Parallax Red: Book Summary
The novel begins with a group of magistrates packed into a sandcat heading towards the redoubt located south of the ruins of Washington DC. They are to check out the redoubt for signs of recent habitation.
Inside this redoubt the mags find small, child like footprints in the dust and are suddenly attacked by a strange creature. A molecular disruption weapon wipes out all the baron's soldiers.
Ten days have passes since Brigid and Kane returned from the past. They, along with Grant are in a pass near the redoubt. They picked up a group of roamers and are watching them carefully. These roamers have a small group of natives as captives.
Kane goes out to meet them and tells them straight out to turn around and return the way they came. The leader of the group offers one of the virgin native girls as a tribute in order to let them pass. Kane refuses, and draws his sin eater. When the brigands see the weapon, they attack.
Kane gets Brigid to blow charges that they planted and all but the leader of the brigands are wiped out. La Lupo Garou, the leader, and Kane get into a hand to hand fight. Kane receives a cut along his arm, and is saved when a native kills the man. He calls out to Kane, thanking him for his help.
Lakes goes outside to talk to Domi briefly. As they talk the others arrive back after the encounter with the Brigands. Kane informs Lakesh that the pass is now permanently blocked and that they probably wont have to worry about intruders for quite a while.
A tech informs Lakesh that Papa redoubt, the redoubt located near the Washington hole has recently been activated but they don't have a traceable signal. Lakesh wants Kane to check it out.
Brigid goes to the redoubt pool for a swim. She meets the latest addition to the redoubt personal. A oriental beauty named Beth Li Rouch. Her sole purpose is to be a breeder, to bare children of Kane and others. Brigid is enraged and is ready to hit the woman when she learns this, especially when she is quite eager to bed Kane.
Kane enters just as Brigid is going to clock the other woman. Beth Li doesn't bother to cover herself and makes herself as sensual as possible, nor does she hid her attentions towards Kane.
Brigid and Kane talk about Rouch, and about Dafoe saying that Kane is going psychotic. And that Brigid has some sort of control over him. As he has done down right insane things to help or protect her. Brigid claims she doesn’t' have control over him and that Dafoe is mistaken. Kane disagrees as she leaves. She does have some sort of hold on him.
Baron sharp, the direct genetic descendent of the original Baron Sharp that ruled the barony nearly one hundred years before near the Washington Hole. Like his ancestor, he is a little insane. After learning about the loss of the group of Magistrates when they went to check out redoubt Papa, on a whim, he decides to go along with them.
Baron Sharp brings a doomie with him, and ancient man named Crawler who was part of the original baron Sharpe's mutie zoo long ago.
After the encounter with Beth Li, Brigid confronts Lakesh about it and his breeding program. She is incredibly angry about it, but is shocked when she learns that she has suffered a great deal of chromosomal damage due to the exposure to the Archon device in the black city months before.
They learn that Bry can't find the destination of the redoubt from which the traveler arrived from. Lakesh wants people to go to the redoubt so they can get the memory core from the mat trans for study. He shocks them all when he announces that he will go along as well.
The small group arrive in the redoubt and Lakesh starts removing the memory core. Brigid and Kane both go exploring and they discover the corpse of a mutie creature that had been killed by the Magistrates, as well as the melted remains of the Magistrates themselves. They call for Lakesh to join them so they can figure out what killed the soldiers.
After inspecting the corpses, he tells them that it was a molecular disrupter that killed the Magistrates. At that time three Deathbirds arrive at the redoubt, so the all bid a hasty retreat, taking the corpse of the creature with them for further examination back at the redoubt.
On the way into the redoubt, the Baron is having a wonderful time. One of his Magistrates, a man named Erikson tells the baron that its far too dangerous for him to enter the redoubt. The baron looks towards Crawler for guidance, and then kills the Magistrate who questioned him. They head into the redoubt and make their way to the gateway.
Kane is acting as rear guard when the baron and crawler catch up to him. Kane ends up shooting the baron, and it's unclear whether or not he baron is killed. He offers to let Crawler come with him, but the ancient man declines. He would rather stay with his baron. During the fight Kane has his knee injured.
They jump out of the redoubt back to Cerberus. The corpse is taken to Dafoe for dissection and an autopsy. Kane also heads to the medi lab so he could get Dafoe to look at his knee. On the way he runs into Beth Li who is openly sexual with him, but he ignores her. She offers to help him to the med lab.
When the arrive the autopsy on the creature is well under way. They learn a great deal about it, and figure that it comes from a low oxygen, low gravity environment. Lakesh asks them to come to the main control room as soon as they can.
When they get there, they learn about the space station, Parallax Red, as well as the rumors regarding a moon base, and even a colony on Mars itself.
Lakesh wants the group to head to the space station and check it out, see if it's inhabited or not. He takes them to the armory and suits them up in special suits to protect them from the cold and thin air they will more than likely encounter. They are all ready, if not eager to go. Grant, Kane and Brigid will be exploring.
The next day at seven AM the gather at the gateway and are prepared to leave. Domi kisses Grant on the faceplate and they enter the gateway and activate the jump.
The gateway walls of Parallax Red are colored a dark Blue. They go into the main portion of the space station and get a chance to look at the station due to external camera's. Parallax Red looks to be in pretty bad shape. The group continues to explore the station.
They come across an observation port and open it. The direct sunlight momentarily blinds them and they come under attack by a creature that resembles the dead one they took from Redoubt Papa.
