Ten miles apart, in a New Mexico desert, unknown to each other, two scientists are involved in secret work - one engaged in unearthing the past, the other in shattering the present. The archaeologist Darrell Reeves is uncovering an ancient Indian burial site in a drama of daily discovery; the physicist Lloyd Coulter is on the team developing the first atom bomb. It is through the contrasting mysteries of their projects - and the woman they both love - that they are brought into astonishing confrontation in this extraordinary novel.