In the summer of 1986, the Universal Transmitting company, after a long series of inexplicable failures, public indifference, and financial problems, has finally perfected a matter transmitter capable of transporting a person instantaneously from terminals scattered throughout the United States to any major city in foreign countries... on the second day of operations two women fail to arrive at their destinations and cannot be traced... a strange tale of extraterrestrial adventure and gripping suspense on which hinges the fate of all mankind.