Deep Space, 2196... John Canyon (Dennis Hopper) is a long distance trucker, a rebel and a loner. He refuses to join 'The Company', an iron fisted outfit controlling intergalactic trucking.
In a desperate bid to stay in business, Canyon joins forces with young trucker. Mike Pucci (Stephen Dorff) and takes on a black market shipment of sealed containers bound for Earth. The contents are unknown, papers forged but the job pays five times the going rate. And there's a bonus: the gorgeous Cindy (Debi Mazar) has hitched a ride.
To make the due date, they abandon the usual shipping lanes and head for the Scum Cluster, a war zone of bandits and rogue asteroids. But whatever perils lie in store in the depths of space, nothing can prepare them for the deadly cargo that lies in the hold of their ship.