British astronaut and former Mars survey leader Richard Reece, has been removed from his duties pending court martial. The remarkable flight log of the crashed spaceship that he discovered on the red planet is missing; now only he is familiar with its vital contents. International governments, pressed by a critical energy shortage need his help. A deal is struck; but when Richard emerges from the protection of his incarceration, it becomes only too apparent that desperate criminals, with global ransom in mind, wish his silence. Meanwhile Tom Race, the clean-cut American fighter pilot and commander of the Enigma, battles with a different, more sinister enemy. Humanity is desperate for energy; can the Kalahari crystals be used, or is it too late? What other secrets will be unearthed from the dawn of civilized man during the search for enlightenment and what of their repercussions? The stakes are high; mankind's fate is uncertain.