Following the bombing of the galactic summit on Ansa, the Artomique Corporation has become the dominant political power on Earth and throughout the rest of the galaxy! However, the immortal princess Phaedra has amassed a planet-sized hoard of gold, causing the value of the precious metal and any currencies backed by it to crash! Unusual economic problems require unusual solutions: the Phileans are a race of bird people with brilliant gemstones growing on their skin--simply exterminate the aliens, harvest their skin gems, and corner the market. Of course, all of this needs to be kept hush-hush. It would be bad if anyone found out Earth's government was in league with the notorious space pirate queen Nefarimor or, worse, the vile lizard-like Black Star Reavers to engage in trafficking and genocide. Enter Constable Conrock, who has been investigating abductions and disappearances of Philean women. In the principle of keeping one's enemies close, the Artomique leader Achilles Hister deputizes Conrock to find the remaining Phileans to "place in protective custody," look into the origins of the excess gold flooding the market, and track down a pair of wanted criminals. Conrock, however, is too clever to merely be an unwitting pawn in the Artomique's secret war against the Wild Stars... Keeping his cards close to the chest, the retired space cop will stop at nothing to uncover the truth and put an end to vile machinations of the Artomique Corporation!