"Beyond the skyline of Toledo stands the Toledo Institute of Astronomy, ... a beacon of scientific learning for astronomers far and wide. One of these is George Dermont, ... who's trying to prove the scientific existence of a Gateway to God ... Its newest star is Irene Sparks, a pragmatist and mathematician invited to lead the Institute's work on a massive superconductor being constructed below Toledo. This would be a scientist's dream come true,...

What begins as a typical day for Officer Bernadette Manuelito serving a bench warrant, dealing with a herd of cattle obstructing traffic, and stumbling across a crime scene takes an unexpected twist when she's called to help find an old friend. The investigation causes an unexpected rift with her husband and new acting boss, Jim Chee, who's sure Bernie's headed for trouble. While she's caught between present and past, Chee is at a crossroads of his...

Margaret Mayfield needs to get married. In a fit of desperation, she weds an eccentric scientist. As her husband's obsessions with science take a darker turn on the eve of World War II, Margaret is forced to consider the life she has so carefully constructed.

Obsessed by a belief that highly evolved beings exist on Mars, a turn-of-the-century British astronomer gets support for a massive project to build a signal, which is undermined by malaria-stricken Egyptian laborers and two women who understand the astronomer more than he realizes.