Gunnar Conrad and Audra Atlanta have made a wonderful life together as husband and wife serving with the Kalamar Flight Ministry. But Gunnar's high risk profession as the Ministry's top fighter ace has long troubled Audra. Her hopes of getting Gunnar out of the cockpit are finally realized when Gunnar's life-long friend and wingman, Rick Niker, recommends him for a command chair of one of Kalamar's new Assault Corsairs, the Starbird.

Tough, compact and powerful, the Starbird is a radical new breakthrough in Corsair design. But even new technology has its limits. On one of their...