18 year old Paul, his mother and his sister land on Altair-4, a recently established human colony. They expect to be reunited with Paul''s father there and start a new life, but he doesn''t show up to welcome them at the spaceport… Later, they are rescued from a gang of thugs by a Stepanerk, a member of a sentient alien species. An encounter that will prove invaluable to Paul when he decides to go and look for his fath.