Den Milnan, a Tecton Donor, accompanies his cousin, channel Rital Madz, to an experimental Sime Center in the town of Clear Springs, deep in hostile Gen Territory. Rital plans to offer selyn technology to the Gens in trade for selyn, the energy that only Gens can produce.

Selyn is the fuel that could power a new revival of civilization, as fossil fuels did for humanity of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Den Milnan dreams of turning his horse-and-buggy existence into a world of rapid transportation with his design for heavier than air flight.

In Clear Springs, an implacable enemy awaits them, determined to stop selyn collection by fanning old fears of killer Simes. Unless Den can find a way to calm those fears, his dream of powered flight will never be realized.