Teenager Alex Rogan lives in a trailer park with his younger brother Louis and their mother Jane. Alex works there as a handyman, raising money for college. Aside from his girlfriend Maggie Gordon, Alex’s only diversion from his mundane existence is an arcade game called Starfighter, in which the player is “recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada” in deep-space warfare. One evening, Alex becomes the game’s highest-scoring player. The moment is spoiled, however, when he learns that his application for a scholarship has been rejected.