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. During a cooling off period of the negotiations, McLeod and Wolfe uncover a conspiracy designed to scuttle the negotiations. Can they uproot the conspiracy and save the negotiations before the twin worlds explode? Read Less