As with all great stories, this is a tale of good versus evil, love and sacrifice. Men of courage and men with none caught up in the fury of terrible events. Cowards and heroes, good men and bad, all bound together in the wild thunder of their times. John Ray Author had been a man of action and adventure. A horrific accident confronted him with great challenges and the need to make a new life for himself. He became the world's foremost expert on what he called the precataclysmic age. Other researchers were beginning to follow his lead. With prestigious degrees in archeology, ancient history, and the physical sciences, he was a modern Renaissance man. John was a passionate champion of the Constitution of the United States and its guarantee of personal freedom and liberty. It was late in his middle years when the dreams began. Dreams of physical prowess no longer his. Dreams of incredible adventure so real he remembered the wind blowing on his face, pine-scented forest, and song from a world only dreamed of. The visions continued, waxing more vivid with each passing night. The large, heavy crate arrived from England without return address or documentation. The contents, a large beautiful, ornamented rectangular box constructed of rare woods, fine carvings, dominated by a white ivory cross. Day by day, the ornamentation on the box and even its physical size changed. John felt himself rising once again to the clarion call of adventure.