An ill-timed NASA probe to Mars misses its mark and crashes into the Asteroid Belt with disastrous result. Two asteroids are dislodged and are soon plummeting toward Earth. The first projectile crashes at Rookery Bay near Naples, Florida and is thought to contain deadly microbes. Several murders ensue in the quest to steal this prized "rock." And frantic efforts are taken to divert the second, much larger asteroid, whose impact would approximate a twenty-five megaton blast. A mole buried deep inside NASA is intent on corrupting the software necessary to divert. To further complicate matters, the issue of national interest clashes with journalistic freedom and the public's right to know. The head of the local EPA threatens to make public that the Florida projectile has let lose a deadly strain of bacteria. Any report would cause a nation-wide panic.