Picking up almost immediately after the cliffhanger ending of Diathesis... The saboteur Maria Rodrigues is on the rescue mission to the Goddard station on Iapetus, as the fated Ismud approaches Saturn. On Earth, Richard and his sister, Elyse, are caught up in a murderous manhunt as the Chinese secret services try to cover their tracks; while the enigmatic Charles prophesies doom and gathers a cult-like following. In Earth orbit, the psychopathic Li Qiao befriends the hidden genius developing the next stage in human evolution; while from their station they observe a visitation from an alien species, horrific in its silent and pragmatic mandate... ...and an Arctic research team are immersed in visions of the end.