"En route to a diplomatic mission, the U.S.S. Enterprise receives a distress call from the U.S.S. McRaven. As the Enterprise approaches the area where the McRaven appears to be, Captain James T. Kirk and his crew encounter an anomaly unlike anything they've ever experienced. Space itself seems inconsistent here... warping, changing appearance. But during the brief periods of calm, the McRaven is located along with other ships of various origins-- all dead in space and devoid of any life forms, all tightly surrounding and being held in place by an enormous unidentified vessel that appears to have been drifting for a millennium."--P. [4] of cover.