After years of tireless work, a team of scientists and technicians at the University of Chicago have tapped a simple, yet almost infinitely powerful way to produce energy from water--cleanly, efficiently, abundantly--for a fuel-starved, pollution-weary world. What impact will this discovery have on us all? Student machinist Eddie Kasalivich and scientist Lily Sinclair are about to get the explosive answer. Suddenly caught in a chain reaction of murder and high-tech espionage, the two colleagues are forced to go on the lam after being framed for the murder of their mentor, visionary scientist Dr. Alistair Barkley, and the sabotage of their laboratory. Barkley had been determined to give details of the discovery freely to all nations. Others insisted on discretion--and would go to any lengths to keep it from getting out. With a half-dozen federal agencies pursuing them across the country, Eddie and Lily set out to discover who is behind this far-reaching, shadowy and deadly conspiracy.