Maxine is a forty-something professional with a fondness for martinis, until she suddenly and violently finds herself thrust into the post-apocalyptic world of an alien invasion. A terrible species called the Hooda has come to ravage Earth and consume her natural resources. But another group of aliens, the Guardians, has also arrived to drive away and destroy the invaders, and to help the surviving humans cope with the aftermath. When Max is accidentally exposed to alien technology, she becomes intimately connected to the Guardian soldiers, and as she struggles to assimilate the technology within her and to cope with living on a ruined planet, her relationships with two brothers, Commanders Kavi and Raffa Qatar, deepen.

Soon they find themselves in a united struggle for survival while battling traitors from within. In a final cruel blow to what remains of the human race and the Guardians, a second swarm of Hooda is discovered to be headed for Earth. The key to survival lies five thousand years in the past, and Max and the Guardians must find a way to open a portal into that past to save Earth from final destruction. Will they succeed before time runs out?