Things are never so bad they can't get worse. For the Brightstars they just did.

Dirck Brightstar knows his family's in serious trouble. If his father doesn't finish building the heat exchanger before Opposition's heat sets in they'll all perish. Then what little money they have is confiscated and his father is hauled off to prison in a midnight raid.

And it all started because his missing sister, Creena, couldn't follow the rules.

Unaware of the chaos left in her wake, Creena only wants to get back home. The planet where she hopes to find assistance complicates her situation instead, stranding her on a backward world where evil forces find her wherever she goes.

Can this family survive long enough to ever be together again?