Mankind must fight to survive as Earth is invaded by hostile UFOs bent on destroying the planet. As the epic battle wages on, astronauts sneak aboard the mothership where they discover a portal to the aliens' home world. They manage to alert Earth before they are brutally murdered. Left with no other choice, Earth sends an elite military team of science and combat specialists through the portal where they attempt to stop the invasion from the inside out. But is the battle already lost for humanity?

James Burke, after distinguishing himself as a midshipman in the British merchant marine, rapidly rises to the rank of executive officer, second in command of a ship. A broken foot necessitates that he be put ashore to heal. After his recovery, the very proud Jim - his pride rooted in his competence, which had made him a highly respected and admired naval officer - signs on as the executive officer of the Patna, a rusty tub manned by a third-rate crew overseen by a barbarous captain, that is transporting a group of Moslem pilgrims to Mecca. During a severe storm that causes the unseaworthy ship to founder, Jim abandons ship with the rest of the white crew without even lowering the other lifeboat for the passengers. The fleeing crew are prepared to swear they saw the Patna sink with all its passengers; however, in what Jim believes is a cosmic joke upon himself, it is revealed when they get into port on their lifeboat that the Patma did not sink but had been salvaged by a French vessel...

A struggling coach and teacher who has had to move around for different incidents in his career finally comes to one of the poorest cities in America: McFarland, California. There he discovers buried potential in several high school boys and slowly turns them into championship runners and brings them closer than even he could ever imagine.

The story begins when a scientist is working on an intelligent robot for humanitarian purposes, who discovers the company he works for is intends to use the robots for military purposes. The scientist steals one of the robots which ends up being lost and broken, then is fixed by a lonely 11-year-old boy. A robot boy and a human boy team up to save their respective parents, who are being held captive by the organization that funded the robot's creator. The two become friends and embark on adventures while being pursued by the authorities.