January 1999: The Zeus Project makes its first manned flight to Mars. Its ultimate goal: colonisation. On Mars, Ylla dreams of the coming astronauts and her husband, Mr K, plots their doom...

February 2004: The colonisation of Mars proceeds rapidly, the rockets arriving like 'silver locusts'. Settlers pour in, each in search of a dream - Fr Peregrine wants to meet Christ; the Lustigs want to find their missing son; the Parkhills want to make their fortune; and Wilder himself wants to meet a Martian...

November 2006: Earth is an amber cinder, all life annihilated by total nuclear war. A handful of settlers left on Mars are the sole survivors of the human race, facing a desolate future, cut off and isolated even from each other. Wilder finally meets his Martian 'counterpart'.