Following the destruction of the Starship Discovery, Starfleet Command needed a tactical edge over the Klingon Empire. Partnering with Bendes Kettaract, the Theoretical Propulsion Group began work on a revolutionary new engine capable of propelling a starship at incredible speeds. They failed and their prototype - the Starship Audacious - ripped open the fabric of subspace, making an entire sector of space impassable.

Two days ago, Starfleet Command detected the prototype for the first time in over a century adrift in the Maelstrom, in territory claimed by the Romulan Free State! Now it's up to the crew of the Saratoga to recover the Audacious before it's too late.