Stellar Showboat

The story follows Special Investigator Billy Neville, dispatched to the asteroid capital Pallas to root out a sophisticated extortion network that has been erasing prominent citizens across the System. Authorities trace the ring to compiled portfolios of commercial and personal secrets originating on Callisto and other Jovian worlds; disappearances and a contagion of fear follow. Neville is planted to lure the criminals, working with his superior Colonel Frawley and piecing together leads from missing lawyers, bankers, and peddlers toward a mysterious mastermind who trades dossiers for blackmail. The narrative blends procedural detection, interplanetary movement, and the threat that a staged spectacle could precipitate wider disaster.