Sigma Force director Painter Crowe gathers the usual crewĆmdr. Grayson Pierce; Pierce's best friend, Monk Kokkalis; lumbering Joe Kowalskit́o discover why an experimental agriculture site in Africa has been attacked and razed, killing everyone, including a U.S. senator's son. The future of mankind may depend, they learn, on the Doomsday key, a strange substance brought to England long ago by ancient Egyptians that holds the promise of a new and powerful medicine.