Novice archeologist Sandi Hartwell finds exactly what she wants in the hills of northern Pakistan-hard fossil evidence that Neandertals and Cro-Magnons successfully produced offspring. Her future looks promising, but less than one month later the attacks on the World Trade Center will change everything. The enigmatic Neandertal expert, Garret Chambers, manages to get Sandi and the crew back into Pakistan to the site of their discovery. New discoveries abound, but then Sandi and Garret find themselves surrounded by murderous terrorists. Rescued by a flying saucer, she is taken to an extraordinary civilization governed by an arthritic old man named Ronaldo. There Sandi is plunged into a diabolical plot. After centuries of specialized breeding, a group of the descendants of the Neandertals, led by the charismatic Solero, is preparing to arm a global network of terrorists with WMD. Having felt the power of the ancient Spirit Fire, Sandi joins forces with Renaldo to stop Solero's plan. Using a sixth sense that even she can't explain, Sandi frantically follows the fossil trail of a legendary priestess named Kectu to discover the key that will destroy Solero's plot. Drawn together by shared peril, she falls in love with Garret, but their love will be tested and her perception of the world will be pushed to the limit.