On the last evening of their first manned mission to Mars, a team person in Tantalus Base thinks he's generated an astounding discovery -- fossilized signs of bacterial life. Unwilling to allow the relief team asserts the glory, he goes outside within an expedition and disobeys orders to package up to gather samples. But once the earth collapses a regular excavation turns to disaster and he falls into a death. His colleagues attempt to recover his body. However, when a person vanishes, they start to guess that the lifeform they have discovered is not without danger.