2264 A.D.: The Starship Saldes is sent into deep space to explore a newly discovered planet. The journey will take twenty years. The Saldes' crew of thirteen, mixing experienced space jockeys with eager but naive scientists, are prepared for anything - except an unseen alien invader with an insatiable appetite and the ominous force that takes over the ship's controls. The voyage becomes a grim struggle for survival in a vessel which has become a coffin orbiting the paradise world which was to be its destination.