Ambassador Alexa Craig has earned herself the nickname of "The Ice Queen" for her cool negotiating skills and unflappable demeanor. While traveling to a diplomatic meeting, her ship comes under fire, and she is forced to escape in a shuttle, accompanied by another ambassador, one of the mysterious alien Zhore.

As Alexa and Lirzhan, the Zhore ambassador, struggle to locate Mandala's sole science station to access the communications equipment there, they face the harsh environment of an alien planet. When they stumble upon a secret facility on the supposedly uninhabited world, they find themselves in a fight for their lives...and the future they've just begun to imagine together.