After a long but uneventful first assignment of guarding rescue vessels, the USS Shepard has received a new mission: escort a convoy of merchant ships carrying vital supplies to the Romulan Republic. Starfleet Command hopes that the mere presence of their vessels would make any would-be commerce raiders think twice about provoking the Federation… but the space that once made up the Romulan Star Empire is in some ways just as hostile and unpredictable as the Delta Quadrant.