Secrets of the past hold the key to the future. Joseph Bridgeman is now a full-fledged member of the Continuum, a group of time travelers that heals the past in order to protect the future. When a rare antique dating from China's Tang dynasty is stolen, Joe jumps at the chance to retrieve it, but what should have been a simple auction turns into a dangerous new mission that takes him farther across time and space than he's ever traveled before. Besides his impromptu mission to ancient China, Joe must investigate a secretive organization that is squandering invaluable "focus objects" for the profligate thrills available only to those with almost limitless disposable wealth and no concern for the Continuum's agenda. Known as Extempero, the mysterious organization may even be in league with a rogue member of the Continuum whose own dubious motives have endangered Joe's prior time-travel missions. With help from an unexpected ally, Joe takes on a second mission, too. Flung back into the past yet again, caught up in a shocking natural disaster, and unsure who to trust, he faces a terrible choice with far-reaching consequences both for his own life, the aims of the Continuum, and the delicate future that hangs in the balance.