Nancy Hodges, an astronomer with NASAas Hubbell Space Telescope program, discovers what appears to be a planet-sized object in deep space. The object is on a near collision course with the earth and due to arrive in six months. Shortly after the objectas discovery by Nancy, the United States is hit by a devastating series of terrorist attacks. Nancy Hodges and her family, along with a stockbroker by the name of Mathew OaConner, pursue different paths in a desperate quest for survival amid the chaos and turmoil of a devastated nation. The crisis spreads globally as the world teeters on the brink of nuclear annihilation, only weeks before the arrival of the mysterious object from deep space.