In this third novel in a teen series dedicated to the Academy years of our favorite Star Trek characters in the reboot timeline, brings the Romulans front and center. The future Enterprise crew is finishing up their freshman year at the Academy and are readying up for the big Zeta mission, an opportunity for everyone to fill in as "real" officers on vessels during a fictional assignment. Kirk is hoping to command one of the major vessels, and everyone else is hoping to have their choice picks as well.

That is made more complicated for Jim Kirk after an odd health scare that seems to leave him with a missing block of time and some sort of condition that includes a revving up of his vitals. During the same time he experienced his blackout, he went missing, and he is accused of committing various acts that are both illegal and inappropriate for a cadet to do. This includes a dangerous attack on a fellow student (Cadet Chekov), who almost dies when his dorm room turns against him.

Woven throughout the tale, is a series of mysterious scenes set on Romulus in which a scientist that is part of the Jolan movement for peace is working with an undercover agent on Earth to learn more about what danger the humans and their Federation allies pose against the Star Empire. This sets up an interesting counterpoint to the troubles Kirk is facing because it quickly becomes evident that they are two sides of the same story.

Uhura continues to find her relationship with Spock developing, though they are very clearly still friends. With that said, it should come as no surprise that they clearly are moving beyond the roles of mentor and student and a mutual respect for each other's talents.

Kirk finds romance, as usual. This time the lady takes on the form of a young Vulcan woman who has an interesting disposition. Since her father was an ambassador to a number of different worlds, she grew up in a less-than-traditional Vulcan home. Without the guidance of her mother, who died when she was young; her father's busy career, and constant exposure to other, more emotional cultures, T'Lara often comes across as being more human than Vulcan.

Starfleet Intelligence starts to take an interest in Jim Kirk as it becomes clear that the blackouts might be tied to some Romulan transmissions from Earth. Lt. Caan, acting under the guise of Section 31, becomes involved with the investigation. She is not sure that Kirk is really guilty of the charges being placed against him. Along with her help, McCoy, Uhura, and T'Lara will help to find proof that Kirk is innocent and that someone else is working with the Romulans for some unknown reason.

It is interesting that this homage to Star Trek has taken on the form of futuristic mysteries, but overall the trend seems to be working. The characters are definitely familiar to fans, and the book does a great job of developing them a little further. The mystery is a bit simplistic. I was able to figure out the Romulan agent almost immediately, but I think that the actual mystery is less important in this case than the opportunity it provides the primary and secondary characters to develop. I am looking forward to reading future books in the series.