A space-borne super-weapon rains death down on an American small town,
and Blaine McCracken races to learn who pulled the trigger before the
fearsome beam turns on Washington
In the last years of the Cold War, policy and trust for the Russians
have led to disarmament treaties and hope for a new beginning. But peace
is not yet within grasp. An entire American town has been wiped off the
map: not by nuclear strike, but rather a space-borne particle cannon
capable of reducing the entire nation to dust in hours. But who pulled
the trigger? Was it the Russians, making a final bid for world
domination? Or was it a third power - some aspiring conqueror hoping to
pit the superpowers against each other? It's up to Blaine McCracken to
find out. An old flame has contacted the rogue cop, begging for help
protecting her father, a jeweler who has just been robbed of five rare
stones - five rubies that could mean life or death for the United
States.