Only on aberrant earth are there binary sexes, everywhere else, the universe is female. So, when a wacky billionaire establishes a forwards base on Mars, the prospect of humanity spreading across the stars, threatens the natural order of the universe, and it is decreed that earth must be destroyed. Just one family escapes the destruction. In a futuristic faster than light craft, piloted by Tristan, the only boy, the da Cunhas are pursued across the universe by alien amazons in their technologically superior ice-ships.
From the dark recesses of space exploration to the alien-infested depths of unknown planets, Tristan and his dysfunctional family are pushed to their limits. Struggling to survive in an unforgiving cosmos, they encounter not only extraterrestrial dangers but all-too-human intergeneration conflict, and threats of betrayal and power struggles within their own ranks. Will the Da Cunhas unite to face the external threats head-on, or will their internal conflicts doom them to failure and obscurity among the stars? As they hurtle through space, one thing becomes clear: in the vast, unfathomable universe, the line between human and vermin blurs.