All Claudia wants to do was escape the mistakes of the past and start over. But when she answers an ad for a medical officer on a merchant ship in the Fringes, the captain recognizes her and blackmails her into taking the job. She soon realizes that not only can Captain Bennet not pass up a bargain but neither will he allow morals to hold him back from climbing the power ladder at the borders of the Dominion. Can Claudia stop the impending exploitation of a newly discovered sentient species all on her own?