Though Basilisk Station and the planet of Medusa have become a dumping ground for military officers from Honor's home star system of Manticore who are currently in disfavor, she is determined to discharge her duty regardless of the circumstances.

The People's Republic of Haven finds that its economy is increasingly strained due to its welfare state and massive military budget, thus forcing their leaders to end their standoff with Manticore by any means necessary.

Admiral Amos Parnell retorts that the fleet is required to hold on to recently acquired star systems, and blames the bleak economic situation on the increases in the Basic Living Stipend instead.

In order to cover up the embarrassing failure of her experiment, Admiral Hemphill (a cousin of Sir Edward Janáček, First Lord of the Admiralty), has Fearless reassigned to picket duty on Basilisk Station, a remote outpost of Manticore.

Taking his heavy cruiser Warlock off to Manticore for a "desperately needed" refit, Young leaves Honor and Fearless as the sole RMN unit responsible for the Basilisk system's security, a duty almost impossible to perform with a single ship.

With hard work and clever use of resources, Honor soon has revitalised the RMN’s presence in Basilisk, capturing several prizes on charges of smuggling, and turning around the abysmal opinion of the fleet held by system personnel.

In order to capitalize on Honor's accomplishments and discredit the conservatives in the government who are pushing for the Kingdom's withdrawal from Basilisk, a group of officers and politicians conspire to delay the completion of Warlock's refit and keep Young away from his post for as long as possible.

In addition to Honor Harrington, the story includes the first appearances of Alistair McKeon, Hamish Alexander, Lord Pavel Young, Andreas Venizelos, Rafael Cardones, Estelle Matsuko, Paul Tankersley, Mercedes Brigham, Prescott Tremaine, Klaus Hauptman, and Allen Summervale.