Rowan was perfectly happy living on Earth with his aunt, spending his time hanging out with friends. But when his father sent for him on his 12th birthday, he was thrown into a hibernation pod and shipped across the galaxy to a strange world, where nothing seemed familiar. Now, he struggles to adapt to life on a gigantic space station, complete with a new language, gross food, an aloof liaison assigned to follow him everywhere he goes, and the most useless pet robot in the galaxy. Soon, he finds that the people around him aren't at all what they seem. As tragedy unfolds, he finds himself stranded on the surface of a mostly-barren alien planet, which yields a few surprises of its own. Taking lead of a small group of misfit space station residents, he fights for survival against the elements, and against all odds.