Wyman Ford is tapped for a secret expedition to Cambodia... to locate the source of strangely beautiful gemstones that do not appear to be of this world.

While he searches for the origin of these dangerous jewels, a young woman in Maine borrows her father’s boat to search the outer islands for the meteorite that lit up the sky in her small town.

Meanwhile, a scientist at the National Propulsion Facility discovers an inexplicable source of gamma rays in the outer Solar System. He is found decapitated, the data missing.