A young Italian noblewoman plots with her lover and her family to murder her abusive father leading to an uproar in the community and the Roman Catholic church set in 16th Century Italy.
A mysterious black sphere is discovered in the orbit of Mars. The Achilles is sent to investigate. After the bedraggled six-person crew wake from eight months hibernation, the Sphere is transmitting a single word in every Earth language ever known - Deus.
Follows prodigy vulcanologist Antoinette Vitrini and her sister Emily as they attempt to blow the whistle on an illegal oil drilling scheme before it sets off the eruption of a super-volcano directly beneath Miami.