A new source of light has appeared at the outer rim of our system, and Felix Jenner, captain of the science research starship USS Mobius, has been chosen to head up an investigative expedition with a crew of nineteen of the academy's finest scientists-including Niles A. Barstow, the most accomplished science officer in the fleet. A large asteroid field threatens the mission, but the maneuvering skills of the captain gets them through only to encounter a strange magnetic flux field that has a major impact on the ship. Upon reaching their destination, they find a gigantic luminescent cloud that serves as a hiding place for an alien warship that would pose the greatest threat. Only with the combined efforts of a brilliant crew could they have any hope of survival.