Dusty McCrae is a world class cosmologist obsessed with discovering the secrets of the origin of the universe. He is also president of the generously endowed Pacific Science Institute which funds cutting-edge scientific research. On a routine flight to Washinton, D.C. a chance encounter with a young woman leads him back to Lake Tomahawk and the small community where he spent his boyhood summers. The encounter also leads him into the murders of old friends, and personal involvement in the investigations. Surprisingly, Lake Tomahawk has evolved from the sleepy summer community of his youth to an affluent residential enclave, and headquarters to a successful entrepreneurial company that is making major scientific breakthroughs. Teaming with the young woman from the plane, McCrae and Naomi Davis are caught up in a maelstrom of life-threatening events. Their odyssey takes them to the Big Island of Hawaii with its telescopes on dormant Mauna Kea and lava flows pouring from Kilauea, and then back again to Lake Tomahawk. Only then do they get a glimpse of the truth behind an amazing reality.