All angles of man's first-ever voyage to Mars are being examined with as much attention to detail as our most brilliant minds can conceive. That is, all angles except one. Humanity's first voyage to Mars is interrupted a fraction of the way there as the ship unexpectedly accelerates to the speed of light then vanishes. NASA, the President and everyone on Earth with access to a radio or television set is left to wonder why. A year later, they are still wondering. When finally the answer comes, it brings with it, not only shock and uncertainty, but a new definition of humanity. "Yesterday we were three superbly trained astronauts, confident that we could shepherd an experimental spacecraft 135 million miles across the vacuum of space. Today we are helpless victims of a fate whose cause we have little hope of understanding." Eliot Manning, MD, Mission Specialist-Mars Voyager Icarus is keeping a diary, even as he has little expectation that it will ever be read. The spaceship he rides is out of control and heading for the stars.