Captain Percy Coyle, a 130-year-old Civil War veteran bound to a wish made long ago, serves quietly in the shadows of U.S. governance. When a red djinn empowers a deluded man to launch demands from orbit, Percy is called in. Alongside his own djinn companion, the towering and unpredictable Blue, Percy must draw from a century of service and restraint to end the standoff—without using his remaining wishes, if possible. The story reframes magical power not as a solution, but as a responsibility—highlighting the fragility of human ambition when it meets forces beyond understanding.