Dr. Steven Keene lost his dear wife three years ago to a hideous form of cancer called multiple myeloma. He has since discovered that his daughter has inherited the same disease and is near the end of her life.
A stranger encounters Keene on his campus at Berkeley and claims he's an alien from the Kepler system and can help him save his daughter. Like anyone with a similar encounter, Keene rejects the alien's first advances but eventually hears him out.
Eventually, Tic (the alien from Kepler) convinces Keene he can perform the miracle he's hoping for . . . but, for a trade.
Tic's planet is in dire need of a resource we, on planet earth, have a great deal of: water. While Keene knows nothing about climate change or what the requirements of such a deal entails, he's willing to try.
Keene and Tic set out on an adventure to literally save each other's worlds.
