Sixth months into his first term, President Stephen Blades is attempting to salvage his administration from the revelation he received on his Inauguration Day -- an alien presence is building something in the asteroid belt, and the previous president covered it up while sending a manned mission aboard a ship named the Clarke to investigate. Blades has a plan to end the Middle Eastern wars begun by his predecessor, and to start preparing America for the truth about what's coming -- but he's facing serious threats from within his own government and a new, mysterious danger from abroad. Meanwhile, the brave astronauts of the Clarke finally meet the aliens -- but what they learn seems likely to doom the Earth!