The Inheritors by A Bertram Chandler

The provided text centers on a dangerous space mission undertaken by Commander Grimes of the Federation's Survey Service, who is tasked with finding a newly discovered Lost Colony on a planet named Morrowvia, which was initially stumbled upon by the Dog Star Line merchant fleet. Grimes is initially reprimanded by Admiral Buring for his past interference in planetary affairs but is immediately assigned to this mission to keep him away from interplanetary political trouble, specifically to investigate rumors of a Lost Colony in the Argo Sector. Grimes quickly discovers that the colony is also a target for the notorious smuggler and suspected slaver, Captain Drongo Kane, who seeks to exploit the inhabitants. Grimes and his crew arrive to find Kane already at the planet, leading to a tense standoff where the legal status of the Morrowvians is questioned, as they are ultimately revealed to be genetically engineered "underpeople" created by one of the original colonists, thus having no legal protection under Federation law against exploitation. Despite the legal ambiguity, Grimes intervenes, using force to prevent Kane from taking any of the locals as slaves, concluding that the Morrowvians, despite their unusual origins, are better off left to their isolated, technologically regressed society.