It was the chance of a lifetime, to visit Centralis, home of the Commonwealth Council and the Commonwealth Upper University. While Lin testified about Sunsinger's visit to the Mashrami home planet, Bain explored the grounds of the university with his new friend, Gorgi Cole. Then a researcher was attacked, his laboratory ransacked and deadly cultures stolen. With the possibility of a plague being loosed under the domes of Centralis, Bain and Gorgi knew they had to help. But it could cost them their lives.