Lieutenant Commander David Ashton thrives on excitement. As he strolls to the White House, he has the feeling a new adventure awaits and he's not disappointed. President Gardiner offers him the mission of a lifetime, something he's trained for all of his life.

Gardiner explains that the United States is running out of oil. In desperation, he is dispatching the Excalibur, the largest starship ever built, to voyage beyond the solar system to a distant planet 103 light years from Earth. For the first time in history, the crew exceeds the speed of light in an attempt to find oil and return to Earth with their starship filled to the brim.

Though the mission is successful, the load of crude oil is not enough to fill the requirements. David and his crew exceed their assigned mission and use the extra space aboard the ship to create a laboratory to explore the possibilities of travel beyond the speed of light. Their new mission—to create a time machine capable of travel back to the twentieth century in order to change the course of history.