A boy looks up. He sees a Cardassian's hand on his shoulder and knows that this is usually a prelude to a beating or, if he is fortunate enough, arrest. The boy knows how many disappeared during the Occupation of Bajor. So he does the one thing he can think of: he bites the Cardassian. Then the nightmare begins.

When two powerful rival families of the spacefaring merchant race called the Tizarin are to be joined through marriage, the U.S.S. Enterprise™ is chosen as the site for the wedding. Though Captain Picard is pleased by the happy duty, his pleasure is cut short by the arrival of the Federation delegate from Betazed: Lwaxana Troi -- the mother of ship's counsellor, Deanna Troi.

In all of his travels Captain Jean-Luc Picard has never faced an opponent more powerful that Q, a being from another continuum that Picard encountered on his very first mission as Captain of the Starship Enterprise™. In the years since, Q has returned again and again to harass Picard and his crew. Sometimes dangerous, sometimes merely obnoxious, Q has always been mysterious and seemingly all-powerful. But this time, when Q appears, he comes to Picard for help.

Imzadi: to the people of the planet Betazed, including Counselor Deanna Troi of the Starship Enterprise,™ it means "beloved" and denotes that which can never be truly broken. Yet to whom does Deanna's heart truly belong?

Imzadi: to the people of the planet Betazed, including Counselor Deanna Troi of the Starship Enterprise™, it means "beloved" and denotes a special closeness that can never be truly broken. Or can it?

The Dominion: The mysterious rulers of the worlds on the other side of the wormhole. The Dominion: a ruthless planet-conquering race unknown even to those they rule. The Dominion: the most dangerous foe the Federation may ever face.

Captain Jean Luc Picard accepts a courageous mission which he soon finds could be a deadly trap in this Star Trek: The Next Generation novel.