"It seems your Magpie, the flying saucer, has made the next jump."

James's heart sank to a new depth of dread. He reached out his hand, the way he had done so many times before. But nothing was there. Magpie had made a jump without him.

Now a time traveler without a time machine, James must continue on foot. With his companion, Safia, they press forward from a snowy village in Japan in search of the remainder of her cult, supposedly in the mountains of the Czech Republic. Her arrival there, he is promised, will fulfill the cult's prophecy and prevent Haywood Williams from creating the future James knows too well.

Scatter Plot, the second book of the Crescent Earth sci-fi series, follows James as he stumbles through the many plots in time set to prevent the rise to power of Haywood Williams. While James is still reeling from loss and grief, there is solace in Safia's companionship. Yet as they near the end destination, James begins to wonder who she really is, and what is waiting for him. There's something strange about the speech of his hosts, the unfamiliar faces that seem to know him too well. Will this all really be enough to stop Williams? And is there really no price too high to pay?