Professor Alice Sutton, a self-taught physicist, grew up in the Appalachian foothills of southern Ohio. While still in her teens, she stunned the scientific world with her discovery of a fifth force of nature, with profound implications for cosmology. She became a full professor at MIT in her early twenties, but her backwoods wiles stayed with her, along with the paranormal abilities she inherited from her ancestors. These guide her through mind-bending adventures in scientific discovery, with hair-raising high stakes for the future of the planet.Meanwhile, rumors circulate that she's built a time travel machine and that it's locked up in her research lab. World powers send out their cloak-and-dagger operatives to steal it, as well as to kidnap Alice and members of her eccentric research group. But the bad guys have met a powerful enemy in Dr. Alice.

Her unusual combination of brainpower and what she calls the "other things" keeps her one step ahead of them, while Bob, our narrator, hangs on for dear life.