Template:FA/The Best of Both Worlds (episode)

 was the 26th and final episode of the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Commander Riker, Data, Worf, and Geordi La Forge file into a transporter room. Worf notifies Riker that there has been no contact from the surface of Jouret IV for over twelve hours, nor any signs of life. Immediately after the away team is beamed down by Transporter Chief Miles O'Brien, the team finds not only that the entire colony of New Providence has been completely destroyed but also that the colony's former town-center is now nothing more than a giant crater.

As the Enterprise flies alongside an Excelsior-class transport ship, Hanson and Shelby inform Captain Picard and Riker – in Picard's ready room – that Starfleet is unprepared for a potential Borg incursion, despite having known for over a year that they are coming. The officers discuss whether the colony was destroyed by the Borg and refer to the Enterprise's first contact with them, at System J-25 a year ago. Hanson asserts that Shelby – an expert on the Borg – will lead the investigation.