When Pete Mason's father is badly hurt in a space mining accident, eighteen-year-old Pete suspects that the injury was no accident — that it was caused by his family's rivals, Rachel Barry and her children. Even so, when Pete receives an urgent call for help from Jane, Rachel's oldest daughter, he risks his life to save her, only to find that Jane's uncle has taken advantage of the opportunity to jump Pete's new mining claim. Pete is furious; he refuses to listen to Jane's story of a mysterious derelict rocket that appeared from nowhere to threaten her life.

But the two young people meet again, quite by accident, when they are both caught in the middle of a terrifying situation from which there seems to be no escape. The surprising explanation of the derelict rocketship, and the growing relationship between Pete and Jane, provides a fast-paced, thrilling climax to this beautifully written science fiction adventure.