Michael Slotery was born in 22nd century California, tested the limits well into adulthood and watched the world descend into chaos. In the end, the only safe place to live was in the fortified towers high above the crumbling, violent streets below. The forests were gone and the sea was dead. There was a way out, but it came with a price. Michael left just the same. His new home was everything he wanted, but he would always be hunted. Tragically, it wasn t just his life that was at stake. Linked with Michael s fate was the greatest discovery in history? a resource more precious than oil, diamonds or gold and the last hope for the future. Park Ranger Brian Gilbert had never seen anything like it. A crater twenty feet deep in a country meadow, cut with perfect precision, appearing overnight. Other ominous signs and a mountain man s frightening tale tell him that something unnatural lurks the central coast. Sheriff Mitch Waters grew up in Big Sur and was used to the unusual. But recent events disturbed him. It seemed to have started with Robert Fletcher s death. Mitch knew it was murder, and so did Robert s widow. It had been eight years, but Louise wasn t letting it go. Now the bodies were stacking up. Plenty of material for her newspaper, if only she could print the truth. Former FBI agent Timothy Rodden and his associates figure to make a tidy profit from the situation. And when you re talking about billions of dollars what s an innocent life or two? Fellow conspirator Deputy Russell McGuire doesn t like his job. In fact, he doesn't like much of anything about his crummy life. Money will change that. All he has to do is give up a little information. Rodden has promised him a fortune. David Jenkins, 2170 s Director of State Security, has devised the ultimate solution for people like Michael. And he has a personal hatred for Slotery. For this job, the coldly efficient Jenkins has a special plan. After witnessing unexplained phenomena, Big Sur residents are aware that something unwelcome has descended upon their home and begin a search for answers. Mitch, Louise and Brian team up to find the truth, putting themselves in the path of a force more deadly than any of them could imagine. With casualties mounting and the odds multiplying against him, Michael Slotery's survival, and that of the human race, may depend on events far removed from ordinary existence."