"S.O.S.... THREATENING LIFE-FORM... DO NOT ABANDON US..."But it was no use.Even if rescue teams were to reach them, they would have found the crew of the "Black Opal" either dead ot hopelessly insane. Sent by the Consortium and part of the deepest space probe ever undertaken by man, the ship has only one survivor, Kate Harlin, a woman saved by her cyrogenic lifeboat.Back on Earth, Kate is accused of deserting her crew.... of carrying an alien disease.. of being insane. And as she is forced by the Consortium to return to the "Black Opal" and face the terror of that expedition again, she realizes she is more alone than ever before. For on this mission Kate is surrounded by both human treachery and the nightmares of the past. Her sanity and life are at stake. And there is... NO SAFE PLACE.