 " Too Short a Season " is the 16th episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek : The Next Generation . It first aired on February 8 , 1988 , in broadcast syndication . The teleplay was written by Michael Michaelian and D. C. Fontana , based on a story by Michaelian , and the episode was directed by Cliff Bole .
The Enterprise is dispatched to investigate a Federation colony on the planet Kaelon II that has been ravaged by a mysterious plague.
The episode begins with the Enterprise approaching Kaelon II, a Federation colony, where the away team has discovered