
Tao offers Noah a share of the rabies vaccine and power to return to him to North Col. With Noah gone and the maserguns to rid Haven of the animals, Tao is now free to find more Thunderstone. Noah and Becky return to North Col, but where is everyone? What is happening? Was Tao right? They find Dr. Pretorius who confirms Noah's fears, rats have been sighted in North Col. Producing the vials of vaccine given to him by Tao, Noah tells Dr. Pretorius everything. Until the vaccine can be tested Dr. Pretorius advises them they must hide, there's nothing he could do if the Triumvirate found them. In Haven, Tao has the breakthrough he needs, a lead to a strong concentration of Thunderstone in the mountains. But the Sandtriber presence there must be eliminated. Marshalling his Protector forces, they move out in convoy. Nothing can stop him now!
2020 is the year in which Noah Daniels lives with his family. Back in 2002 a comet Nemesis destroyed the Earth's surface along with humans and animals. The few that survived live underground in a place called North Col. Noah is gifted in ways, but it is his fascination with the holodeck with proves to be costly. The holodeck with was once used is now left to gather dust, until Noah starts it up and lands in Haven.
After being captured by a group of Nomads, Noah is still trying to figure out how far back into the past he is. The Nomads are a small band of children who are pursued by another older group of youths called the Protectors who runs a mine. In this time, the most powerful substance is Thunderstone and this is what Tao of the Protectors is currently mining. A sensing device, provided by a mysterious man in a cloak is a new weapon for tracking down the Nomads. Back in North Col, Noah has been noticed as being missing.