Burnham arrests a Romulan nun who stole dilithium to save refugees in stasis aboard a disguised starship.
J'Vini, a Romulan citizen of Ni'Var and a nun of the Qowat Milat, has been stealing dilithium from Starfleet ships and killed an officer in one theft. Because Ni'Var is close to rejoining the Federation, Rillak insists on involving President T'Rina, and Burnham's mother Gabrielle joins Burnham to find J'Vini.
They track her to an apparently barren moon that is really a vast ship carrying refugees in suspended animation; J'Vini took the dilithium to move them away from the anomaly. Burnham arrests her but helps wake the refugees and move the ship. Meanwhile Stamets and Book study the anomaly on Ni'Var, where T'Rina helps Book revisit memories of Leto. Terri Hughes Burton wrote the episode.