Backed by a secret cabal of powerbrokers, the Central Asian Federation has amassed a harrowing arsenal of biological weapons. Equipped with the power to decimate other nations at will, only one thing keeps Irina Zovastina from setting in motion her death march of domination: a miraculous healing serum, kept secret by an ancient puzzle and buried with the mummified remains of Alexander the Great in a tomb lost to the ages for more than 1,500 years.

Together, Cotton and Cassiopeia must outrun and outthink the forces allied against them. Their perilous quest will take them to the shores of Denmark, deep into the venerated monuments of Venice, and finally high inside the desolate Pamir mountains of Central Asia to unravel a riddle whose solution could destroy or save millions of people, depending on who finds the lost tomb first.