Lieutenant Corey Aster and Ensign Andrew Barrett are temporarily reassigned to the USS Aldrin on a routine terraforming mission on the edges of the Briar Patch. But when they discover a mass grave of hundreds of Bajoran refugees, they must look for answers when the Cardassians are implicated in their deaths. Aster grows close to one of the Cardassian scientists, and comes into conflict with Ro Nevin, especially since his grandfather was one of the victims of the massacre.