A monstrous vehicle called the Oasis moves inexorably across the wasteland. A human hive that symbolizes sanctuary, it dispenses a treatment for "the crying," an apocalyptic plague of madness that has destroyed the land.
When his wagon breaks down in the desert, Kem's father trades his son to the Oasis for a new engine. Now Kem begins a new life as a galley slave aboard the Oasis, where he is befriended, in turns, by the strangely androgynous Sander, the enigmatic Captain Hand, and the beautiful Davina. These friendships …