Element 42: Book 1

What if Earth possessed a critical element not found on any other planet in the known universe? And what if older, more advanced civilizations on other planets circling other stars had spent millennia searching for it, only to discover it on Earth? What if they were willing to fight over it, even if they turned Earth into a battleground? That's what computer engineer and committed agnostic Steve Kowalski learns when he seeks solace from his personal problems on a remote mountaintop in Color...