A professor and parapsychology researcher discovers a key to mankind’s evolution or destruction in this debut thriller

In Podol’sk, Russia, the subject of a mind research experiment spirals out of control. Then, the starry night is blotted out by an inky darkness hanging over the city like a funeral shroud. In moments, the ground trembles as a huge implosion occurs. The ground shudders and groans, seeming to rip and tear as the earth crumbles in on itself, vaporizing everything. Nothing remains but an immense, gaping crater, mute evidence of where a vibrant community had once existed. All sound ceased, leaving behind a vacuum of emptiness. The absence of even a whisper made it seem as if the world itself had taken pause.

Emergency response teams appear, unprepared for the extent of destruction. Their reports leave Russian authorities speechless.

Aware that their scientists are conducting similar experiments, the US and Russia decide to cooperate. They form a joint team of experts to look into the cause of the event.

Among them is Beau Walker, a discredited psychological researcher, whose earlier, seminal consciousness research led to intensive research in both countries.

Walker is not a typical scientist. An unwilling empath, he hides his paranormal abilities. But he is unaware that he also has the key to unlock undiscovered powers in others-- beneficial and destructive--that could affect the fate of the human race.

Once in Russia, they are helicoptered into the terrifying mile-deep Podol'sk crater and enter a bizarre reality in which the known laws of physics don't apply.

When they return to the US, they are taken to a top-secret mind research laboratory. As they pursue their investigations, a dangerous cabal is uncovered, one using SHIVA technology in biowarfare, that could imperil humanity.

Walker and his team are racing against the clock to keep SHIVA from being used for catastrophic destruction. Numerous forces are working against them to prevent their mission's success. If they fail, it could mean total annihilation of life on Earth.

Will they be able to head-off disaster or will the world face the fate of Podol'sk?

Beau Walker had just about reached the end of his tether. He'd been sent from the US to Russia for a highly-classified operation. Of all the jobs he'd taken on, this one seemed the strangest.

He'd expected to be met with figures in grey suits and shades, but instead he'd been introduced to a group of people whose expressions were as blank as their attire. They had neither names nor backstories; their identities were a mystery.

They had led him to an old Soviet-style bunker in the middle of nowhere. It had been cramped and dingy, and the air had been stale and musty. But it was here, in this unassuming tomb, that Beau had discovered the key to mankind’s evolution or destruction.

At first, the strange, incomprehensible words they spoke, and the strange symbols they’d drawn on the walls, had left him baffled. But as he slowly pieced together the clues they’d left behind, a picture began to form.

As it transpired, the Russian government had become aware of a top-secret military project that had been operating on the fringes of science and consciousness. Its goal had been to develop technology that would allow them to access alternate dimensions or realities, and it had been nicknamed ‘The Stargate Project’.

The project had been kept under tight wraps for years, but the Russians had been able to intercept some of its communications and data. They’d then reached out to US authorities to enlist Beau’s help in uncovering the truth of the project and preventing its potential use as a weapon of mass destruction.

Beau had been granted access to all the information the Russians had gathered on the project, and he’d quickly realized that a great deal of it was shrouded in mystery. He soon found himself buried in a tangle of odd concepts, such as shamanism, hemi-synch technology, and experiments at the outer edges of consciousness.

He'd done his best to make sense of it all, but he still had so many questions. He was just a simple research psychologist – what could he hope to uncover that the Russians, and powerful government forces, had been unable to?

Still, he reminded himself, he had to try. He had to press on, and see what he could uncover.

He was determined to get to the bottom of this secret project. He had a feeling that, whatever the truth behind it was, it was something far bigger than he'd ever imagined. He knew he was about to enter a limitless future, a future that would either be mankind's greatest evolutionary gift, or its undoing.