Enterprise encounters a mysterious spheroid vessel, intent on preventing their passage but not on their destruction, the only clue they have to the purpose of the aliens coming in the form of a series of fifty seven pulses. It's a signal that is beyond the capabilities of the translator program Hoshi designed, and in which Hoshi herself is struggling to find a meaning.

Because of their shared experence with these vessels, Archer and his crew become embroiled in the affairs of a loose association of worlds called The Thelasian Trading Confederacy. They arrive and the capitol world of the Confederacy as the Thelasian leader Governor Maxim Sen is rallying the worlds to war against this mysterious alien force they know as the Antianna.

The Confederacy have seen many of their ships destroyed by this enemy and have decided enough is enough. Ensign Mayweather has prior knowledge of the Confederacy and urges Archer that Governor Sen is not be trusted. But despite this Archer feels Enterprise need to give any assistance. However (as you might expect) more is going on than in the Confederacy than is apparent.

So, against this background of suspicion, the Enterpise, and in particular Ensign Hoshi Sato, need to decipher the signal, find the reason for the actions of the mysterious aliens and prevent a war.

Of all the Star Trek TV series, Enterprise was the I did not understand being made. Given that it was a prequel series it could never have true suspense. There were certain areas the show could not go as details of the future of this timeline are known already to anyone who has seen the other four series. However, this does not mean it is a series which could not produce good stories. The TV series had many good series - it's just that the great was always going to prove elusive because of this limitation.

Move into books and, strangely, this limitation is not as great. Media tie-in books are not the usual place for the big events – the series-changing revelations. So to an extent we are quite used to this.

This story is involved. There is a great deal going on here. The Thelasian Confederacy is a multi-species alliance and comes complete with all politics and intrigue that you would imagine goes along with that. Governor Sen is devious and completely self-serving, and when you add Klingons into the mix then things are getting a little complicated.

This is a good read. Hoshi Sato was one of the characters who were underused in the series. So to find a book where her role is high in the mix was certainly interesting, and she's portrayed well. There is no sense of raising her to a level unlike her in the series. So she's a linguist, she's not going to become a kung-fu fighter, she's not going to be instantly transformed into the galaxy's best spy.

And this is true of the rest of the crew. Each cast member is perfectly represented here, but possible the best is Malcolm Reed. The paranoia of Enterprise's English security is wonderful, his behaviour is every bit as untrusting as you will remember him from the episodes.

Add to that, the story is detailed, multilayered and fully consistent to the worlds of Star Trek: Enterprise and here you have a novel that should satisfy anyone who misses the fact that there is no new Star Trek available.