On Mars, some 65 million years ago, two civilisations live uneasily side by side. When a good friend of antagonist Aka-des is conscripted into the service of the god-Emperor, he has no option but to try and find him, unearthing unimaginable horrors at the seat of imperial power in the process. Outside the Martian city the insectoid Antis, imperilled by the continued expansion of the humanoid Martians into their tribal lands, have to make a choice. Can war between the two races be averted, and can Aka-des prove to a disbelieving world what is really happening in their name? Meanwhile, in the near future, explorers from Earth make startling discoveries on the Red Planet, which provide a link with its distant past. What they uncover will change people's view of Mars forever, and pose a growing threat to the mission and the lives of the isolated band of pioneers themselves.