A lifetime ago and a thousand light-years from home, beyond the edge of mapped space, Nhoresh Goban crashed a survey ship into the side of a mountain in the remote San Juan Mountains of western Colorado. He survived to find his way into a pristine cliff-rimmed valley, where he built a beloved homestead on the edge of wilderness and a new life among aliens, trying to forget, and hoping to be forgotten. Kate Hutchins is lost, only mostly by accident. Desperate for a change of scenery, any excuse to walk away from secret biotech research she has come to loathe but can't quite bring herself to leave, she indulges a fascination with bad roads. When Goban's granddaughter offers her a job studying the unknown disease that is slowly killing him, it's one elegant solution to several problems. Enthralled by the grandeur of the place, forging treasured friendships among the people there, and intrigued by the mystery at the center of it, Kate finds some fragile peace on the farm as she desperately works toward a cure. A long-buried and forgotten emergency beacon is triggered, summoning an unwelcome rescue mission. A disturbing connection emerges between Kate's new research and her former project. Over one long, blizzard-bound Thanksgiving weekend, Kate, Goban, and his deeply private and close-knit family navigate the series of choices that will expose all of their secrets and transform two worlds.