Celan Mairs lives a fairly normal life for a 10-year-old girl from Rancho Pescados. Although her mother is ill, she still excels in school and has the rest of her family and friends for comfort. She doesn't find the mystic lessons of the elders strange, or the fact that all ranchos adults rely on a substance called transferon, which she will also eventually learn to use. Transferon helps to ward off contamination left over from the destruction of the old world almost two centuries ago. With it, the people of the ranchos are able to live outside in nature, while on the other side of the mountains a technology-based society flourishes inside the city of Albakirk. The two groups lived entirely separate existences for many years, but with the rise of the expro culture the social order is starting to shift - and Celan is pulled right into the middle of the changes.