Kite was abandoned at an early age, sent away from her home into the wilds of the galaxy. Fifteen years later, she returns to seek her family, longing for answers to who and what she is.

The reason-Kite's brain works like no one else's. Her thoughts can peer across reaches of space, a skill she employs as a starship navigator. However, her divergent nervous system rejects the cybernetic implants she would need in order to use any computerized tech. In the vast web of galactic civilization, she can't so much as open a door without someone else's assistance. Kite can only fend for herself on low-tech planets such as her birthplace, New Bretagne-a lonely water world drifting in the shadow of a nebula known as Le Voile.

Kite's brother Merlin has grown up in that shadow as a member of a cult that worships Le Voile as a god. Or rather, they worship the alien Mind imprisoned on the dead neutron star at its heart. Emil Bellat, the leader of the cult, has groomed Merlin from childhood to free their alien master, for whereas Kite can see through the vastness of space, Merlin can reach across great leagues of time. Bellat wants to use the power of Merlin's visions to slip the Mind of Le Voile from its prison.

But Merlin has plans of his own. He's seen the future Bellat would bring about-one in which Le Voile destroys New Bretagne before raging across the stars. Merlin means to wrest control of the cult for himself, but his plans don't account for Kite's return or the fact that once Bellat knows who she is, he'll want to use her as a vessel for his god.