It is a planet of wondrous and deadly mysteries. Survival means adaptation—yet there can be no adaptation to an ancient corruption festering deep beneath the soil. Something is waiting down there, altering the plants and wildlife, twisting them to fit its dark plan. At the same time, progress has finally come to Galena. The dream of cities and superhighways suddenly becomes reality…and the only price is the total subjugation of the colonists who built them. Gavin Alder is torn between two battlefronts. The future of the colony is balanced on a knife’s edge, and he must choose to stay and fight or entrust himself to a power beyond all human knowledge… …because the creature corrupting the soul of Galena might be the only thing that can save it.