Discover the astonishing story of an infamous and deadly confrontation with this thrilling original Star Trek novel.

The year is 2311, a year of infamy for the United Federation of Planets. It is the year of the Tomed Incident, and its tale can at last be told. In the midst of escalating political tensions among the Klingons, the Romulans, and the Federation, Starfleet goes forward with the inaugural flight of the Starship Universe, a prototype that promises to revolutionize space exploration. But the Universe experiment results in disaster, ravaging a region of space dangerously close to the Romulan Star Empire, apparently confirming suspicions that the Federation has begun testing a weapon of mass destruction.

As the military buildup accelerates on both sides of the Neutral Zone, Captain John Harriman of the Federation flagship Enterprise NCC-1701-B is fated for a final confrontation with his oldest enemy at a flashpoint in history—with the Beta Quadrant one wrong move from the outbreak of total war.