After receiving a distress call from a drill team on a distant planet, a skeleton crew is sent into deep space to perform a standard search-and-rescue mission. When they arrive, they find the planet littered with the remains of the project--including its members' dead bodies. As they try to piece together what could have possibly decimated an entire project, they discover that some things are best left buried--and some monsters are only too ready to awaken.

Teens Thea, Coen, and Nova are rescued from a deadly planet, only to be taken prisoner on board a government ship and used as weapons in a sinister political plot. Thea, Coen, and Nova have been rescued-- but it's only the beginning of their nightmare. After being imprisoned on a ship they thought was their ticket to safety, they discover the entire galaxy is at risk. To prevent an interstellar catastrophe, the survivors must harness the evil of the deadly Achlys contagion and deploy the only weapon they have left: themselves. -- adapted from jacket