Tyler and Jared had planned to enjoy their evening watching the unmanned space plane land at the experimental launch facility. Sitting up on The Hill would provide the best view of the airfield. It was after the landing, when they noticed the corporate security guards, that their plan changed, not just for the evening but the rest of the summer. Sneaking in for a closer look, they observe a heavily reinforced box nearly float away from its handlers. Overhearing how a small portion of a mysterious substance that defies gravity has escaped the box, Jared resolves to take a closer look and challenges Tyler to come along. The following night they steal into the hangar where the space plane is being kept and manage to retrieve a small sample. Though they resolve to keep the discovery between themselves, it isn't too long before their brainy schoolmate Jennifer, realizes the boys have a secret and pesters Tyler until he breaks his silence. And when the government's corporate liaison begins to suspect the two boys know more than they're telling, he sends a man to snoop around Tyler's loft. Tyler's grandfather, who has secrets of his own, steps in to save the fledgling project by helping keep the snoops in the dark. Sensing the discovery will be kept secret by the corporate interests, Gramps gently convinces the teenagers that their responsibility is to share what they've learned with the larger world. Of course, they will need the mechanical skills of Willie, and the software prowess of Kylie, Jared's little sister, but a plan to build Tyler's flying saucer is set in motion with only a faint hope to launch the vehicle at their high school's Homecoming Parade in the fall.