When a renegade ship attacks the shuttle carrying the ambassador and Commander Riker, Captain Picard inexplicably does nothing to protect the shuttle and his first officer. The Enterprise could easily disable the attacking ship without destroying it, yet all the Enterprise does is lock a tractor beam onto the shuttle, effectively allowing the shuttle to be a sitting duck until it is within the Enterprise's shield bubble. However, Riker's shuttle was already a sitting duck as the controls were down, and the Enterprise firing on the alien ship would surely inflame an already precarious situation. Once the Enterprise locked onto the shuttle with the tractor beam, the alien ship immediately withdrew - which was the desired effect.