Before Riker leaves, he invites Kolrami to play a game of strategema, a game at which Kolrami is a grandmaster. Kolrami easily defeats Riker (who did not expect to win, but merely played for the privilege of playing him), and Pulaski suggests to Data that he play Kolrami, to knock Kolrami down a few pegs. Riker and company arrive at the Hathaway and are given 48 hours to get her into shape. This may prove difficult, as Geordi finds they have virtually no dilithium, and no antimatter for the warp drive. Worf considers the possibility of fooling the Enterprise sensors, and Wesley returns to the Enterprise, to pick up a "science project" of his which just happens to have antimatter.
Data, put up to the match by Pulaski, plays Kolrami-and loses. Concerned that his loss may be a sign of a malfunction in his systems, Data goes into seclusion in his quarters, and neither Pulaski nor Troi can help him. Picard, after yelling at Kolrami for his belittling attitude towards Riker, goes to Data's quarters with a no- nonsense attitude and gets Data back to the bridge, where the two confer about Riker's probable tactics.
The simulation commences, and Worf prepares his "surprise", creating an illusory Romulan Warbird for the Enterprise to deal with. Impressed, Picard orders the security code changed. After a short time later, sensors pick up a Ferengi ship coming in, but Picard merely thinks Worf's better than he thought. Unfortunately, it's a real Ferengi ship, and it fuses the Enterprise's connections to its simulated weaponry, cutting off access to the real ones, as well as the transporter circuitry. They demand the Hathaway, convinced something valuable is on board.
Kolrami orders a retreat, but Picard dismisses that as unacceptable. He confers with Riker, who tells them that the Hathaway now has 2 seconds of warp 1 (if the system they patched up holds), and the two come up with a plan. Using one of photon torpedoes they've managed to gain access to, the Enterprise pretends to destroy the Hathaway, which warps away, then frighten off the Ferengi by making their sensors show another starship coming in. Kolrami is forced to confess Riker's good at what he does, then plays a rematch with Data, who humiliates him by playing for an eternal draw.