The Legacy of Heorot

The legends tell that Beowulf came to Heorot Hall to help strangers. He was a grim man—a killer, a warrior—welcome only because a ravening monster named Grendel was raiding the hall for human meat.

Light years from Earth, on Tau Ceti Four, 200 courageous men and women sponsored by the National Geographic Society have created a seemingly idyllic paradise called Avalon. Crops flourish, the climate is favorable, and the colony quickly settles into an easygoing life-style. But Avalon holds a lethal secret.

One man, security chief Cadmann Weyland, insists on a more cautious and defensive approach. He is the only warrior among peaceable, star-traveling farmers, and his warnings are ignored. Like Beowulf, he knows the loneliness of the warrior among strangers. And Cadmann is proved prophetic as things start to go horribly wrong. In their valiant, bloody attempt to annihilate an ancient monster, the citizens of Avalon come to understand that they have fatally disturbed the planet’s ecological balance and that the real nightmare is about to begin…