Synopsis
The story opens with Wonder Woman transporting back to Earth from the JLA satellite after her monitor duty. As she boards her invisible plane she reflects on her recent adventure on Earth II and ponders that she needs to establish herself as an effective force against evil. She also wants her civilian identity, Diana Prince, to do something more meaningful for the United Nations than just public relations.
She thinks of her lover, Steve Trevor, who having been resurrected from death by the Goddess Aphrodite, decided to adopt a new identity and call himself Steve Howard. Although she has the man she loves back, he is not the same man she once new.
Just then her thoughts are interrupted by a commotion down in the plaza outside the UN building. It appears someone is being kidnapped by armed gunmen and she immediately leaps out of her plane and down towards the ground. The gunmen open fire on her but she easily deflects the bullets and manages to grab one of the masked men. He warns her to put him down or else they will detonate bombs planted in strategic positions all around the city.
One of the men then presses a button and a large explosion is heard across the city. As she throws her captive to one side he manages to jump on board the getaway car and they screech away. Wonder Woman races across the city in the direction of the sound hoping that the police will manage to catch the kidnappers while she attends to the bombs.
She arrives at Times Square where a policeman directs her to a large advertising sign which the bomb has dislodged. She quickly races over and grabs it before it smashes to the ground. Just then a cry alerts her to the fact that another bomb has blown a hole in the rail track and a train is fast approaching. She speeds towards the train and using her sheer strength stops it in its tracks.
For over an hour explosions echo through Manhattan and panic grips the city while the Amazon Princess prevents loss of life. When finally she returns to the UN Building she is confronted by reporters who ask her about the kidnap victim, Dr. Selkirk, and whether she knows what the kidnappers demands are. As she tries to fend off their questions Steve Howard arrives and she introduces him as the Special Operative Agent of the UN and suggests that he can answer their questions.
He produces a list of the terrorists demands, explaining that the kidnappers represent an organisation calling themselves S.C.Y.T.H.E. and demand in exchange for DR Selkirk the release of mass murderer and leader of S.C.Y.T.H.E., Alexander Sorkhan. If he is not released within 24 hours they plan to bomb the country from outer space! A reporter comments that no terrorist group has that capability but Steve tells him that Dr. Selkirk’s knowledge of the Copernicus Space Shuttle programme could give them that capability.
Wonder Woman swiftly boards her waiting jet and heads for Cape Canaveral where the shuttle is based. Although she knows that by now the demands have been broadcast world wide and that the officials at Cape Canaveral will have the Copernicus well guarded, she still thinks the terrorists may try a daring strike there.
Meanwhile, two military officers are walking into the Pentagon in Washington and just make out Wonder Woman’s plane overhead as it speeds down the coast. One of them asks whether she could be spying on them considering that their “investigation concerns her and…” but before he finishes the sentence his colleague warns him to be quiet until they are inside, as their investigation is classified.
Once they make their way into Room 18 which is a highly classified area, they continue their discussion. Their mission has been to compile information for over a year and now they are ready to make a move. For the safety of the country they must find Steve Trevor’s body!
Many miles away at the Cape, Wonder Woman has arrived and is surveying the shuttle on its launch pad surrounded by armed guards. An officer tells her that since the threat they have tripled the security around the Copernicus. She replies that she would still like to remain close by just in case and he says that he is only to happy for her to stay. However, he feels that Dr. Selkirk would never tell the terrorists how to pilot the shuttle even if they did penetrate the security screen.
Suddenly they hear the roar of rocket engines and to their horror they see the shuttle lift off without warning, heading towards Washington DC. Wonder Woman quickly leaps onboard her own craft and gives chase, trying to figure how anyone could have sneaked onboard the shuttle. She tries to snare it with her lasso but whoever is piloting it manages to elude her attempts. To her amazement the shuttle circles back towards her in a maneuver that is almost impossible. Timing it just right she lets the Copernicus fly over her and manages to grab hold of the fuselage as it passes.
She spies a hatchway and smashes through it before swinging her legs up and through the now open hatchway. She rushes to the cockpit only to find the pilot seat empty and is confronted by a message from S.C.Y.T.H.E. blaring over the radio. They inform her that they have captured the shuttle by remote control and that the UN has already stated that it has no intention of releasing their leader Alex Sorkhan. They have therefore just launched the first bombs from the shuttle which had been secretly placed on board Copernicus weeks ago in anticipation.
In rage, she smashes the radio and seeing the two bombs falling away below, leaps out of the hatchway. Although she uses her invisible jet to fly she also has the ability to glide on air currents which she uses to her advantage now. She catches up to the first bomb which is falling towards the Washington Monument and grabs it just in time before it strikes.
The watching onlookers alert her to the fact that the second bomb is falling towards the White House and knowing she cannot get there in time, throws her bomb into the other one destroying them both in midair.
She touches down to earth to the applause of the crowd and before she gets swamped she is whisked away by Steve Howard who has just arrived on the scene. They go to a secluded location where Steve informs her that they have decided to trade Sorkhan for Dr. Selkirk. He can see her surprise and assures her that they do have a plan and that she should meet him in one hour at the UN as Diana Prince.
She agrees but firstly uses her invisible jet to carry the still airborne shuttle back to Cape Canaveral. Once that job is done, she returns to New York and transforming into her civilian guise, meets with Steve and the UN Secretary. The Secretary voices his concern about taking a woman along to the exchange location but Steve assures him that the plan has been approved by both the Security Council and the President. The handcuffed Alexander Sorkhan slyly voices his approval at having a woman along with them.
That night Steve, Diana and Sorkhan take off in a UN jet and once the criminal has been safely secured in the back, Steve explains to Diana that the plan is to spring a trap using Sorkhan as the bait and her as the hook. The terrorists demanded that Wonder Woman stay away which Steve agreed to. But of course he did not say anything about not having Diana Prince accompany them! She realises that he hopes she can act as Wonder Woman when the opportunity arises and muses that Steve knowing her secret identity does have its advantages.
For hours they fly towards the prearranged destination and finally arrive at the North Pole. Diana skillfully lands the aircraft on the snowy wastes and donning parkas they escort Sorkhan outside. Presently a caterpillar tracked snow vehicle approaches and a voice booms out of a tannoy asking whether Sorkhan is unharmed. He replies that the bargain has been honoured and he is OK. As Sorkhan joins his comrades, Dr. Selkirk is released and walks over to where Steve and Diana stand, assuring them that he is fine too.
Suddenly, Sorkhan turns and orders his men to kill the three of them! But before his men can fire a snow blizzard suddenly whips up blinding them. In the confusion, Diana transforms into Wonder Woman and leaps onboard her invisible jet, which she has just commanded to circle over head at super speed in order to stir up the snow around them.
Steve takes the opportunity to knock out one of the nearby terrorists and grabs his gun. The other terrorist however sees him and prepares to open fire but the Amazing Amazon manages to floor him just in time. Steve asks her to stop the blizzard so they can see where the others have gone but when she does, they are shocked to find that both Dr. Selkirk and Sorkhan have disappeared along with the snow vehicle!
