When Corinne Kaminski volunteers to take her father's place on the alien's sprawling, desolate ship, she regards it as a death sentence. But just as the alien promised, no harm befalls her in her strange new home, where the walls talk, a dense hothouse flourishes, and sim rooms transport the user to any place imaginable. The ship's only other occupant, Del, is shocking to look at. Beastly, some might say. But Corinne finds herself unable to look away. Yet a gilded cage is still a cage, and Corinne longs for freedom. Her instincts might be pushing her toward friendship with Del-and something more than friendship, perhaps-but at what cost?