After the Cylon War, the Cylons retreated to parts unknown in deep space, and the twelve human colonies rebuilt that which was destroyed in the devastating war. The two sides honour their armistice agreement, and for twenty years nothing is heard from the Cylons. But sometimes no news is bad news. For the humans, the aftermath of the war has created a new, albeit illegal, profession: scavenger. Tom Zarek is one of these scavengers, scouring the outer settlements for valuable Cylon technologies and artifacts, usually returning empty-handed. But now, he and the crew of the cruiser Lightning have found the Omega Station, a scientific facility shrouded in secrecy beyond the edge of charted space. This is it, the big score-except something is wrong...the base is still occupied, and not by humans, but by Cylons! The Battlestar Galactica receives the Lightning's distress call, getting the coordinates and a cryptic one-word message: Cylons. A younger William Adama, just promoted to second in command, is worried. His crew is not prepared to deal with more than the most routine of missions. And this mission is anything but routine, as they discover the base is full of Cylons, but also something much more disturbing...and deadly.