A talented translator, Jack, accidentally finds in an abandoned Sydney church an ancient parchment from the 12th century, written in an unknown, artificial language. What is it? The cryptography of alchemists or cabalists? An occult text from one of the heretical sects of the past? An artifact of some vanished civilization? Burning with curiosity, Jack begins to decipher it. But the closer he gets to solving the mystery, the more clouds gather over his head. The research center where he works is blown up. His assistant miraculously escapes death. And his beloved disappears without a trace... What forces are opposing Jack? And what dangerous secret is hidden in the parchment he found?