Helicopter pilot Emma Shripney’s steady world is to be shaken up as much as the ground below her as she flies over earthquake stricken Hastings and Napier on New Zealand’s North Island east coast. Rescuing the eighteen stranded people from Te Mata Peak leads to a sharing of tragedy and frustration, to a doomed romantic entanglement, to an involvement in commercial intrigue conflicting with ancient Maori lore, and to the experiencing of happy loyalty and a deepened love for her adopted country. The Auckland entrepreneurs’ Stonehenge Pacific project to exploit the Millennium sunrise publicity is for her a job, not a vision, but Emma gives support when problems arise, while faithfully pursuing an unshaken new romance with a pupil turned fiancé.