The great mobile satellite launcher Starduster. It is longer than a football field, weighs 550 tons, and moves at an average of five miles per hour. Its job-and that of company troubleshooter Sam Drake – is to move a giant satellite to a launch position across the dangerous territory of Mochi-Jojeji, a dangerous region claimed by two rival former Soviet republics.  A new border war between the two countries erupts.  And Drake finds himself, and the Starduster, in the middle of the conflict---with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.