Twelve year-old Laurence and his mother Martha earn a living by hunting in the woods outside of the crater city San Rodrigo, a center for trade in the Martian frontier. A rich woman, Volodin, desperate to break out of her privileged shell, hires the two out to give her a real hunting experience. Laurence is also desperate to break out of his shell—one imposed on him by his overprotective mother. Volodin's lack of expertise soon proves to be a considerable problem for the hunting trip, made even more dangerous when her pride gets both her and Martha injured.

Laurence is soon tasked with keeping watch over the only family he has in his life, and somehow getting both his mother and Volodin back to civilization through the trials of the wilderness. In his journey to return to the shelter that adults provide, he becomes a man himself.