Marie, an obstinate, adventuresome, young pilot, sets out to track down her lover who has vanished in the Sahara during a record flight attempt from London to Cape Town. Her unexpected arrival turns life upside down for a remote French Camel Corps troop that is already preoccupied with the stirrings of a Tuareg uprising. With the help of a rogue captain, Marie sets out on a desperate quest across a grandiose and hostile sea of sand.