In his personal life, molecular biologist John Everman is stuck in an eddy, spinning slowly around and around, week after week. Professionally, however, he is finally moving forward. His latest scientific paper, an evolutionary breakthrough, is critically acclaimed and there is talk of being awarded the prestigious Sondheim Award. At a departmental luncheon, he overhears another professor suggest that the project may contain falsified data. Although Peter Halloway, Everman's mentor and collaborator, shrugs off the allegations with suggestions of professional jealousy, the rumors continue until Everman feels compelled to leave Texas for South America to duplicate the project and salvage his professional reputation. Traveling through Chile and the Atacama Desert speaking little Spanish, John deals with numerous hardships and the increasing panic that the allegations may be correct. Stalked by extremists, amid adversity, Everman has the gnawing realization that it is really something else that he fears.