Col. Raynor Sarnac is a pilot with the right stuff—he's flown missions in two wars and has risen to command a reconnaissance wing at Laughlin AFB, Texas, where he pilots his fliers and his family through the turbulent Cold War of the early 1960s. In October 1962 Sarnac's wing is ordered to fly continuous U-2 missions over Cuba—to obtain conclusive evidence that the Russians are installing offensive missiles. Meanwhile, Sarnac's wife Vanessa, who lives in constant dread of 'the knock at the door,' is baffled by her youngest son who won't speak to anyone but his sister; and has difficulty coping with a headstrong 16-year-old daughter who's taking flying lessons from her grandfather against her mother's orders.