Adelaide is a penniless space architecture student. She has found a job on the cargo ship Serene to pay for her next year of studies. She is counting on a quiet month-long journey before she can meet with her family again.

But the universe seems to conspire against her: between vampire clan wars, the mosses' grudge against the captain, a traveling pod of space whales, combative doriphores crew-mates, and sheer bad luck, she is in for a challenging trip.