In this first book of the Radon Trilogy, Radon Schneider flies his airplane over Arizona looking for ancient terrains that may contain meteorites. Hiking in the desert this retired geologist finds a mysterious meteorite. It contains remains of an extraterrestrial microbe. A genetics lab brings a home-grown analogue of this microbe to life, terrorists steal it and start an epidemic in commercial airliners, killing hundreds. Will Radon's scientific guile prevail?