The Orion Protocol (Paperback)

1958: The Eisenhower-commissioned Brookings Reportrecommends that any future discovery of extraterrestrialintelligence be kept secret from the public.

1968: Congress grants NASA the power to indefinitely"quarantine" anyone exposed to alien life or artifacts.

1993: Just 48 hours from the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Observer probe inexplicably disappears and is declared "lost."

NOW: A mysterious whistle-blower inside NASA sends science journalist Angela Browning a classified photo revealing extraterrestrial ruins on Mars. With the help of Jake Deaver, the maverick commander of the last Apollo mission to the moon, Angela's prepared to pursue the truth into the darkest corners of Washington politics. But what's waiting for them in the shadows of a revolutionary space-based missile defense shield program is a conspiracy beyond their imagining -- forcing them both toward the terrifying decision that could end their lives ... and alter our world forever.