Against the rich tapestry of the 1930s, Samantha Rockford, a pampered socialite, boards the fabled China Clipper seaplane for a flight across the Pacific. In an arranged marriage, she's to wed a man of her own social strata. Traveling incognito to avoid the press, she is unaware that on board are two bodyguards and a kidnapper. During the six-day island-hopping flight she falls in love and begins to question her continuing participation in what she realizes is a mistake. Abducted on her arrival in Manila, she is forced, for the first time in her life, to fend for herself and also to care for her injured sweetheart. In a desperate fight for their lives, she discovers an inner strength and independence she didn't know existed, becoming a strong young woman who defies her family and convention to make her own choices.