A research station in Eastern Europe is suddenly bombarded with rhythmic bursts of subnuclear particles from the skies - a pattern so complex that it can only have come from a highly evolved intelligence. The scientists are amazed by the information that the messages reveal: secrets of an alien technology far in advance of our own. Should the signal be acknowledged and contact established? The world's superpowers have other ideas, and suddenly the scientists find themselves at the heart of a global conspiracy - on the run from forces determined to suppress the messages and what they contain. And what will be the effect on a world suddenly faced with unimaginable technological breakthrough...?