Deep in the snow-covered landscape of Siberia, a race against the clock begins: to terminate an unfolding biological warfare project of gigantic proportions; a hidden private project protected by conspiracies and the secrecy of silence. In total contrast, a personal story advances the freedom to love, to live, to choose, to cherish, to heal, to reach beyond old marriage bonds, to enrich them with wider bonds; courageously seeking greater happiness against the urgency of an unfolding tragedy: seeking liberty, peace and joy against the weight of rising dangers and darkness. Aquarius is the fabled cup-barer for the king, who pores a cup of poison onto the world for his master who has no name, no identity, who owns the rulers and their soul. The novel is fiction of course, but in the privatized world, the most unimaginable becomes possible that renders modern terrorism small. Like in today's world, when love challenges greed, wealth, and the citadels of power, one finds the sword brandished almost routinely. The sword cuts deep to snuff out the spark of love, before it can become a fire that illumines the world. History has become littered with such swords of countless types. Still, the spark of love remains in spite of the darkness, and so does its promise. When things become so unbelievably evil that no one will believe what is happening, then the greatest evil will be allowed to happen, as in the novel. And still, in the end, love prevails. Maybe that is why nuclear war has not succeeded in 70 years of building towards it, and perhaps never will. Thus, love comes with a promise worth fighting for.