A history-making volcanic eruption is about to destroy the Big Island of Hawaii. But a secret held for decades by the military is more terrifying than the volcano.

An old friend presents Mike Erikson with an irresistible mystery to solve -- far out in the California desert, a team of DARPA scientists has invented a device that shrinks distances so that a traveler can travel hundreds of feet with a single step but evidence is mounting that this miraculous machine isn't quite what it seems--and that its creators are harboring a dangerous secret.

"Berlin, 1938. Groundbreaking physicist Dr. Hannah Weiss is on the verge of the greatest discovery of the 20th century: splitting the atom. She understands that the energy released by her discovery can power entire cities or destroy them. Hannah believes the weapon's creation will secure an end to future wars, but as a Jewish woman living under the harsh rule of the Third Reich, her research is belittled, overlooked, and eventually stolen by her German...