"Cate jumped, you fool." A year after the tragic loss of his wife, Gillen Rainer is struggling to find closure. Unanswered questions linger even for his thirteen-year-old daughter, who is seeking solace in a memory far beyond her recollection. It's October 7th, 1957. As Sputnik orbits the globe every ninety-six minutes, Gillen and his team are set to announce a surprise of their own. The Alignment - a portal connecting the earth and the moon - is ready for visitors, effectively ending the space race before it has even begun. But at the moment of their greatest achievement, disaster strikes, forcing those involved to confront the unrelenting power of past decisions and past loves in this beautifully written, literary suspense novel.