The Andromeda has come across a Kalderan ship, dead in space, with no life signs on board. They are scanning the ship, and Rommie has boarded it to investigate in person. The ship is full of dead Kalderans, and there is evidence of a running firefight. There is also one slip pod missing.

Rommie locates the recorded mission log, where they see a record of the Kalderans fighting a Vedran, who was moving around the ship very quickly.

Rommie determines that the Kalderans were returning from Ral Parthia, which was a nature preserve world. Dylan claims that some Vedrans loved it even more than Tarn Vedra.

Dylan says that it is his duty to find and protect the Vedran. He also wants to find out where she came from, and whether she knows how to get to Tarn Vedra.

They travel to Ral Parthia, and find the Kalderans strip mining and otherwise attempting to destroy the planet, probably just out of spite for the Vedrans. They quickly duck into the cover of a gas giant. Dylan takes Rommie and Trance and launches the Maru, using the codes from the Kalderan ship to pass as a supply ship. They are given clearance to land, but are told to drop their shipment and leave immediately.

After landing, they locate the slip pod, and briefly catch sight of the Vedran, but are immediately confronted by a group of people riding horses and carrying forcelances. Dylan speculates that they are "Warders" – the forest rangers of Ral Parthia. The Warders fire at them, but Dylan orders defensive fire only. He, Trance, and Rommie lay down a line of fire in front of the horses, forcing them to stop, and allowing him to talk to the Warders.

When Dylan introduces himself as a High Guard officer, the lead Warder, Maia, is surprised, saying that "she" did not mention anything about the High Guard.

Tyr is concerned about the Vedrans and their motives. Beka protests that the Vedrans are on their side, but Tyr wonders if they will just expect Dylan to be on their side – that is, they will relegate Dylan back to being just a High Guard officer again, weakening his position.

The Andromeda is attacked by the Kalderans, using depth charges. They do their best to ignore these, as they feel that the Kalderans are just trying to flush them out.

On the planet's surface, the Kalderans attack. Dylan helps to fight them off, which proves to the Warders' satisfaction that he is an ally. The Vedran joins the fight, moving from place to place extremely quickly – perhaps even teleporting. With her help, the Kalderans are driven off, but she leaves after the fight, and Dylan finds Vedran blood on the ground. Rommie says that she detects residual zero-point emissions, indicating that the Vedran may have been using tesseracts to move so fast. They wonder if the Vedrans may have used tesseracts to hide Tarn Vedra.

Dylan asks Maia to take them to the Vedran. On the way, she tells him that the Vedran's name is Uxulta, and she arrived with four male Vedrans (a traditional mating group) about nine months ago, bringing forcelances to help them fight the Kalderans, but the males were all killed in the fighting.

Maia takes Dylan and Trance into a cave complex to find Uxulta. Rommie is left to guard the entrance, because of her enhanced senses.

Maia tells Dylan that she did not want to be a Warder when she was younger, but it was a family tradition. She also tells him that the Vedrans showed up shortly after the Kalderans arrived. Dylan says that he feels the Vedrans are superior beings – he says that they gave other races hope, and helped them be their best. Trance points out that Dylan only found out that the Vedrans had returned by chance, even though he has been working at restoring their Commonwealth. Dylan assumes that they had a good reason for not contacting him directly.

Deeper in the cave, they find more Vedran blood on the ground. Maia says that Uxulta is in some sort of laboratory, and does not permit anyone else in, but the Kalderans are getting close. She goes to see if she can find Uxulta.

The Andromeda is still hiding in the gas giant, but the Kalderans launch a barrage of missiles that will initiate a fusion reaction and turn the gas giant into a small sun. Tyr immediately tells Andromeda to move out, but Beka insists on staying where they are. She waits until the missiles explode, then "surfs" the edge of the explosion, moving to attack the Kalderans while their sensors are blinded.

Dylan asks Trance, based on her intuition, if he is doing the right thing. She says that large quests, like Dylan's quest to restore the Commonwealth, are usually more about the journey than the destination. She speculates that there might not be a place for the Vedrans in the Universe any more, but Dylan insists that he will make a place for them.

The Kalderans attack just as Maia returns, telling Dylan that she has found Uxulta, alive. They fight off the Kalderans, and find Uxulta wounded, asking for their help. Dylan calls Rommie, telling her to bring the Maru and get them out. She does so, by shooting an opening in the cave.

From the Maru, Dylan hails the Andromeda. He tells them he is bringing a wounded Vedran on board, and tells Beka to get them to slipstream as fast as possible.

Andromeda examines Uxulta, and tells Dylan there is a problem – there is a biological component to the Kalderan weapons that is particularly dangerous to Vedrans. Uxulta is in serious condition. Dylan asks Uxulta to tell them how to get to Tarn Vedra, where she can be treated. She, instead, requests to be taken back to Ral Parthia, so that she can save it. She demands a nova bomb from Dylan, claiming to need the voltarium to power her equipment, but will not given him any more details. Dylan refuses to give her the bomb without more information, but she orders him to do so, on her authority as an admiral, and the commander of Argosy Special Operations. She insists that if he does not comply, she will assume command of the ship.

Dylan debates what to do, and is not sure he can trust her with a nova bomb. Rommie tells him that Uxulta's command codes are valid, and the order is legal. Dylan is upset that he was "left out of the loop", and the Vedrans are coming back and issuing orders after he did the work. Rommie reminds him that she cannot refuse Uxulta's orders.

With the Andromeda still being attacked by Kalderans, but almost to the slip portal, Dylan confronts Uxulta, saying that he will not give her the nova bomb without more information. Uxulta reminds Dylan about a High Guard hero, Admiral Munroe. He was one of the first human admirals, and he fought against the Pyrians. He trusted his Vedran superiors at the cost of his own life, but the Commonwealth won the war because of it. Uxulta says that she is not asking Dylan to risk his own life, but there is more at stake now.

Dylan tells Beka to turn around and return to Ral Parthia. He gives Uxulta the nova bomb and a Lancer drop pod. Harper is worried about Uxulta, but he trusts Dylan's judgement.

Maia thanks Dylan for helping them, and says that she is going back to the planet with Uxulta. Uxulta says that there is not enough room on the pod, but Maia did her job. She asks Dylan to promise to find a place for Maia.

Uxulta tells Dylan that Tarn Vedra is aware of his efforts, and they are proud of him. She salutes Dylan, and gets into the drop pod. Andromeda covers her landing.

Beka is disappointed that she did not get to meet Uxulta in person, after all she had heard about the Vedrans. Dylan states that the Vedrans are "just flesh and blood, like the rest of us."

Uxulta contacts the Andromeda with one last order: "Run." As the Andromeda jumps into slipstream, the Ral system disappears. The slipstream path seems to be disintegrating as they travel along it, and when they get to their destination, they find they are unable to get back to Ral Parthia by any route. The system is cut off, just like Tarn Vedra.

Maia tells Dylan that she knows that Ral Parthia is safe, saying she trusts the Vedrans. She asks Dylan whether he trusts the Vedrans, and he says he wants to – and has to.