“This is Starfleet One declaring an emergency! We’ve been attacked by an unknown force and we’re adrift with no power. The two other ships in our convoy have been destroyed. We need immediate help. Please… we have the President on board!”

The following is a personal journal entry from Gruzy of New Xindus, President of the United Federation of Planets. I find myself troubled by another event of which I have no control. I am the President of the United Federation of Planets, many would call me the most powerful person in the galaxy, yet I am at the whim of something that even supersedes me. The Cardassian Union has returned to the Bajorans an Orb, a relic of unquestionable power, that the Bajorans view as a gift from the Prophets. Every Orb encountered so far would glow with an inner, sapphire energy that bathed all that encountered it in what…