The novel is set on the fictional Artemia, a city on the moon. The main protagonist is Jasmine "Jazz" Bashara, a smuggler and porter. She becomes entangled in a scheme by the wealthy businessman Trond Landvik, who plots to take over the Sanchez Aluminum, who supply the city with oxygen supply as a by-product from producing aluminum. Landvik wants Jazz to damage their anothrite harvesters and offers her money in exchange for helping him.
Jazz is successful in destroying most of the harvesters, but she is caught on camera, which results in her having to run without finishing the job. In the meantime, she reconciles with her old friend, Dale, after she catches her in action. When Jazz goes to look for Landvik, she is attacked by his henchman but manages to get away with a briefcase with the name ZAFO on it.
She hands the case to her friend, Martin Svoboda, a young scientist, who reveals that ZAFO is a “Zero Attenuation Fiber Optic”, and has the ability to change the communication world. At the same time, she discovers that Sanchez Aluminum is actually an organized crime ring, known as O Palácio. Wanting to stop them from taking over the city, Jazz heads back to their power plant and destroys the smelter, however, in doing so she releases a deadly chloroform that almost kills her. But at the last moment, Dale comes back to save Jazz, thereby declaring them heroes of the city. In the end, Jazz decides to earn her money by investing in ZAFO before it becomes a success.
