They were known simply as the Nine. Grim and ancient rulers who discovered the key to eternal life thirty-thousand years ago, and ever since have held the world secretly in thrall. These dark manipulators control the destinies of billions, including the formidable Doc Caliban, Champion of Justice. Once, Doc had been their servant and had shared their secrets. Now, appalled by their tyranny, he and his half-brother, Lord Grandrith-bastard son of Jack the Ripper-have turned against the Nine, daring to challenge their centuries-old supremacy. In the eighteenth century, the Nine had been faced with a similar revolt and, in desperation, summoned a thing from another dimension-a thing with the power to touch the subconscious and cause nightmares. And that thing-Shrassk-was held in abeyance in a deep cavern complex below New England. Now, Shrassk and her Children have awakened. Caliban, suffering from recurring nightmares in which he sees somebody much like himself-and who in these visions seems to be dreaming of Caliban-gathers his closest allies for a final showdown. Together with longtime associates Pauncho Van Veelar and Barney Banks, and his titian-haired cousin, Trish Wilde, whose superhuman skills match his own, Doc descends deep into the subterranean complex to confront an infinite evil, the unspeakable dweller lurking at the threshold between two universes...