It's the year 2080, and Earth's seemingly insurmountable overpopulation problem has been alleviated temporarily by placing millions of people in voluntary deep freeze. But in election year, the pressure is on to find a solution which will enable them to resume their lives.

For Jim Briskin, Presidential candidate, it seems an insoluble problem - until a flaw in the new instantaneous travel system opens up the possibility of finding whole new worlds to colonise.