In the far future, sixteen-year-old Jehan Amato lives on Menkar VII, a colony world only recently rediscovered by the rest of the galaxy. After a run-in with a dangerous gang that wants to exploit his secret psy talent for opening locks without tools, Jehan is sent to live in a Drifter caravan with his estranged father. But though Jehan, who has lived in New Hope City all his life, is initially wary of the nomadic people and their unfamiliar customs, in the caravan he comes to learn things about his family and himself that will change his life forever.