Tensions mount as 168 Spaniards await the arrival of the Inca monarch and his retinue of thousands of warriors ... With great pomp, Prince Atahuallpa enters the town square in Cajamarca for the destined meeting with the Spanish conquistador ... The ambush that ensues alters the course of Inca life forever. In a race to stay clear of the danger, Christopher has begun the trek back to Machu Picchu with their young child and Shama, the beautiful Inca priestess he loves-but how safe are his grandfathers, Joseph and Robert Bennett, from the brutality of the invaders? Faced with an unscrupulous conqueror ... there's only one place they can all go where they won't be found. When Joseph and Robert are captured and held hostage at knife point-they must use their wits to outsmart an arrogant Francisco Pizarro. Dangers posed by the invaders become critical, compelling Christopher to get his family to safety in the New World. Unexpected obstacles thwart their goals ... their plans all postponed ... when Christopher is called upon to rescue his son from a horrific fate at the hands of a zealous Inca priest. As the Inca Empire declines amid atrocious treatment at the hands of the Spanish occupation, Shama must choose between life in a disintegrating culture and Christopher's world 500 years in the future. Will they end up in the same time frame ... or will they be lost forever to the unfathomable power of the Gateway?