A NASA scientist wants to build a new colony on Mars using smart nanotechnology, but the discovery of underground Martian ruins, and a powerful alien technology, draws him into a conspiracy that will decide the fate of the superpowers.

In 2054, new life has taken root on Mars. International cooperation has resulted in Vulcan's Forge, the first permanent colony on the red planet - or so they think. Construction crews discover an ancient network of tunnels full of alien machinery that could shift the balance of power between the nations of Earth, but the key to their secrets lies within the complex mind of an alien artificial intelligence. There is only one specialist who might be able to understand the AI, and he's not interested.

Tau Edison Wolfsinger, a young Navajo molecular designer, is busy fighting the NASA bureaucracy for approval to build a prototype city using microscopic nanomachines run by a powerful AI. But vast forces are lining up against Tau. Underground military installations, unused since the Cold War, are being reactivated to prepare for a new kind of threat, and shadowy international figures are using Tau as an unwitting pawn in their games of power.

Copyright 2002 Scribbling Gargoyle Entertainment Corporation