Twenty-something under achiever John inherits a distant relative’s estate, requiring him to move to the remote Scottish Borders. There he, and his university friend Billy, discover and inadvertently re-activate an alien weapon. Meanwhile, a battle-scarred alien commander, Zuri, and her soldiers have been dispatched to Earth to retrieve the weapon. At the same time, beyond the visible universe, a despotic and ruthless empire, embroiled in power struggles, waits for the weapon to be used again. It will open a tear in space-time, through which their merciless conquering armies can pour.