Thirteen-year-old Stewart Hale dreams of Space Academy and becoming a famous pilot like his mother, and like his hero Val Thorsten. But after his mother's death, his father has forbidden any talk of Stewart going into space. And Stewart suspects there's something that is being kept hidden from him, something they don't want him to remember from his past.

A chance encounter with a washed-up old spacer gives Stewart an unexpected opportunity to sneak off on his own mission to the Moon. But when the old spacer's intentions turn out to be less than honorable, Stewart realizes he hasn't found his big break—he's been shanghaied!