Hankura and Chelle leave Aledus to join the Galactic Explorations aboard the Searching Star where Hankura becomes Chief Medical officer. The mission of the Searching Star is to find new worlds for colonization and reconnect with lost colonies. A few months into the mission Brandt McKell sends a message from an ancient space shuttle from one of those lost colonies. When the Federation ship arrives, they discover a world where murder and revenge turned into a blood feud that lasted more than five hundred years in a society devolved into rival clans who ride horses and fight each other with swords knives and crossbows. It's up to the crew of the Searching Star to determine if these people can settle their differences and claim their rightful place in the Federation.