Following the resolution of the fertility crisis that nearly caused their extinction, the Andorian people now stand ready to rejoin the United Federation of Planets. The return of one of its founding member worlds is viewed by many as the first hopeful step beyond the uncertainty and tragedy that have overshadowed recent events in the Alpha Quadrant. But as the Federation looks to the future and the special election to name President Bacco’s permanent successor, time is running out to apprehend those responsible for the respected leader’s brutal assassination. Even as elements of the Typhon Pact are implicated for the murder, Admiral William Riker holds key knowledge of the true assassins— a revelation that could threaten the fragile Federation-Cardassian alliance. Questions and concerns also continue to swell around Bacco’s interim successor, Ishan Anjar, who uses the recent bloodshed to further a belligerent, hawkish political agenda against the Typhon Pact. With the election looming, Riker dispatches his closest friend, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, in a desperate attempt to uncover the truth. But as Picard and the Enterprise crew pursue the few remaining clues, Riker must act on growing suspicions that someone within Ishan’s inner circle has been in league with the assassins from the very beginning...

驚險度過一場幾近造成種族滅絕的生育危機後，安多利人準備重新加入星際聯邦。眾人將聯邦創始者的回歸視為新希望的第一步，盼能走出先前發生在阿爾法象限諸多悲劇所帶來的種種陰霾與不確定感。但正當聯邦展望未來並計畫選出巴科總統的正式繼任者之時，卻已沒有多少時間將謀殺這位偉大領袖的兇手緝捕歸案。雖然颱風公約組織 (Typhon Pact) 的特定人士與這場謀殺相關聯，威廉瑞客上校手中卻握有真正刺客的重要訊息，這個消息將危急星際聯邦與卡達西人脆弱的結盟。外界亦持續質疑巴科總統的臨時繼任者依禪安杰爾 (Ishan Anjar)，他利用近日之血腥事件來擴展好鬥的鷹派勢力、反對颱風公約組織。隨著大選 的逼近，瑞客上校指派他最信任的好友，約翰盧克皮卡德隊長，心急萬分地挖掘事情的真相。但當皮卡德與企業號團隊追尋餘下線索時，外界猜疑臨時總統依禪的親信一直以來都與暗殺者共謀，這逼使瑞客上校不得不展開行動……。