“Few are better at mixing elements of high fantasy and hard science fiction.”—The New York Times Book Review The crew of shipbred technicians sent to the planet Ireta were prepared for a routine mission to catalog flora and fauna and search for new energy sources. Kai and his beautiful co-leader, Varian, the best xenob-vet in the business, followed all the standard procedures, but the result of their investigations was totally unexpected.  When their rescue ship mysteriously disappears, they suddenly find themselves surrounded by giant swamp creatures, deadly predators, and terrifying dinosaurs. And a curious change begins to come over many of the crew members—a mutinous change that will lead all of them, in one way or another, into the primitive darkness of a future world that holds many mysteries yet to be revealed. . . .