In 1993, twenty-four terminally ill children are abducted by aliens from hospitals across the UK. They are later discovered dispersed at random and in pairs, cured of cancer and with their genomes modified to contain an extra ten chromosomes. The last two - Max Lennox and Jonathan Price - are found in a wood in Leicestershire and later there are rumours that the aliens returned to the same location to leave a device of some kind buried in the ground. Who or what is behind these events and why have the children been altered? Professor Julian Grey chairs a committee to investigate these bizarre events yet he is immediately aware of conspiracies, involving his estranged wife Sally Grey, his former friend and now rival, Louis DeMarr, and leading virologist James DeSilva. DeSilva has some knowledge of the alien DNA and their earlier attempts at experimentation. He is also aware that one of the children - Max - is different from the others and very, very special.