The blistering sequel to McDevitt's most successful novel THE ENGINES OF GOD. It should have been a straightforward exercise; but they were reckoning without mechanical failures, earthquakes and hostile indigenous species. It's 2225. Mankind has reached the outskirts of the universe, and discovered evidence of intelligent life on dozens of planets. Nothing still alive, but some amazing archaeological remains. On the distant planet Maleiva III, known colloquially as Deepsix (it's about to be wiped out by a rogue gas giant, the Jerry Morgan) they've found traces of an ancient civilization. With two weeks to go before the gas giant destroys the planet, a team of crack archaeologists lands on the surface to record and salvage as much of this ancient civilzation as they can. Suddenly, the team is stranded there with no means of getting off it. With the Jerry Morgan bearing down on them day by day, survival is going to require some ingenuity!