In the 36th century, a child of humankind explores the universe - Matrioshka battles her past, and the emotions of the crew aboard the Sliver of the Sun.

A fifteen year old boy has been kept for years in a castle with other children near his age, not allowed to leave, learning to read an ancient language. Routinely, a child is dragged into the castle's tower never to return. Now it's the boy's turn to go into the tower.

Three wanderers investigate a distress call, taking them beyond the safety of their clan's boundaries and into the sights of an evil from the ancient world.