Terrorists are creating a climate of fear on the planet Arrosa, and although no demands have been made, nor claims of credit taken for the attacks, the Prime Minister believes that the government of their neighboring planet, Selax, is solely responsible. The Selaxian president adamantly denies any involvement and turns to the Galactic Alliance for protection from their more technologically advanced neighbor.

As commander of the only Space Command base in that part of space, Captain Jenetta Carver^® is responsible for maintaining the peace, and the task of preventing a system-wide war falls squarely upon her shoulders.

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As if the job of running Space Command's newest and most remote base  wasn't difficult enough, Captain Jenetta Carver^® is charged with keeping the situation between two neighboring planets on the brink of hostilities, from erupting into open warfare. Since the assigned diplomatic corps has not yet arrived at the base, she must resolve the disputes without guidance. The people of the two planets share a common ancestry and common genus, with an average height half that of Terrans. Captain Carver manages to convince the two planetary governments to accept binding arbitration, but one party ingeniously stalls the talks for their own purposes.

When several Milora are discovered in the company of an Alyysian arms merchant's Tsgardi henchmen, inside Galactic Alliance space,  events begin spiraling out of control. The Milori, an ugly warlike race that more closely resembles cockroaches then humanoids, come from a home planet well outside Galactic Alliance borders. But there's an old saying that, like cockroaches, if you see one Milora, there're probably a thousand more concealed nearby. And Jenetta knows that a thousand hostile warriors in GA space can only mean serious trouble is brewing. She immediately dispatches a ship to check on an Intelligence Section report that Milori ships have been sighted near a planet in the GA's Frontier Zone.

The GSC destroyer Ottawa, following up on the leads obtained by Space Command Intelligence agents, locates the task force of Milori warships exactly where the report states they would be, and demands an explanation of their presence in GA space. The Milori respond with action rather than words, leaving little doubt about their intentions.