 The spaceship Altares, with a photon drive capable of accelerating it to the speed of light, leaves an Earth-orbiting space station. The Altares crew, two families of scientific specialists, journey at light speed with time-dilation to Alpha Centauri, where they launch several satellites to transmit information on the Centauri star system back to Earth and guide future manned vessels in exploring the region. The crew decides to proceed further into unknown space, and the Altares becomes caught in the gravitational field of a black hole, through which the Altares passes and is thrust into another universe!