Jason Thompson and Melvin Vaslovic, friends since childhood, are long-term scientists at the sprawling Rio Grande Laboratories. They are both close to retirement when there is a deadly disaster at one of the test facilities overseen by Jason. Subsequently, there is a security breach, a theft of secret documents concerning the failed test, code-named Geronimo Queen. Then Mel is found dead, and the FBI comes to believe that Jason is responsible for both incidents. After a rendezvous with the mysterious Nantes, Jason is kidnapped at gunpoint. Escaping in the kidnap vehicle, a light plane, he crashes on a remote New Mexico ranch. But he is tracked down, then reported dead when the crippled plane catches fire during a fire-fight between Nantes and the kidnapper. After his public funeral, his wife, Sarah, retreats to their adobe house in Truchas, New Mexico where, on a rainy night, she discovers the light on.