Daniel Prescott, the soft-spoken owner of a small education software company in Seattle, has arranged to join his international business partner on a climbing holiday in the Swiss Alps. Their objective is the famous Matterhorn, a goal Daniel has held since childhood. But their plans are interrupted when Daniel's company is threatened by elements of the U.S. financial crisis. He is unable to get an expansion of credit from any U.S. bank and flies to meet his partner in Istanbul in hopes of securing financing from Turkish sources.

But on the trip to meet with a Turkish commercial banker, Daniel's plane, with 186 passengers onboard, is hijacked by six Georgian and Chechnyan terrorists who hold resentments against the Russian Federation. While a prisoner onboard the aircraft, Daniel has a vision of his totem, the nimble Ibex, a mountain goat with large horns, locked in conflict with its nemesis, the Snow Leopard. This dream inspires his transformation into a more complete man who gains greater awareness of his own power.

Meanwhile, his close friend, beautiful Arianna Reynolds, becomes aware of his predicament and, prompted by another friend's wisdom, begins a journey of her own to fulfill her desires for Daniel, which she finally recognizes as true love instead of friendship.

Can Daniel successfully escape the terrorists' clutches, save his struggling business, and bond with the lovely Seattle woman he has known for so long?