The good ship Haneul lies foundered in the silver sea, her biomechanical terraformers failing year by year. When the ship finally dies, the last human cities on Yeneter will freeze beneath the world's black sun.
Tasbeel Carter is the first in his family to finish university, but his sharp temper has thrown a wrench into his prospects and he runs a courier route to make ends meet. With no other options, he accepts a suspicious job offer working at a privately funded research laboratory.
Zophie Morgan wants to save the world, but she's starting to have doubts about the motivations of her charismatic, self-absorbed boss. Meanwhile her team races against not only the slow decay of the Haneul's terraformers but against a malevolent, alien light that hides in the brightly lit streets of the upper city.
In the sky above, every one hundred and sixty-two hours, the Lightless Star beats like a heart.
