Chapter 1 of this story commences at the same time as the second-season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Measure of a Man” (2365). Chapters 2–9 proceed through the second, third, fourth, and early fifth seasons of the show, with Chapter 10 shortly after the fifth-season episode “Disaster” (2368). The Epilogue jumps ahead eight years to early 2376, taking place a few months prior to The Belly of the Beast, the first S.C.E. story, shortly after the Dominion War ended in the final episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.