When NASA detects huge asteroids hurtling toward Earth, the President of the United States announces his plan to deploy nuclear warheads from the space shuttle to destroy them. As the West Coast evacuates, General Jack Harrison, a man haunted by nightmares from a long ago war, is chosen to implement a controversial and top-secret backup plan should the shuttle mission fail. Against a clock that seems to be ticking far too fast, Jack, two long-time comrades, and a disparate group of men and women little different from any of us feverishly work to turn a Cold War museum into an operational missile site. Their bold attempt to blend new and old technologies to thwart the unthinkable leaves them questioning whether their mission is as futile as it is daring. The only thing of which they are certain is that if they fail, they die. This intricately woven story about the meeting of technology and faith challenges beliefs and serves as warning to us all of a natural disaster that is not only possible, but probable-and for which the world is still defenseless.