On a clear night, United Airlines 58 is on a routine flight from Hawaii when what seems to be a large cell storm appears on the radar screen. Finding it impossible to outmaneuver the dark object ahead, the plane is swallowed up by an alien spacecraft. After the captain suffers a fatal heart attack, First Officer Jordan Cady finds herself in command of the 747 and its 289 passengers and crew. Trying to maintain order among the frightened group and devising plans for survival, Jordan proves to be a resilient and intelligent leader. And it will take all her skills and strength to handle what lies ahead.

From the bridge of the Alliance starcruiser Savior, Kao Vantaar-Moray watches as another species is rescued from extinction by his adopted father. Commodore Moray tells Kao that Earth has been destroyed by a deadly comet shower and this planeload of people are the only ones they could save. He then gives Kao the huge task of communicating with the new refugees and handling their transition process for eventual relocation to another planet. Reluctant at first, Kao, who's scarred from a dark and tortured past, finds Jordan and her feisty group an invigorating challenge. Despite obvious differences, Kao and Jordan are drawn to each other, and it doesn't take long for that attraction to evolve into something much more.

Devastated to find out that Earth has been destroyed, and while learning to adjust to that fact, everyone is shocked even more when it's discovered that not everything on board the starcruiser is as it seems. Many loyalties will be tested on the way to a final resolution.

The premise of other life forms in the universe having evolved from the same human DNA as we on Earth, and the use of hi-tech gadgetry, makes the aspects of transition into an alien society a bit easier to accept for our intrepid refugees. Set against the backdrop of a space war between the (good) Alliance forces and the (evil) Talagars, the outcome is even more suspenseful.

Ms. Grant has written an emotionally charged romance with great characterization, as well as superb visual imagery. Drawing on her background as an airplane pilot, she adds vivid realism to an "out-of-this-world" romantic thriller.