Book excerpt: Four hundred years ago an alien menace attacked a peaceful US colony and sent humanity speeding down a new evolutionary path. Nine people survived, but they would never be the same. Their modified DNA was passed on to their descendants and meta-humans with superpowers were born. Now a reluctant hero is thrust into a collision course with the aliens as those changes threaten to end that path with an earth-shattering conclusion. After a violent plane crash, Wolff Kingsley finds himself surrounded by meta-humans, alien technology, and mind-bending foes. Unwillingly recruited as a member of Diamond Justice, Wolff faces an uncertain future and fears a return to his past. He struggles to understand his friendship with a remnant of alien technology known as Glip-2, his concern for a young girl with an interest in him, and his growing love for a mysterious meta-human woman who may be tied to the origin of the threat. After a strange storm terrorizes a major city, Wolff must decide whether he will help Diamond solve the centuries old mystery and save millions of innocent lives before time runs out or flee the people he has grown to care about.