Professor Hollis Cooper, an underground scientist, must pass a daily test to prove her belief in the official facts. But she comes under investigation when she accidentally slips up in a lecture. Official interest in her couldn’t come at a worse time, as Hollis and a colleague, using banned equipment from a previous age, discover an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Hollis and her colleague must try to evade discovery long enough to determine where the asteroid will hit and find a way to warn humanity.