An ancient spacecraft orbits silently in near absolute zero on a 105year orbit between the planets Uranus and Neptune. The first advanced civilization on Earth was destroyed 400,000 years ago, but not before it was able to preserve the DNA record of all Earth life, and the chromosomes of frozen human genetic material in the orbiting craft.

Prior to the disaster, Earth has succeeded in establishing a new human settlement on Mars, with its then human capable atmosphere, and where an industrial and mining colony has been working for decades. The characters — Humboldt, Alfrieda, Konstantina, Rotfach, Shlater, Zabana, and Lt Col Oestrum – directors, lawyers, scientists, technologists, artists, engineers, soldiers – interact professionally, socially, individually, expressing their emotions and their piquant views, desires, and regrets, as they witness the loss of the old world for the new.

And MSL, the Mars Science Laboratory launched in 2011, whose “Curiosity” rover reveals an ancient truth.