After suffering a series of cataclysmic events, the Federation, Klingon Empire, and Romulan Empire struggle to recover. But mysterious events continue to destabilize the allies. One man, Sonek Pran, a diplomat and adviser to the Federation President, perceives a pattern in the seeming randomness. As each new piece of evidence falls into place, a disturbing picture begins to take shape ... revealing a challenge to the Federation and its allies utterly unlike anything they have faced before.