When the mysterious interference known as the big noise hit, all wireless communications in the galaxy stopped working. The crew of the Vanadis, a co-op trading vessel, is stranded on the edge of a star system far from Earth after interference from the big noise destroys their star drive. Running on emergency power, they manage to limp to the next stop on their trade route, Corporate Planet 021, home to a corporate retreat and a few surprises of its own.
During planet fall, Toivola's drop pod smashes into an alien spaceship, angering a criminal syndicate known as the sisters. Niatru, a pursuit specialist sent from the other side of the galaxy to apprehend them, rescues Toivola from their taloned grasp. Meanwhile, Toivola's crew searches for her errant drop pod, their search made more desperate by their own run-in with the sisters. They team up with workers from the corporate retreat while Toivola follows leads of her own, both groups drawn to the same location: Spaceland.
With the threat of the robots and the sisters lurking around every corner, the Vanadis crew and their new friends navigate the labyrinthian paths of Spaceland, searching for the one thing that can send them back to the stars.