Von Neumann's war

Mars is the staging ground. Earth is the target. A storm of invasion gathers as the Red Planet pales and Earth scientists - amateurs and professionals alike - race to discover what it portends.

Worse news: the horde of self-replicating probes suspected as the cause - implacable and all-consuming in its own right - may be only the tip of a full-scale assault.

Ideas - the only useful weapon when facing an adversary an order of magnitude more advanced than you are.

But against such an enemy, thought without action is as futile as war-making without a plan.

Humanity's hope? The "straddlers": intelligent soldiers who know their science - and fighting scientists who have no scruples about using their smarts to kick some alien butt.

Yet even with the right people finally on the job, the hour is late.

For Mars glows red again. And the swarm is nearly upon us!