Just a routine cartographic survey! Should be pretty boring, actually. Except, the Enterprise comes out of warp and receives a distress signal from a vessel under attack and when they save them and beam the survivors aboard, one of them is old shoulda'/coulda'/woulda' love interest of a young Lieutenant Pike.
Also, one of them is a child monarch/deity of the people on the planet Majalis that is destined lead their people through some unspecified sacrifce. And his dad.
Needless to say, things get hairy. There are crosses and double-crosses, there is romance, and intrigue. And there is a critical moral quandary at the center of things.
Finally, Cadet Uhura is doing her crew rotations in security with La'an Noonien-Singh. She's learning a lot, as usual. And also, breaks the whole things wide open when it counts!
