I.D.I.C., Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination, is more than just a simple credo, it is the cornerstone of Vulcan philosophy. Now, on the Vulcan Science Colony Nisus, that credo of tolerance is being put to its sternest test. For here, on a planet where Vulcan, Human, Klingon, and countless other races live and work side by side, a deadly plague has sprung up. A plague whose origins are somehow rooted in the concept of I.D.I.C. itself. A plague that threatens to tear down that centuries-old maxim and replace it with an even older concept, interstellar war.