It's the far future, Earth itself no longer exists, having been destroyed in a supernova caused by an unknown weapon being discharged... in short, furmanity blew itself up.
Colonies now exist from a splinter group of furs that escaped before the disaster, dotted across the galaxy as the stars are dotted in the heavens. Colonies however, are few and far between, and it takes months to transverse through the stars to the other colonies, even with the gates.
This brings us to our story, Reen, a trader, has purchased a new ship, however, it is too big to command alone, and need s a crew. His contractor has offered him a cargo of gold to head to a planet known as New Quebec, one of the most pirate plagued planets in the galaxy. He liked the payout, and decided to accept the run, dispite the danger. His only problem now is finding the crew nutty enough to take the risk with him.