When renegade starships wreak destruction across the quadrant, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise are shocked to discover the mastermind behind this sudden threat: none other than Picard's protege and friend, Admiral William T. Riker. The newly minted admiral is on special assignment aboard the U.S.S. Aventine, helmed by Captain Ezri Dax-someone who is no stranger to breaking Starfleet regulations. Her starship is by far the faster vessel...and Riker cannot yield, even to his former mentor. It's a battle of tactical geniuses and a race against time as Picard struggles to find answers before the quadrant's great powers violently plunge into total war...