Steve Dunning

Two centuries in the future, when pollution has forced humans to abandon Earth in favor of cramped space stations, scientist Devon Adair hijacks a spacecraft and sets out with a band of followers in search of another planet that will offer a brighter, more normal future to children like her son, Ulysses. Joining Devon and Ulysses are mechanic John Danziger and his daughter, True; team physician Julia Heller, who has her own secret agenda; Alonzo Solace, a pilot; Yale, a cyborg; and Morgan, a craven government agent, and his wife, Bess. The voyagers find their planet, but their ship crash-lands on the wrong side of the globe, forcing them to attempt an arduous and dangerous trek to their ultimate destination, New Pacifica.

Lee's family sent her from China to Los Angeles three years ago to be a waitress in a Chinatown restaurant and send money home to support her ailing grandmother. She lives with her bitter aunt, and endures terrible treatment at work, but feels trapped. Steve, a well-traveled engineer, enters her shabby restaurant by accident one day and is smitten by her. He works to bring her out of her misery and isolation in the short time before he has to leave for a job in China.