When Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon answer a distress call from a research ship, nothing can prepare them for what they find. A strange and dangerous toxin has left the crew helpless, unable to move or speak. And when a further attack leaves hundreds more paralysed, Juan and his team must race to find an antidote before the damage becomes permanent. Their search for answers leads to a Roman soldier's long-lost testimony, revealing ancient events that strangely parallel their own. But with time running out and a ruthless enemy determined to seize power at any price, it will take all of Juan's ingenuity and skill to piece together the millennia-old mystery and save the West from the point of no return . . .