The planet Beth is a wanderer, drifting without orbit, warmed by the fires of a volcanic moon.

Neta, a recently arrived colonist, finds herself stranded at the bottom of an inhabitable canyon after the owner of the rogue planet declares bankruptcy. Terraforming operations and supply deliveries have indefinitely stalled while lawyers divvy up the remaining assets, leaving the structures and equipment of the temporary colonies in a state of decay.

As conditions around her deteriorate, Neta becomes infected with a disease that mutates her flesh into a tree-like bark.

She must brave the journey across Beth's desert canyon, avoiding deadly creatures and hostile native inhabitants, to bargain for a cure from a band of potential investors who have proven they will turn to violence at the slightest provocation.