released near the Son'a ships and ignited by the Son'a's firing at the Enterprise.

Picard is captured by the Son'a and Dougherty, where he reveals to Admiral Dougherty that the Son'a are actually Ba'ku who were exiled from the planet a century ago and are simply out for revenge; the genetic relation is a fact Dr. Crusher's medical examinations have recently revealed.

Unable to pry all of the Ba'ku off the planet or stop the Enterprise from bringing unwanted attention to his activities, Ru'afo insists that the device that will harvest the ring particles be used immediately. This will presumably kill most of the older Ba'ku still on the planet's surface, and Dougherty voices his demand that Ru'afo cease the campaign immediately. The two struggle briefly and Dougherty is killed. Ru'afo starts the harvester on a countdown.

Picard convinces one of the Son'a, Gallatin, who seems ambivalent, to betray Ru'afo and spring Picard and some other captured Enterprise crew. They take control of the holoship. An attempt to capture the harvester by deception, using the holoship to trick Ru'afo and the other Son'a, fails, and a climactic battle ensues in which Picard and Ru'afo fight onboard the harvester itself. Picard succeeds in activating a self-destruct just as the Enterprise arrives and rescues Picard. Ru'afo is killed when the harvester is destroyed.

The Son'a, suddenly leaderless and mostly more moderate than Ru'afo was, decide to try to put aside their long-standing blood feud and try to live among the Ba'ku, who welcome them despite the scheme they have participated in. Meanwhile, the Enterprise returns to its usual duties.

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