A brilliant alien scientist is chased into our solar system for stealing a remarkable material. Before he is apprehended, he ejects in an escape pod his personal robot to which he has given remarkable powers and a covering of the material. It aids a young American family, living in a future world of food shortages. When they are forced to flee to another country, a further threat sees the action switch from Earth to a colonised Mars. How will this final confrontation be resolved?