When Charles Garvey, successful Silicon Valley venture capitalist in the prime of life, with a wife and two young children, finds he has a genetic dysfunction that will result in death, drawn out over 10 years, he begins searching for a cure. His first stop is a startup venture with a detailed business plan that offers early investors an attractive return on investment as well as perpetual life.

In the early 21st century, Derrick McDermott, who lives with his wife Maria on a barrier island off the New Jersey shore, is transitioning from an active career in nuclear reactor safety analysis to his avocation, applying advanced computational tools to simulate physiological behavior of the human body.

Rane, an idealistic physician fresh out of residency, works for Medecins Sans Frontieres in Sierra Leone where she discovers that a plantation in adjacent Ganaland is clandestinely producing human infants. She believes third-world surrogate mothers are being used to gestate embryos of first world couples. For bringing this to the attention of public health officials in Ganaland, Rane is now persona non grata.

Derrick becomes involved in helping Rane, the daughter of an old-time friend, deal with these virgin births in Ganaland. He teams up with Lorraine, a stunningly attractive molecular biologist at FDA, to find a way to smooth over Ranes political difficulties and to uncover what is actually taking place on the plantation. Lorraines academic mentor with international contacts at the highest governmental levels while attempting to mediate, discovers Rane has gone missing.

Ranes disappearance creates an urgency that leads Derrick to tunnels in the Internet over which encryptedtraffic flows secure from the view of all outsiders. Derrick finds someone who might be able to crack the code and provide clear-text access to the inner workings of the Plantation Group that controls the Ganaland operation.

In his effort to rescue Rane, Derrick seeks out Charles Garvey. Surprisingly, Garvey is more interested in helping Derrick realize his Bio-Transport Simulator dream than in providing any information about the Plantation Group. During a storm-wracked night on the deserted barrier island, Derrick finds himself face to face with a 6-6" linebacker from the Plantation Group. He is given an offer even a Pope might find difficult to refuse. All he may have to do is have someone murdered ]