Plot
In the early 22nd century, mysterious cosmic-ray bursts emanating from Neptune cause power surges that threaten to destroy all life in the Solar System. Major Roy McBride is informed that the surge is antimatter in origin and may be connected to the "Lima Project", a space station in orbit around Neptune, sent twenty-nine years earlier to search for intelligent life and fuelled by antimatter. Roy's father, Clifford McBride, was the project's leader, a man considered a hero in SpaceCom history. Contact was lost sixteen years into its mission. Roy agrees to travel to Mars to use the last active long-range communications station unaffected by the bursts in an effort to contact Clifford aboard the "Lima".
At the Moon SpaceCom base, Roy is told in secret by Colonel Pruitt that should he fail to make contact with the "Lima Project", the station will have to be destroyed. Roy obtains passage to Mars on the SpaceCom cruiser Cepheus.
On the way to Mars the Cepheus attend a distress call from a research station. During the investigation the captain is killed. The ship continues to Mars but is hit by a surge as it attempts to land. Roy assumes command from the overwhelmed (but now in charge) First Officer, and calmly lands the ship. After securing himself in the underground SpaceCom complex, Roy begins recording officially pre-written voice messages and transmitting them to the Lima Project in hopes that his father will respond. Following several failed attempts, Roy ends up ignoring the official message and sends a personal message to his father stating that he hopes he will see him one day. Roy is then told he will be returning to Earth as his 'personal connection' makes him unsuitable for further service.
Roy is visited by facility director Helen Lantos, who reveals that her parents were Lima Project team members. She shows him classified footage revealing that Clifford's team mutinied and attempted to return to Earth, causing him to shut off their life-support systems; her parents were among those killed. She also states that the Cepheus is carrying a nuclear weapon and has now been requisitioned for a secret 'seek and destroy' mission without Roy. Seeing that the 'hero' story was fabricated to hide the truth, Roy decides that he should deal with his father. Lantos facilitates Roy getting to the rocket as it prepares to depart.
Roy climbs aboard as the rocket takes off and is immediately discovered by the crew, who are unintentionally killed in the confrontation. During the 79-day journey to Neptune, a solitary Roy reflects on his relationship with his father and with his estranged wife, Eve. He finally arrives at the station and plants the nuclear bomb before encountering Clifford, the sole survivor of the Lima Project. Clifford explains that the surges are coming from an antimatter meltdown caused by the mutiny. He also admits to Roy that he never really cared about his family and does not consider Earth his home. Yet despite his efforts, the Lima Project found no other intelligent life in the entire knowable universe.
Roy copies data gathered about numerous planets by the Lima Project team and persuades Clifford to accompany him back to Earth. He arms the bomb and they climb out on the station's outer hull to return to the Cepheus. Clifford suddenly launches them into space using his spacesuit's thrusters. The old man pleads for Roy to untether and leave him; Roy reluctantly does so and watches his father drift away into space. He propels himself back to the Cepheus using his own spacesuit. Roy sends a message back to SpaceCom to ensure that if his return journey should fail, SpaceCom would make every effort to retrieve the data he has recovered from the Lima Project. Roy uses the shock wave from the nuclear explosion from the station as his primary propellent to propel the Cepheus back towards Earth.
Despite finding no signs of other life, the data from the Lima Project contains a treasure trove of information on many 'magnificent' worlds. Roy is entranced by their beauty and wonder, something that was lost on his father. He returns to Earth with a newfound optimism he was previously lacking, meeting with his estranged wife again.
