The Secret of Mars

Hidden throughout the vast universe are many secrets; secrets hidden to be protected, hidden to be unseen, hidden to be unknown. Some secrets are Predators, ready to emerge and devour all. Other secrets are Givers, bestowing upon the discoverer great treasure or knowledge. While others are Keepers, holding the forgotten truths of ancient civilizations or wars fought long ago. There are even secrets that were never meant to be secret, containing things accidentally relegated to oblivion. But the greatest secrets are the Holders; they carry the fabric of life itself - its conception, its mystery, its existence.

Mars is no exception. She too holds many secrets locked away within her. Some are hidden so deeply they will never be learned, while others wait and hope for the day they will be revealed. Some date back only a few thousand years, and others date back millions. One such secret is a tall, black stone of immense power. It is a forgotten remnant of an advanced civilization that explored our galaxy when life was new on Earth. It is Keeper. And with its emergence, a Holder has awakened. It contains life beyond what anyone could have imagined or dared dream of.
Mary Waters is a young half-Oonock/half-human female and the twin-granddaughter of Queen Europa and King Kiijon of Jupiter's ice moon, Europa. Ever since she was young and heard the tale of the Oonock colony that once thrived on Mars, she has dreamed of finding it. Mary wonders how they lived and what their final moments must have been like. She also knows finding the colony will be just about impossible. When JeffRa reduced the green, living planet to a barren rock of red dust and rock, everything was obliterated; mountains, forests, rivers, oceans and the colony. Not one fragment of bone or blade of grass was left to testify that Mars was once a living planet. Yet, despite the odds and the fact that Oonocks leave no evidence when they died, Mary surmises something might have survived someway, somehow. Perhaps remnants wait for her to find them. Or pieces of pottery or the stone bendicore, the source of their power. But where? Mars is a big planet. To make matters worse, she doesn't even know if the Complex was on land or in the deep ocean, as the Oonock Complex is on Earth. Without some kind of clue or a sign, Mary fears the destroyed colony will remain lost.
Mary's fear turns into hope the day she hears on the news that the human settlement on Mars has discovered the possible site of an ancient ocean. It is in the same area where her aunt found several urn pieces several years earlier. Then, as if destined to locate the colony, she receives a letter from the Mars' Mining Company inviting her to come and explore the area. Bubbling with anticipation and excitement, Mary heads to Mars, unaware of the real reason for her invitation. The Company has discovered one of Mars' ancient secrets. It is their hope that the half-Oonock/half-human can activate the site. Content in their deception, they have no idea that their discovered secret has an agenda of its own. That is until a mysterious sandstorm kidnaps Mary, leaving behind only her empty spacesuit.

Amber, Mary's identical twin sister, is on Setus Three attempting to make First Contact with a newly discovered alien lifeform. She is the midst of meeting the Inks when she is filled with an irrefutable feeling that Mary is in mortal danger. She rushes to Mars, only to disappear too.

An Oonock team headed by the twin's Uncles, Jeanip and Earon, travel to Mars to find their lost princesses. But their task seems hopeless. There are no clues, no evidence of what might have happened to them, where they might be. The Company keeps its secret, offering the uncles their condolences. If the Waters family hope to solve this mystery, they will not only need to discover what the Company has found but uncover the real SECRET OF MARS.