Gregory Donovan is surprised that this group of robbers is stupid enough to rob the largest spaceport in the city. He observes a cop fighting the group of robbers who have taken a girl hostage after stealing from an ATM. Before any of the cops can move on them, a man in the crowd attacks the robber holding the girl hostage, freeing her and causing the police to kill them all in a hail of gunfire and lasers. Except the hero doesn't die. He is taken to the hospital, and Gregory follows him to be there when he wakes up. It turns out this man, Seymour, has been in the hospital multiple times under similar circumstances. Gregory asks him what's going on, and Seymour answers that he's waiting for some woman from off planet to show up. He dies immediately after saying this. The doctors in the hospital are confused, as multiple men have done the exact same thing recently. After some research, Gregory finds out that the men who keep doing this were all in the military and fought in a battle on a planet called Nikita. There was a massive weapons depot on the planet during the war and all survivors were blown across the planet, taking over 3 weeks to get picked up. Gregory wants to go investigate, but his boss refuses to let him as no one has been to Nikita in 6 years and he will most likely die anyway. Eventually, Gregory quits his job and travels to Nikita to find out what happened and who the lady everyone thinks they will meet is.

On one of the first nights there, a creature that he cannot see attacks him. He is rescued by a woman who splints his leg and somehow knows his name without having spoken to him before. She puts him to sleep with some power, and when he wakes up she evades his questions about how she knows his identity. However, she keeps letting slip that she knows information about him that she would only have by reading his mind. She knows his favorite foods, says his favorite authors are also her favorites. But Gregory is unable or unwilling to connect the dots, falling steadily in love.

After enough pushing, the woman admits that she can read his mind and is not even actually human but has taken on a shape he will like. She also admits that she is a supernatural being obsessed with helping those in need in whatever way she can. They eventually have sex. As he gets ready to leave the planet, he tells her he loves her and that he wants her to come with him. She refuses, but says she will show up whenever he is in great physical or emotional need. All of these men were so obsessed with being with her again that they threw themselves into violent situations, hoping she would reappear. Our protagonist does the same, getting a new job as a cop and leaving his weapons at home before going on a big drug bust.