While traveling from Jamaica to New York City, Montego Air Flight 828 experiences a brief period of severe turbulence. When they land at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, New York, the plane's 191 passengers and crew learn from NSA deputy director Robert "Bobby" Vance that over five and a half years have passed while they were in the air, during which time they were presumed dead. As they rejoin society, the passengers must face the fact that their lives—and loved ones—are not the same as they were, while they also begin to experience guiding voices and visions representing events yet to occur, referred to as "callings"