Few of Star Trek's recurring characters have made such an impact as the mercurial, capricious and frequently menacing Q. A seemingly all-powerful being who nevertheless came naked and vulnerable to Captain Jean-Luc Picard for help; cosmic joker, judge and arbiter of the universe; this is an entity to whom humanity apparently means nothing, yet who learns lessons in humility, tolerance and hope from his interactions with Captain Picard and his crew. Now top genre writer Keith R.A. DeCandido conjures him vividly to life as his path and that of the USS Enterprise cross once more, and, in typical Q fashion, he presents Picard and his crew with a deadly challenge to solve the secrets of an enigmatic planet. If they fail, the universe will end...