Bove Sandle, captain of the starship Ibex, has been receiving visions since his mission to the planet Kryth as a member of the First Encounter team. The first visions were to make him stop the colony, Sharia, from being developed, but he failed. The Krytheans continued to try to force Bove to remove Sharia which Bove could not do. Now the colonists want to split Sharia and develop a new site.

The Kazons, an empire ruling a section of the galaxy close to Kryth, have discovered Sharia and claim Kryth is within their territory. Bove was sent to Ardonia, the Kazan home world, to learn about their military strength but was captured. He escaped and took three Kazons to Earth where they are held as prisoners in secret.

The Kazons are angry that Bove escaped with a cargo of cesium which they need, and they blame Zabidiah (Zabi) Rice, an arms dealer. Zabi is told to find Bove and bring the cesium to them or never return to Ardonia.

The United Earth Federation (UEF) intends to keep Sharia, but they do not want it divided, so they recruit Bove to intercede and stop the effort to build a second site. Meanwhile, a reporter, Tony Russell, is looking into the rumor about the Kazon prisoners and plans to publish a story claiming that Kryth belongs to the Kazons and that the UEF has illegally built Sharia there.

Bove and the crew of the Ibex are anxious to sell the cesium but accept the task of stopping Sharia from splitting into two sites. A friendly colony with no aliens-should be an easy job, so what could go wrong?