Misfits in Space

The Misfits of Wellmore University are the brightest and most promising graduates of the class of the year 815 PED (Post Earth Diaspora) 30th century AD . Graduating was problematic when a hate relationship with the Dean of the University Archaeology Department and studies sparks rebellion among the close nit team of young men and women when the Deans jealousy of this teams abilities and apparent favoritism by the University president leads to censure and threats of failure by the Dean.
With graduation approaching, the dean hatches a plot to assign the team with its final field work of study, an assignment with a built-in margin for failure that will force the Dean to fail the team and get revenge against the University Board of Trustee's for their failure to promote the dean to the head provost of the University. However, the misfits, having an ace in the hole, manage to thwart the Deans attempts to fail them.
Their ace is a secret fact that they are first cousins, and the Board of Trustees are their parents, and the President of the University their Great grandfather. The Dean is unaware of this fact which would explain to him why the misfits never seemed to get into serious trouble for their many shenanigans, minor rule breaking, and poor deportment as serious students. Though when all was said and done, they passed all exams with exceptional grades, handed in important thesis's on time, and well, always managed to avoid serious demerits for their misconduct outside of class.
It is the Deans hope that the last field work assignment for graduation will be side railed by leaving the assignment for the misfits as a last-minute arrangement assuring that the only good research space ships are assigned earlier to the other graduating class teams. The last ship on the space field is a derelict that should have been sent to the junkyard years ago. The dean leaves the university for family business, believing the misfits will be unable to reach him, nor be able to fulfill their obligations for graduation.
Unknown to the Dean, the University had received new research ship early, the first of a new fleet to replace its ailing fleet. When the misfits report to the space field they are given the honor of being the first to pilot and use the new ship for their final graduation assignment to a previously explored planet the dean believes to be a dead end for any opportunity for the misfits to fulfill any Archaeology discoveries and research the other student teams will have.
Of course, the misfits prove the dean wrong by discovering the latest find of the millennium. And it is not just a ruin on the surface of the planet, but the whole planet is an ancient world ship who's surface dwellers have no idea that their planet is a space ship. The Dean's revenge is thwarted, and the misfits turn the tables on the Dean when they return with their find and a new space ship to boot.
Oh, did I mention that the new research ship is also the latest Earth Federation Military prototype the Misfits get to test drive, and how they confront space pirates in a life and death battle. Must have slipped my mind.