In the future, man will take to the stars and in doing so place himself in jeopardy.

The zor is just one of the races that man encounters, and from the first meeting, it's been war. For many years the conflicts have been sporadic, usually ending with an Earth concession and a treaty . . . but zor culture does not respect peaceful concessions and never had any intention of honoring them. When the zor decide to mount a surprise attack on Earth colonies outside of their sphere of influence, the normally self-occupied governing body of Earth realizes that something must be done.

A controversial scholar by the name of Marais is brought in. A non-military man, he has spent his life studying the zor and claims to know how to deal with the problem. With very few options to keep history from repeating itself, Marais is given charge of the fleet.

Earth just wants the threat neutralized, but Marais has other ideas. He believes himself to be the mythic Dark Wing that will exterminate the zor, and he will not accept a return to the status quo.