The USS Paramount is dispatched to the Oakhaven System, a recently stabilized cluster of worlds that recently emerged from centuries of ecological isolation. The local planetary government is eager to join the Federation, but their health care infrastructure is severely fragmented. Cassian Sterling, a new officer on the Paramount, is tasked with building a unified medical distribution grid across the system’s planetary populations with wildly different needs. Cassian must balance Federation efficiency and scientific advancements with the preservation of local traditions and mistrust of outside influence.