Ex-astronaut turned physicist Keith Stoner knew the fiery object hurtling toward the Earth was an alien spacecraft-but the globe might never know. He was stuck within an iron cordon of secrecy, for the breakthrough had tripped a brutal power struggle among the elite, raging from the sacred halls of the Vatican towards the corridors from the Kremlin and the Pentagon. Each country wanted to end up being the first ever to get in touch with the aliens, to understand their superior technology. The forces of dread and treachery would make use of any tool at their command-from mind battle to sabotage-to keep the world in darkness.

Aided by an excellent Soviet linguist and a pleasant young student, Stoner planned a desperate mission-a wild, heart-stopping gamble to preserve the legacy of the star voyager for all those mankind.