An elderly couple have never stopped believing that their daughter, who went missing in the woods 40 years ago, will somehow appear to them one last time before they die.

When Alan Webster's parents tell him that they have to move, the 17-year-old student is understandably upset - but not nearly as much as when he learns their destination is the planet Alturus, 85 billion miles away.

Public-relations man Joe Willoughby thinks that promoting the Miss Stardust beauty pageant will be a snap, until "Cabbage Man," a representative from outer space, arrives and contends he owns the rights to the title and threatens to eliminate Earth unless he gets some satisfaction.