After a brief struggle, they manage to subdue the 'troll' as they dubbed it. It takes them to an elevator. After it reaches it's destination, they come under attack from another sonic weapon. The entire group is rendered unconscious.
When Brigid awakens she finds herself on a table. A man asks her name and wants to know what she is doing on the station. She decides to tell him that they are on a recce from earth. He introduces himself as Sindri. He asks her to simply behave and be civil.
His people, the Trans adapts, or Trolls are Martians. Genetically engineered humans bred to live on the surface. Kane and Grant awaken and are taken by six Trans adapts to meet with Sindri and Brigid.
Despite being prisoners, they are treated well and are given water to drink. They even meet the station inhabitants. A cat, who's family has been feeding off the station rats for generations.
It turns out that Sindri's been on the station for four months at this time and that they recently started to explore the surface of earth, using the terran redoubts. Kane and the others tell Sindri that they found the corpse of a Trans Adapt, but were not the ones that killed it.
They learn a little about Sindri and his fellow Trans Adapts, and that they are most indeed from Mars. They are the descendants of the colonists who were trapped on the surface nearly two centuries before. There are only fifty Trans Adapts left.
As an example of the technology they possess, Sindri has one of his fellow Trans Adapts use the harp on Kane, causing exquisite pain, then uses it to actually heal his injured knee. They are then told that the Martians need to return to earth as they are the very last Martian generation and have no future on the red planet.
Sindri wants to work out a bargain, a trade for their help. He is forced to use the Harp on Kane. In the end, Kane has no choice but to reluctantly agree to do a trade with them.
But despite everything, Sindri is unable to get the full co-operation he wants. In the end, using a combination of the harp and drugs, he renders all three unconscious.
Brigid comes around and witnesses both Kane and Grant strapped to a table, naked, and are being milked of their sperm. She is also strapped naked to a table and is in the process of being prepared for harvesting. When Sindri notices that she is awake, he has her put out again.
Two days have passed and Kane wakes up. He is stunned to see that they are on the red planet. His groin is very sore and he finds it chapped. Trans Adapts come and take him to have dinner with the others.
After the meal they are taken around the compound then shown a historical holographic projection on the colony and the Trans Adapts themselves. Sindri informs them that Mars is forever cut off from the Archon influence due to the great pyramids. Turns out that they emit a sonic frequency that is deadly to the Archons. It is the last weapon left from a great war that took place between the Danaan (Archons) and the Annunaki. After the history lesson, Sindri explains to the group about the war that occurred between the Trans Adapts and the human colonists that used to live on Mars.
The Trans adapts are dying. They have short life spans, and have been rendered infertile due to the same harmonics that prevent the Archons from ever returning. Almost on a whim, Sindri takes the group to meet his human father.
The little man's father lives in one of the smaller pyramids. There is open animosity between them, and his father, Micha Harwin, calls him little Buddha. The name enrages Sindri even more.
Sindri demands that his father set the harmonics right but the old man is unable to due so. They leave, but not before Micha mouths the words 'he's lying' to Grant, then traces an X in Grants hand when they shake.
Back at the main Martian base both Grant and Kane are separated from Brigid and locked up. They discuss what the old man did and try to locate the X dome inside one of the technical manuals stored in their prison. They figure that the gateway will be located inside the X dome.
Kane decides to go hunting. He takes an air vent that is located in the room. He hopes to find the environmental controls so he can increase the oxygen content, thus making the Trans Adapts oxygen drunk. Easier for them all the escape that way.
Brigid is alone with Sindri and learns his true plans to use a weapon known as the Thor's Hammer on Parallax Red, to destroy Mars. The resulting meteor storm would wipe out most of humanity, as well as all the Barons on Earth. An insane plan.
The man makes his intentions with Brigid perfectly clear. He strips down surprising Brigid with the size of his manhood. She fights him and he beats her, half stripping her as well.
Kane crawls his way past a fan and finds the artificial gravity generator. He turns it off and increase the oxygen content.
Grant suckers one of the Trans Adapts to open the door and they fight. He grabs the harp from the Trans Adapt female named Elle, and strums it, using it on her.
Kane continues to search the compound, and comes across three Trans Adapts who are oxygen drunk guarding the entrance to the chamber where Sindri is with Brigid. They put up a good fight but Kane slips past them. He finds Sindri floating and with Brigid's help, knocks the smaller man out. While he is helping Brigid, the small man manages to come to and escape.
They meet up with Grant and head through the domes until they get to the X dome. They eventually find the gateway and see that it was recently used, most likely by Sindri. Kane uses the Harp on the locked gateway door and Grant smashes his way into it.
Inside they find a Trans Adapt wating for them. The Trans Adapt has Brigid's Ingram sub gun and tries to kill them all. Kane attacks him with the Harp, causing the Ingram to explode in the creatures hands. They enter the gateway and are surprised to discover that the Gateway walls are the same color as the one on Parallax Red.
They jump out and arrive on Parallax Red. They follow Sindri through the station all the way to Thor's Hammer. Sindri attacks them, using a molecular disrupter cannon on remote. With a combination of fakes and dodges, Kane and Grant manage to get Sindri to hit the giant weapon.
They are not sure what happened Sindri and don't have the time to search for him as the weapon is starting to self destruct. They barely make their way to the Gateway and jump back to earth.
Then next day back in cerberus they are debriefed on the recce. They are resting up when suddenly the gateway is activated from the outside. They arrive and are surprised to see Sindri's walking stick on the floor. A very onimous warning that he will be back.
End of Parallax Red.