Sixth months into his first term, President Stephen Blades is attempting tosalvage his administration from the revelation he received on his InaugurationDay - an alien presence is building something in the asteroid belt, andthe previous president covered it up while sending a manned mission aboard aship named the Clarke to investigate. Blades has a plan to end the MiddleEastern wars begun by his predecessor, and to start preparing America for thetruth about what's coming... but he's facing serious threats from within his owngovernment and a new, mysterious danger from abroad. Meanwhile, the braveastronauts of the Clarke finally meet the aliens... but what they learnseems likely to doom the Earth!
