Two weeks before the end of the world predicted by the ancient, Maya calendar, Dr. Gabriel Stanton receives a call from a hospital resident alerting him to the presence of a patient whose every symptom confounds and terrifies him. Meanwhile, Chel Manu, a Guatemalan American researcher at the Getty Museum, finds herself in possession of an illegal ancient artifact: a priceless codex from a lost city of her ancestors. This record seems to hold the answer to why the Maya kingdoms vanished overnight. Suddenly it seems that our own civilization might suffer this same fate. Stanton and Manu join forces to find answers before time runs out.