Lieutenant Kal Sands and a platoon of modern-day soldiers have crash-landed in third century Britain. Licking their wounds and fleeing the might of a ruthless Roman war machine, they were last recorded seeking sanctuary north of Hadrian's Wall.
Meanwhile, back in the 21st century, the excavation of twelve Roman tablets promises to unlock the puzzle of the soldiers' mystifying fate. But the intervention of British Museum curator, Sterland Morris, risks unhinging time from its moorings and unleashing a set of tumultuous and uncontrollable forces.
Pursued by a remorseless enemy, Sands and her crew tumble headlong into an uncharted world of unforeseen dangers and baffling inconsistencies. As the action shifts from Europe to the North African province of Mauretania Tingitana, the flexible properties of time are stretched to breaking point.
The interface between reality, simulation and identity adds a complex and logic-defying backdrop to the confrontation between Sands and an unseen nemesis as they tussle for control of her destiny. But just who is controlling who in this thriller that straddles three time zones?