The first female president of the United States is summoned to an emergency briefing.Deep in the jungle of Peru, a black, skittering mass devours an American tourist party whole.FBI agent Mike Rich investigates a fatal plane crash in Minneapolis and makes a gruesome discovery.Unusual seismic patterns register in a Indian earthquake lab, confounding the scientists there.The Chinese government "accidentally" drops a nuclear bomb in an isolated region of its own country.And all of these events are connected.As panic begins to sweep the globe, a mysterious package from South America arrives at Melanie Guyer's Washington laboratory. The unusual egg inside begins to crack. Something is spreading..