Early in the 21st century certain factions orchestrate a period of unrest, on a global scale. When the dust has settled and the carnage stopped the world is a different place. The story takes place in a now largely destroyed urban 'Zone'. At the centre lies the City, where the elite authorities and the 'winners' reside and work. Outside are the few communities that have made it through the 'trouble'.
The tale begins with the main character making his way home across the Zone, pausing only to set up a clandestine meeting. He is an unusual Zonie, working outside the Zone while still living within. Also, he is a member of the Quizmasters, a group of people who put on very popular quizzes in a few close communities. The quizzes pass for serious entertainment in the communities in this post 'trouble' era.
However, the authorities, ruthless and all powerful, are suspicious. From their base at City Central Control they have noticed a pattern of deaths associated with the quizzes. Worried about the possible involvement of a burgeoning resistance movement, they determine to investigate the Quizmasters.
The story develops as we experience life in the community through the eyes of the Quizmasters and an agent sent to infiltrate them. As the next quiz approaches, the main character, because of an accident with a new meteorite comes under the control of the extra-terrestrial prokaryote. Really a loose collection of cell-size life; an alien sentient extremophile capable of a symbiotic relationship within its host. It has its own agenda. From beyond the furthest reaches of the Oort Cloud, at the very edge of the Solar System, this organism is trying to return there.
The quiz turns out to be particularly deadly and the authorities spring their trap. The rest of the tale deals with the resulting interrogation and the attempts of the prokaryote to protect its host. They are up against intrusive technology, unbeatable lie-detectors, and a powerful enemy consumed by a desire for retribution. But the prokaryote is resourceful and bent on its own survival. One thing is certain the main character will never be the same!
The second novel follows Paul, the main character, as he settles into life in exile on the campus. The powers imbued in him by the prokaryote soon enable him to find some security in his life.
However, the growing aggressiveness of the shadowy resistance intrudes into his peaceful attempts to start again. Explosive strikes on the campus and on the nearby top-secret Research Complex stir the authorities. Soon Paul finds himself under suspicion by, and rather bizarrely 'persuaded' to help, his former oppressors. He becomes involved in the investigation into the resistance, and the protection of a scientifically important and prestigious mission to Jupiter's volcanic moon, Io.
All the time the prokaryote maintains its mainly benevolent hold on Paul. Constantly searching for a means to return home, it pushes, manipulates and protects Paul. When Paul is introduced to the very young, child prodigy daughter of the highly-strung project scientist, the prokaryote forms a plan. The result will be madness and shocking, but the prokaryote will not be denied.
Can Paul survive? What will happen to him if the prokaryote leaves him?
Years later the world is split into clearly marked out and strictly controlled areas. There is a Moon Base, and mining operations on Mars. Advanced space ships, including asteroid deflectors, travel widely within the inner Solar System region. A World Council is in control and there is an uneasy relationship between the highly developed and the under-developed on Earth. The third part will see the prokaryote lifeforms rushing to the third planet. They are desperate, they need the help of the human organisms. The cataclysmic revelations on the future of the solar system they bring with them have already been suspected by Earth. The prokaryotes offer a future of hybrid symbiosis, genetic interference, manipulation of DNA, and salvation for some of the human race. Together, if the humans agree, they must strive to save themselves before the galactic disaster overtakes them all.