Sr. Captain Tucker McLeod of the Star Alliance has concluded his tour of duty on the Endeavor, his first Andromeda Class command. He is in line to become Fleet Captain of the Quadrant flagship Valiant, but longs to serve the Alliance instead by joining the diplomatic corps. While McLeod's request to join the diplomatic corps is rebuffed by the review board, he is given the opportunity to serve as an observer for negotiations for Central Federation and Star Alliance membership for the Twin Worlds of Hemod and Herai, where he works again with Raina Wolfe, a Su-Captain from the Central Federation with whom he has served on several occasions. When the daughter of an important Twin Worlds diplomat is kidnapped, McLeod and Wolfe are thrust into service to uncover the kidnapper and restart the negotiations. McLeod and Wolfe begin an underground operation on both planets, lead a small group of amateurs as they race to save their lives and careers, finally exposing the conspiracy which rocks the Central Federation and the Star Alliance to their cores.