With wars and natural disasters behind it, the Bandon survivor colony, just beginning to thrive in the wake of the apocalyptic worldwide blight, discovers an unidentified aircraft carrier anchored a hundred miles off the Oregon coast. After jamming the town's communications with the outside world, it is decided a mission must be sent to investigate the ship, and neutralize any threat.

But what Eric Fletcher and others discover aboard the vessel is beyond anything they could have imagined. More than any danger they have faced so far, Fletch realizes that this enemy, with nothing to lose, threatens not only Bandon--but all who remain on the decimated planet.

And whatever happens, after either a successful mission or a devastating failure, Bandon, and those who have called it home since the blight, will never be the same again.