It all begins in a biogenetics lab in Berkeley, California where Astra, a head-turning, Brazilian girl in her mid-twenties discovers the key to immortalityat least in flatworms. But she is forced to put her research on hold as a response to the blistering, white-hot winds rocketing through the Bay Area. Her new mission is to assemble cryogenic repositories ('Arks') of frozen plant and animal embryos to preserve them for the future. However, she is opposed by a fanatical religious group that will do anything to stop her. But is it the Ark that they really wantor something hidden within? Either way, they will have to go to the mining base on the moon to find out. Will the war be avoided or is it inevitable?