For millennia, humankind and the other intelligent races have studied the bizarre and unfathomable constructs of the legendary beings known as the Builders. But still, they are no closer to figuring out who—or what—the Builders were, or where they have gone. For Darya Lang, who has single-handedly cataloged their artifacts for the rest of the universe, finding the Builders has been a life-long dream. To Louis Nenda and the Cecropian Atvar H'sial, the Builder artifacts represent a once-in-a-lifetime shot at untold wealth, and adventurer Hans Rebka has his own dreams of unraveling their mystery.

Then, on the world called Quake, during a period of planetary upheaval known as Summertide, a small group of humans and aliens witness the culmination of all those years of watching and waiting as the planet opens up—and something comes out.