The story of a US Air Force major who was captured during the Korean War, and cracked signing a confession. After his release he ultimately arrives at Edwards Air Force base and works for his old buddy, now base commander. And runs into an old love forming the romantic triangle sub plot. But the main story line is the testing of high speed aircraft and the two main characters restoring their trust in each other. The aviation story line centers on the testing of the testing of the Gilbert XF-120 fighter, which suffers structural problems. And who will test the rocket powered X-2, designed to fly to the edge of space.