Nick Prentice is in trouble. The oil company he works for, the once all-powerful HHI, is in the financial doldrums, and Nick knows that he will lose his job in an upcoming round of belt-tightening. After a chance meeting with Adam Styles, an old high-school football teammate, Nick comes across something that will completely turn his fortunes around and put a rocket under his career. Adam and his scientist friends have designed a machine that opens a wormhole in space leading to Semperus, a carbon planet. The surface of Semperus is covered by a sea of oil - and Nick knows he can pump this treasure down to earth if given the chance. Adam wants no part of the scheme so Nick has him killed and he convinces the other scientists to give him access to their technology, promising them great wealth. The great bounty of Semperus begins to flow to earth, enriching all those involved in the project and restoring HHI to its former glory. But as the amount of oil being harvested from the planet rises, so too do the risks involved. Nick Prentice must deal with all manner of threats to his power, from within HHI and without. The greatest threat of all will emerge on Semperus itself, from an entity that values the oil of the planet even more than Nick does. And they most certainly do not want to share it with him.