Thirteen years after leaving the Earth Union, the planet Lugus has been left on its own. It’s doing pretty good, mind you. With a combination of the human spirit, communal living and abandoned Earth Union technology, most people seem to thrive.

Idealistic teenager Dorian Pepper is not one of those people. He dreams of the Union, of the stars and the heroic beauty of adventure. A dream that is constantly ridiculed by the collectivist, isolationist ideology around him.

When he is falsely accused of technological malpractice, his denial starts a chain of events that may make his dreams of freedom a reality, but is he ready to take that leap? And will his peaceful community ever be the same?