THE PAST IS NEVER DEAD, IT ONLY HIDESWhere did it begin?Could it have been just days ago when a piece of advanced electronic equipment disappeared?Or was it in 1945 when a huge aircraft vanished somewhere in Egypt?Or maybe the start was five thousand years ago when a great flood altered the future of an ancient society?Or possibly an event so far in the past that the only witness would have been something not quite man?And how do you pick up a trail, not known to exist? Things do change quite a bit every thousand years or so. You may carefully mark a path through the deep woods, but if one of the marks disappears, as in time this surely must happen, you are in trouble.And, how do you decide to set aside your daily affairs to follow you know not what to you know not where? A faint shadow that at any moment may dissolve and leave you alone in an extremely distant place.The FBI came looking, but the electronic device had vanished without a trace. Luckily someone high up remembered a man with unusual talents.Retired Army Ranger JIM CAGNEY feels stranded on the beach of retirement after his exciting career as an Army Ranger, but everything changes when two young FBI agents come looking for him. The memory and talents of this older man prove to be of great value in their search for the missing piece of sophisticated electronics. The will-o-the-wisp they chase is more the age of Mr. Cagney and is employing methods and devices of a bygone era to function and cover his tracks. For Jim it is simply a matter of perspective, experience and a penchant for puzzles. He did not hesitate and started a journey beyond his wildest dreams.