Sixteen-year-old Zeed of Zarneega serves as an apprentice crewman aboard the spaceship Obidijeer, alongside his father, Captain Xarriff, and three other crew members. It was supposed to be a simple, year-long mission, making stops at frequently visited planets, but something unexplained occurred on one of their layovers that caused Captain Xarriff to cancel the remaining stops.
On their return journey to headquarters, the Obidijeer begins to experience severe mechanical problems. The ship crashes on a nearby planet, and Zeed, protected in a sophisticated life-support machine known as a bubble pod, is the only crew member able to pick up the pieces and clear the wreckage. Now, with that task completed, all he can think about are his father's final, mysterious instructions for him: somewhere on this foreign world, find a Dr. Livingston. Unsure of whether he'll ever be rescued or if his first (and maybe last) mission was sabotaged, Zeed will quickly have to adapt to life on this planet he knows nothing about. A planet called Earth.
