"A Matter of Time" is the 109th episode of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The ninth episode of the fifth season. The crew's attempts to save the inhabitants of Penthara IV from the devastating aftereffects of a massive asteroid strike are interrupted by the arrival of Berlinghoff Rasmussen, a purported historian from the 26th century, who claims to be studying their era. But the rather curious nature of Rasmussen's questions about the 24th century, and his interest in gathering- and stealing- technological "artifacts" from the Enterprise, make Troi and the others increasingly suspicious of his origins.