In the outback of South Australia, in the mystic land formation know as Wilpena Pound, a strange signal is received at the SETI installation. Someone from outside the solar system wants to talk to Jarrod McKinley. McKinley is resting on his family farm in Montana after a campaign to save a religiously misguided SETI Special Command from a scandalous attempt to fake first contact. As he rushes to join his new SETI team, a powerful force tries to capture him to ensure first contact will benefit it more than the people of Earth. At the same time a debate rages on a distant planet. Is Earth ready for this first contact? Can the people of Earth change their dangerous and violent behavior and accept a reality they will find hard to believe? As first contact gets closer, danger grows for McKinley and his SETI team. A final and desperate attempt to control first contact collides with forces never before seen on Earth and hastens humankind's introduction to an alien presence. As his struggle to save first contact grows, McKinley realizes he has a power that will help the human species in its quest to reach for the stars.