The passenger aircraft Skythrust, conceived by Brains using his real name (Hiram Hackenbacker) as an alias, falls into the hands of fashion criminals who hi-jack the plane to steal a new French design from the renowned François Lemaire.

A staffed, pirate telecommunications satellite (which broadcasts a music programme of which Tin-Tin is a devoted fan) is disrupted by the detonation of a rogue unmanned space rocket and is set on collision course with a Middle Eastern oil refinery.

While Christmas preparations are underway at both Tracy Island and a local children's hospital, which is expanding to incorporate a new radiotherapy wing, a pair of criminals attempt to burgle a high-tech vault storing gold bullion.