This is the story of what happened when the human battlegroup that is tasked with joining up with Federation forces, reaches the premier training space station Federation One. It infills the story of the Sir William Wallace, and the drama there that unfolded when some of Stevens crew, joined the Captain for dinner. We also meet some of the characters that were prominent in some of the earlier novels and of course, get to know some of the aliens a little better. In this book we also get to know the Ortea and the Dent, and the twists and turns that came to pass during the negotiations, and also Steven and Komoru's part in them. This is not a book for readers who have not read the rest of the series.