Nicole Lee is a nineteen-year-old woman in Philadelphia with a dead-end life: no family, no money, and a relationship with a criminal named Bungie. That all changes after one of Bungie’s “deals” goes bad. Bungie forces Nicole to drive him to the hospital to kidnap an ER doctor in order to help him recover from his wounds. Before the would-be kidnapper can seal the deal, all three are whisked away by mysterious, moth-like humans to a strange room. They are on board a living ship called the Fyrantha where they must now work as part of the ship's crew. Nicole has a special ability that allows her to communicate with both the ship and the mysterious mothmen called Wisps. It is not long before Nicole learns that the ship is far more vast than any on the crew had even imagined, and she is soon caught up in a war between factions seeking to seize control of the Fyrantha.