This book starts with a memory stored in the guardian pyramid on Easter Island that Nabinger was in contact with which tells a partial story of the events that resulted in the destruction of the Island of Atlantis as told from the viewpoint of an Airilia showing that it had occurred by weapons powered up by the Mothership, hence the need to not power up the Mothership. Meanwhile at Area 51, near Groom Lake, a new organization of personnel headed by Major Quinn, who was selected by Lisa Duncan and Mike Turcotte as best liaison to handle the site. Kelly Reynolds, the journalist, who held uncover what happened to her friend Johnny Simmons decides to go to Easter Island to get an exclusive viewpoint of what was happening by talking to Nabinger, who had been communicating with the guardian there. The guardian there had contacted Mars and had gotten a response, which translated into a reply to Earth along the lines of we are friends and will do you no harm. Meanwhile, Turcotte has a meeting with a Russian, using the name Karol Kostanov, who really is Yakov from Sector IV, the Russian version of Area 51. He offers them information about a site in south-western Ethiopia, that is a possible Airlia site but the Russians never were able to investigate. Mike and a team go in and find a large ruby sphere suspended over a hole drilled down to the Earth's core, (a doomsday device), surrounded by Airlia computerlike technology covered in high runes. They get the impression that this has to be handled with care.
The team has discovered that there are at least 2 warring agents of Airlia who are effecting the information they receive not knowing there's another and none of these groups want humans to know the full story, which makes choosing who is telling the truth confusing. Meanwhile, Mars has replied to the guardian and has sent 6 Talonships to Earth. Nabinger has discovered that the original part of the Great Wall is a high rune for the Word Help. After a discussion of which sites the foo fighters (in reaction to the Talonships coming), it was decided that the team would go to the tomb of Qian-Ling, where a Che Lu was attempting to enter because she had found high runes evidence and wanted Nabinger's help to translate. Of course, there's Airlia equipment inside with a warning defense mechanism in place to a lower level they can't enter without a key, but they find another guardian also which Nabinger communicates with and gets conflicting information about the Airlia who are coming from Mars but he is able to translate a good deal of information from the high runes inside. The team is also helped by a Russian team, who had penetrated the tomb from a different entry but like them was locked inside, until Nabinger triggers an escape hatch out, but not everyone lives to continue on because of the Chinese Rebel army attack. Nabinger dies when the helicopter he was on was shot down, taking all his research with him. Back at Area 51, a new person enters the scene, who seems to have access to help the team battle the incoming Talonships. Turcotte takes a bouncer to the site where the Ruby Sphere is and gets it, while 4 nuclear suitcase bomb is prepared for him and placed inside the Mothership, plus a modified bouncer for him to return to Earth. He puts the Ruby sphere inside the mothership and flies it up to space in a high orbit around the Earth. Meanwhile, Kelly Reynolds has decided to stay on Easter Island alone and ventured down to the guardian to try to create a contact. The bomb and the sphere explode as Mike figured killing all the Airlians who came from Mars and their ships except for the single Talonship whose occupants died and the ship was spinning uncontrolled in space.
A new member to the team, Kincaid from NASA, who was the person who was in control of the satellites in space, was helped by Conrad (a member of STAAR) in getting the satellite orbiting Mars (Surveyor) to freefall down with its nuclear bomb, but it didn't cause enough damage.