Charles ‘Chuck’ Sorrel is a has-been. Washed out of astronaut training a decade ago, he makes ends meet (and pays alimony) by way of shady deals with questionable ‘businessmen’. Underneath the snarky exterior and smart mouth, Sorrel is a jaded and bitter man, angry that he’s missed the boat. So when the ‘easy money’ big payday gig lands at his feet, how can he say no?
The crew of the first commercial space mission to retrieve an asteroid for mining purposes has been killed in a catastrophic accident, and the Senate wants Chuck to investigate Abundance, the company behind the mission. The job introduces Sorrel to the cutting-edge and high-stakes world of commercial space exploration, lays bare his outdated skillsets and repeatedly triggers his fomo. He asks a few questions, makes a few conclusions, and writes some recommendations... but never gets a chance to collect.
Sorrel's easy-money gig turns sour when rival Chinese asteroid mining company Yangshen is implicated. The discovery triggers an international incident between two superpower nations and thrusts an unwilling Sorrel into a trip across the Pacific, dinner with Yangshen’s CEO, confrontations with the Mission Commander's widow Jen, and pressure from the Senator to “hurry up and get to the bottom of things”. As tensions rise, Sorrel must navigate the web of lies before he too becomes 'an accidental death'.. and make peace with his past in order to save the future.