An Alliance court-martial looks into Nick's handling of a containment and cover-up operation in Seattle. A Tribune alien craft had crashed in the city, and the occupant tried to get a disc to a world-renowned reporter. But as the Alliance tried to convince the world that the craft was a new high-tech weapon employed by terrorists, Nick probed further into the Alliance's webs of deceit, questioning the motives of an organization that would use lethal force against non-hostile aliens.

Die Allianz versucht, die Landung eines UFOs auf der Erde zu vertuschen. Es soll samt Mannschaft vernichtet werden. Als Nick Logan herausfindet, dass die fremden Besucher friedlich sind, stellt er sich gegen die Pläne der Allianz…