Outside Federation space lies the class M planet of Herath II. For decades, it was a thorn in the Federation’s side as it grew to be a hub for smugglers and criminals, all hidden under a veneer of high society and independent wealth. Technically outside the jurisdiction of Federation security, the wealthy and dangerous openly did business, careful to only poke the Federation occasionally in the name of a big score. Never enough to give the Federation cause to leave their space and come after them but just enough to make sure Federation Security knew they had the means to conduct their business and protect themselves if necessary. As the Federation turned inward after the Mars attacks, an unspoken agreement formed: Leave us alone, and we’ll leave you alone. That ‘agreement’ has held.

Until now.

Abigail De’Jamon, who is simply known as the Governess to the local crime families, is hosting a grand ball to show off her latest prize. Details to the public are scarce, but rumors abound that it’s powerful technology stolen from the Daystrom Institute during the chaos on Frontier Day that can contain, harness, and even make use of the most powerful and dangerous substances in the known galaxy. It’s a brazen move to flaunt that you have your hands on stolen Federation technology, it’s another to invite half the planet to your house to gloat about it in person.

Despite not yet having a full shakedown, the temporary crew of the USS Resnick has been dispatched to Herath II to investigate as the Federation is unwilling to turn a blind eye this time, not with so many classified devices still missing from Daystrom. To make matters stranger, the crew of the Resnick is there at the invitation of the Herath government. Intelligence suggests that De’Jamon has been working with the Orion Syndicate to get her hands on her latest prize and has opted to keep them in her employ and if there is anything that a planet full of wealthy white-collar crime lords who are more at home in a 5-star hotel than they are on the bridge of an actual smuggler’s ship can’t abide by, it’s working with someone like the Syndicate.

Out of their element, the crew of the Resnik must throw on their fanciest attire and navigate the foreign social structure of Herath to secure a technology that could end up killing millions in the wrong (or right) hands.