Most of the galaxy has outgrown the need for the antiquated trading ship Nordvik, lumbering through space with its stock of equally outdated appliances, data, genetic material, and crafts made by the crew to keep from going crazy between stops.

But Slowyear - a rarely visited planet at the edge of colonized space, with a population that must live underground during bitter winters lasting five Earth-time years - holds promise.

Particularly for crew member Mercy MacDonald, who is restless. Having lived and worked on the Nordvik for most of her life, she now wants a real home.

When she lands on Slowyear at the height of its passionate springtime, then meets and falls in love with celebrated enterainer and rising politician Irakaho Blundy Spenotex, Mercy is convinced she's found that home.

But then she learns Slowyear's secret... and her life and the lives of all the Nordvik's crew are changed suddenly and forever.