Elena Kootsongie isn’t merely a young Native American physicist, but a prodigy, one of the most gifted in human history. Orphaned as an infant, her white adoptive parents discovered she had a voracious appetite for learning – particularly deciphering mathematic puzzles. Nurtured in her gifts, she completed high school when she was 13, Bachelors of Science in both Mathematics and Physics by 17, and her Masters and PhD by 20. Now, a 21 year old post-doc in theoretical physics, Elena is returning from her adoptive father’s funeral in Boston. As her plane descends into Philadelphia’s airport, she wakes from an unusual dream and remembers the letter revealing her Hopi/Navajo ancestry left for her in her adoptive father’s will.
Meanwhile, the International Space Station (ISS) and NORAD (Cheyenne Mountain, CO) have detected an unusual phenomenon: ISS communications are briefly interrupted and military satellites briefly shut down during an unusual energy spike coming from what appears to be huge swaths of outer space. In two Hopi households in rural Arizona, family members notice that telephone signals, radio and television reception is briefly lost. However, after it returns they discount the event.

Hours later at the White House the NSA Director (DNSA) reassures the President the event doesn’t merit his concern. However the President learns the energy spike did briefly shut down a vital defense satellite. Satisfied, the President, VP, Chief of Staff, Directors of the NSA (DNS) and CIA (DCI) continue focusing on a rapidly growing conflict between Pakistan, India and the Koreas that’s dragging the U.S. and China (PRC) into opposition. After the meeting the President notes the latest crisis is only one of a string to plague his administration. The domestic economy is being swamped by a flood of refugees from Mexico, Cuba and Haiti. They’re fleeing an eastbound radiation plume from the meltdown of Mexico’s Veracruz reactor after its core was fractured by the long-expected 9.1 Richter San Andreas earthquake – which also devastated Silicon Valley and 700,000 homes. If satellites in space are having problems they can “take a ticket and get in line”.

In Socorro, NM, two American radio astronomers at the Very Large Array (VLA) radio-telescope decide to study the energy spike in space independently. Two days earlier, they recorded a faint pulse while working at an observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. They’ve now recorded two subsequent pulses in Socorro – each slightly stronger and closer together than the preceding. On a whim, the two scientists speculate the pulses could be traveling backward through time which could explain why they appear from broad swathes of space. The two astronomers decide to attempt triangulating the pulses based on their idea. If right, they’ll be able to identify the location of what will be, in twelve days, an unusual and unimaginably powerful release of energy – perhaps in the neighborhood of the Solar System.

At Princeton’s Advanced Research Center (PARC), Elena avoids mourning her father and dealing with her newly discovered native heritage by plunging into the theoretical problem that defied Albert Einstein up to his death – the ultimate challenge – the Grand Unified Field Theory. Elena’s elderly former thesis advisor, Dr. Mansley, is curious with aspects of Elena’s unorthodox approach and shares an unusual old research paper with Elena. The paper, written in an odd, even bizarre style, was never published. But it possesses many striking similarities to Elena’s ideas. Even more puzzling is that the paper was written by a forgotten Hopi physics prodigy three decades before Elena was born. Asleep in her apartment that evening, Elena has another unusual dream that feels like a premonition. The dreams continue the following night after a long day of intense theoretical experimentation.

At the VLA, the two radioastronomers continue studying data from the first three pulses. Their preliminary analysis increasingly suggests an explosively powerful release of energy somewhere in the Solar neighborhood in 14 days. As they count down the hours until the expected fourth pulse, they discover the location of the future energy explosion has moved with each successive pulse. It appears to be approaching earth.
Elena and her colleague Stephen (who’s shy about his fondness for Elena) take a walk together through a nearby physics research facility while discussing her theory. In a sudden freak accident uncannily similar to her dream, Elena and then Stephen are electrocuted. Stephen is hospitalized; however Elena shows no sign of injury. Curious, the doctor subsequently discovers Stephen has inexplicably suffered moderate radiation poisoning in the accident. Yet Elena, with no signs of radiation exposure, states she didn’t even feel any sensation of electrocution. After taking Elena’s statement, the doctor decides to contact the F.B.I.

In Washington, DC, the President, VP, Chief of Staff, DNS, DCI and the Secretary of Defense (SecDef) wrestle with conflicting information about China’s willingness to go to war with the U.S. Sensing North Korea’s single-minded determination to use rather than lose its nuclear deterrent to an American conventional attack, the President contemplates retaliatory options if North Korea launches. Intelligence indicates the PRC Politburo is preparing a statement indicating its willingness to retaliate against any American nuclear attack on North Korea. Satellite images and intelligence confirm a quiet mobilization of China’s armed forces and increased readiness exercises within their strategic nuclear forces. The President is finally informed by the DCI and DNS that monitoring developments in China could get “bumpy” in days to come. Not only have the telecommunications and satellite shutdowns been unresolved, they’ve occurred again and the latest energy spike was slightly stronger. The President learns that other countries are suffering similar problems – including China and Korea.

