This novel is the prequel of the Clay Ark series. Readers learn about the initial Clay Ark Project. Not too far in the future, America had sent a spaceship to another planet, bearing astronauts. While on the planet they all became infected by alien microorganisms which silently embedded themselves into their hosts' nervous system. They gave the astronauts superhuman sense, strength, and speed, but they also tricked their brains into desiring to propogate in order to spread the microorganisms and ensure the survival of the alien species. On the return trip the ship crashes in the Mojave dessert. Eli Doyle is the sole survivor.
Blake Maslin lives in Southern California with his daughters, Rane and Keira who are both 16. Maslin does pretty well for himself and his family as a doctor, and they have a comfortable life. People in these days live more dangerous lives than contemporary Americans. Because of the predisposition of the population to violence, the wealthy live in prestigious gated communities, and the poor live in nomaid "car families" or herds. Maslin and his daughters are fortunate enough to belong to a gated community. One day, however, they decide to take a road trip through the dessert. They all have the misfortune to run into Eli there.
Eli takes the Maslins to a ranch which he has established in the middle of nowhere. In the short time since his crash landing, he has kidnapped many people and relocated them to his ranch in order to become his family. Somehow Eli is still fighting the urges of the microorganism, trying to prevent it from infecting the entire human species. In building the ranch, he has tried to satisfy his urge to reproduce without allowing the infection to spread uncontrollably. Many of the people he's brought there and raped have died, but some of the women have given birth to mutant babies -- quadropeds who possess their father's superhuman powers. These mutants are called clayarks and will feed upon uninfected humans if given the chance.
At the ranch, Eli infects all of the Maslins. He sets them up in his community, but Blake and Rane escape. On their own, the Maslins make it a fair distance in the desert before being stopped by a car family. Feeling the affects of the alien microorganisms, Blake and Rane view this family as a perfect opportunity to propogate. They are not, however, any match for this violent group of people. Rane is decapitated, but Blake escapes. Later he runs into a truck driver whom he infects, the first one to ensure the uncontrolled spread of the infection across the nation. For her part, Keira is convinced to stay with Eli willingly because the microorganisms have cured her leukemia. Almost immediately she learns that she too is pregnant with a clayark.
