"Before we leave, Lucas, do you mind if I take a look at those blossoms? I've never seen anything like them before."
At his nod, Glyneth gingerly walked over to the edge of the crater.
His voice carried the distance separating them. "We call them Venusian flowers--puffy and milky white, like the planet. I have not seen them this far south. As far as we know, they first appeared after the atmosphere settled down from the impact's dust and debris." He shrugged his broad shoulders. "For some strange reason, all women love them."
Not this woman. Glyneth contemplated the flowers from all angles. They were beautiful, in a cold, calculating way, but something felt wrong about them. The Earth did not speak to her through these plants. Why was that? And why would Columont's women love these alien growths?
She reached down and plucked one. Its willowy stalk stood tall--about a foot high--and hard, almost like bamboo. Completely covering the stalk was a type of white "fur," warm to the touch. Inside the gauzy white flower petals, she saw a clear oval, jelly-like mass, with tiny bubbles suspended within it. As she watched, bubble by bubble floated up to the top to be released into the air.
Exquisite, but again, something niggled her about it. Without warning, the ground beneath her shifted. Dropping the flower, she took a step, but her foot slipped into a deep crevice.
"Lucas!" Before she finished calling his name, the rocks moved, opening a larger fissure. She struggled to keep her balance...but it was no use.
Even as he reached for her, she no longer stood on the surface. Falling, sliding, tumbling, she lost sight of the sky and of Lucas. Then she lost sight of everything as she hit her head against stone.
)
A cataclysmic bombardment by meteorites drastically alter Earth's atmosphere ... and bring strange alien plants that have a mind of their own. Because of "mutant" powers, only Glyneth recognizes the threat these Venusian flowers pose not just to humans, but to Earth itself. Major Lucas Jefferson reluctantly abducts Glyneth as a breeder for his country. But "Lady Bulldog" teaches him that might is not always right. Can he learn from this villager to fulfill the ancient prophecy of uniting the old ways with the new?