In Princeton, Elena, emotionally stressed and frightened of sleeping because of her dreams, is traumatized further the next morning when DOE and FBI agents haul her into their offices and rigorously question her about Stephen’s accident. After returning to her apartment she realizes she’s now under surveillance. Elena drifts asleep briefly but wakes after another disturbing dream. She panics when she realizes small arcs of electricity are coursing along her hand – the same hand with which she tried to reach Stephen in the accident. Overcome by anguish, emotional shock and fear, Elena screams. After collecting her composure, Elena tries to call Dr. Mansley on the telephone and hears an odd sound suggesting that her phone is probably bugged.

FBI agents, having heard Elena scream have jumped out of a car down the street from her apartment to investigate. Through her window Elena sees them running up her sidewalk, guns drawn. They knock on her door to ask if she’s alright. She opens the door a crack to reassure them she’s fine and that she’d had a bad dream. Simultaneously she hides from sight her hand and wrist still rippling with electrical arcing. The FBI agents call in the incident and are told two additional agents are being sent down to bolster the surveillance.

At the VLA, the two radioastronomers excitedly record the expected fourth pulse on their computer monitors. With their computer model confirming the pulses are traveling backward in time they again note that point of origin is approaching earth. The researchers subsequently realize that, in fact, earth is approaching this particular point in space AND time. They refine their triangulation and discover the exact location on earth at which the explosive release of energy will occur. While one begins Emailing colleagues with their discovery the other looks at a map of the Southwest and contemplatively mutters “Arizona”.

At her apartment, Elena packs her laptop, handwrites a brief letter to Dr. Mansley, then she sneaks out her second floor back window. After a series of close calls, Elena succeeds in losing the FBI agents trying to follow her. At dawn she sneaks into the Princeton Greyhound station, makes a maximum ATM withdrawal, mails the letter to her advisor, and grabs a Boston-bound bus. In New York, she discovers local news media have begun broadcasting her picture as being wanted for questioning about possible terrorist activity. Barely escaping a loose cordon of NYPD and FBI agents, Elena changes her appearance and catches a subway out of the city.

In New Jersey Elena hitchhikes a ride west in a truck driven, hilariously, by a naturalized Iraqi. While riding west, Elena again reads the unpublished research paper and decides to find its Hopi author using a decades-old post office address label stuck to it. She wonders if the man might help her find answers to questions about her identity and the puzzle of the theory which now not only haunt her dreams but shape her waking moments in terrifying ways she can only ascribe as being supernatural. Elena recognizes her dilemma: she’s experiencing phenomena which defy rational explanation – but must be permitted by the theory she’s struggling to formulate. At a truck-stop Elena calls and leaves a cryptic message on her advisor’s office voicemail indicating her destination.

In Princeton, a schism appears to develop between DIA and CIA/FBI agents trying to locate Elena. The DIA agent, acquainted with some of Elena’s research is hostile toward FBI/CIA agents suspecting she may be aiding terrorists. The agents ask Dr. Mansley for permission to search the voicemail server files for her department. Dr. Mansley however, has learned that the FBI have twisted all of Stephen’s hospital statements in an effort to implicate Elena. Deeply distrustful of the specific DIA agent she concludes he really wants access to Elena’s research. Dr. Mansley adamantly refuses, despite the DIA agent’s stated desire to smooth over FBI/CIA suspicions of Elena. The FBI investigators secure a court order authorizing access to the servers. On a hunch, Dr. Mansley calls her own voicemail to listen to Elena’s message. Just as FBI computer specialists secure access to Dr. Mansley’s voicemail file she erases Elena’s message.

At the VLA, the two scientists discover they’ve rapidly accumulated disrespect and distrust amongst the numerous radio astronomers they’ve contacted so far about their discovery. On a whim they decide to drive to the closest town to the coordinates they’ve identified. While they begin packing for a road trip they instruct VLA’s resident technician to continue monitoring and to stay in contact with them while they take a drive up to Tuba City, AZ.

The DCI, DNS and SecDef meet briefly at the Pentagon to discuss the energy spikes. Their intelligence resources have each independently determined the spikes are growing in strength, becoming more frequent and assuming a rough but still predictable pattern. From this pattern they’ve determined that in approximately ten days a massive pan-spectrum (including gamma and X-rays) electromagnetic pulse (EMP) will cascade through earth’s atmosphere. However, an inexplicable anomaly of the phenomenon has also been identified: ground measurements of strength (amplitude) don’t correlate with those in space. Sometimes the spike is stronger in space, sometimes it’s stronger on the ground. Lastly, only two news reports of the phenomena have appeared so far – in Arizona. The DCI, DNS and SecDef decide to reroute and initiate passive shutdowns of their respective satellites where appropriate. They recognize they’ll need more information to protect U.S. Defense options through the crisis in Asia. After returning to their respective offices in the Pentagon, at Langley and Ft. Meade, the three instruct their staffs to begin aggressively scouring any public and private academic resources with any information on the phenomenon.

Elena arrives in Winslow and starts hitchhiking north on State Route 87. She catches a ride with a young Hopi couple returning home to Second Mesa from shopping in Winslow.