Derrick Storm, the guy the CIA called on when it wants something investigated domestically, is thirty-three thousand feet in the air, returning from a rock climbing vacation in the Swiss Alps, when the plane spirals into a nose-dive. Storm uses his climbing gear to tether himself to the wing and heroically save the plane and all the people on board. Sadly, Storm is not available to come to the aid of the three other planes that have crashed under similar circumstances, killing everyone on board. Interestingly, many of the victims are powerful people in politics, business and religious groups.

The always elusive Jedidiah Jones, leader of the National Clandestine Service that has no name, calls on Storm to investigate. Storm determines that an unknown extremist has secured enough of the rare earth element promethium to create a laser with the power to shoot down planes from the ground. The problem swiftly becomes a global one as four more planes crash in the Arabia Desert.

Details, intuition and courage lead Storm to Monaco, Panama City and Egypt as he meets beautiful women, rides angry camels and rescues innocent victims in his valiant effort to track down the maniacal mind.