Road rage, domestic violence, hate crimes, terrorism; what in the world is going on? They sent Jake Breakwater to a mental institution for his strident insistence that the world is running out of air. That people are suffering from oxygen deprivation.

Now they want him to show them the answer he proposed, the one that was "crazy" then. But since he has made his peace with man and God, he just wants to be left alone. Will the once brilliant geologist come back to work for Major Oil, and show them how to "dig" for air? Of course he will, but on his terms.

He knew all along that it was there, deep under the layer of volcanic bubbles that hold "artesian" water, left over from the primeval cooling of the planet, are even larger bubbles of "pure O2" which, when mixed with the almost oxygen-depleted atmosphere of planet earth, could bring new life and vitality.

It's a tough call though. Can they do it in time? Will they blow out too large a chunk of the planet to survive, and maybe throw it out of orbit? Will the O2 level become critical before they can finish? They must, they could, it might, it's possible. But they have to try, or start killing air breathers so that the rest can survive long enough to replant the forests and the kelp beds.