In 2654, an interstellar war rages between the
Terran Confederation and the
Kilrathi Empire. The cat-like Kilrathi seek the complete eradication of the human race. A massive Kilrathi armada attacks Pegasus Station, a remote but vital Confederation base, and captures a navigation computer, through which it locates Earth. Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn recalls the Terran fleet to defend Earth, but expects it to arrive two hours too late. Tolwyn orders Lieutenant Christopher Blair, whose father he knew from a previous conflict called the Pilgrim Wars, to carry orders to the carrier TCS
Tiger Claw in the Vega Sector, under the command of Captain Jason Sansky, to fight a suicidal delaying action to buy the needed time. Lieutenants Blair and Todd Marshall are pilots fresh out of training, traveling aboard the small supply ship
Diligent, commanded by Captain James Taggart, to their new posting aboard the
Tiger Claw. En route, the ship is pulled into a gravity well and loses its navigation computer. While Taggart repairs it, Blair space-jumps them to safety, calculating the jump in under ten seconds. Taggart notes that Blair outperformed the computer. Along with the awkwardness of joining a new unit, and continual pranks that require discipline from his wing commander Lieutenant Commander Jeanette Deveraux, Blair fights the distrust of Commander Paul Gerald and his crewmate Lieutenant Ian St. John because of the drastic orders he brings from the Admiral, and because his mother was a "Pilgrim", a strain of humans who were the cause of the Pilgrim Wars. Pilgrims were the first human explorers and colonists and had developed the innate ability to navigate space by feel despite obstacles such as black holes. Marshall finds a kindred spirit in Lieutenant Rosie Forbes and falls in love with her, but she dies when her fighter is damaged after a battle with an advance group of Kilrathi vessels and crashes on the flight deck during landing as the result of friendly competition with Marshall. The incident enrages Deveraux and shakes Marshall's confidence. Despite several setbacks, the
Tiger Claw's personnel successfully attack and board a Kilrathi communications ship with the
Diligent. In the attack, they find the stolen navigation computer and learn the coordinates the Kilrathi fleet will use to approach Earth. The
Tiger Claw, however, is heavily damaged and can do nothing more to prevent the assault, except to send Deveraux and Blair in fighters to find their way back to Earth. While it would normally be impossible for fighters to make such a jump without a navigation computer, Blair's Pilgrim heritage enables him to calculate the jump himself. If alerted to the Kilrathi's plans, Earth forces can destroy each Kilrathi ship before it gets its bearings after the space-jump; if not, Earth's defenses will surely be overwhelmed. Before Blair leaves, Taggart, who is in reality a Naval Intelligence officer, reveals himself to be a Pilgrim as well, shocking Blair. Deveraux's fighter is disabled in combat after destroying a missile, but she convinces Blair not to rescue her but to continue his mission. Blair uses his Pilgrim sense to jump to the vicinity of Earth. As his fighter begins to run out of fuel, he transmits the information Earth needs to defeat the Kilrathi assault. He is pursued through the jump by the Kilrathi command ship, but his position lets him bait the Kilrathi into the gravity well he encountered at the start of the movie. He pulls his fighter away at the last minute but the command ship is pulled in due to its larger mass. Unprepared, the Kilrathi fleet is destroyed by the Earth fleet without a fight. A Rescue and Recovery pilot from the Earth fleet rescues Blair while Taggart rescues Deveraux in the
Diligent. Blair and Deveraux are reunited on the
Tiger Claw and share a kiss as Deveraux is taken to get medical attention. ==Cast==