DeepStorm OutTack

Members of an elite young research team, Drs Mei Sai Ling and Steve Nord are defined by their spirit and determination as well as by their remarkable science [a Glossary is included]. The UN Security Council's response to catastrophic natural disasters, which have lead to global chaos and war, is to send the scientists out to the Near Earth Territories - vast man-made settlements in space - to observe geophysical developments. Initially an enigma for inclusion in the genetically honed team of 'fimans', paraplegic Sashia Dubchek results from a pre-birth experiment that went wrong, and yet is also selected as a 'best of breed' following the gruelling InviHundred games - an event aimed at evaluating the highest level of mental prowess and genetically engineered capacities to fit the way of life in the Territories. Lively, curiously intuitive and daring, Sashia moves instinctively to the forefront of the drama that unfolds. Throughout battles that even reach the Territories, the team grapples with understanding the true dynamics of the changing Earth. Until, finally, aided by an imaginative technique for glimpsing the demise of the dinosaurs, they succeed in developing revolutionary new concepts in the Earth Sciences. Revealed, for the first time, free of mankind's industrial influences, is the relentless and often violent impact that the Earth's planetary ageing has on environments. Subtly different perspectives - on earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, climates, evolution and (with a surprising twist) even oil exploration - gradually unfold before the fimans and best of all you, the reader.