The story so far:
Book one introduced us to Dr. Victoria Gottway, pioneering DNAticist. Her research has bought the ageing process to its knees, but at 135 years old, she's still dissatisfied. She's set her sights on a new goal: the creation of perfect life.
She produces the first successful human clone, grown from her own genetic material, but physically and intellectually optimized. The close is "the progenitor of a race of totally self-sufficient woman - genetically incapable of exploitation or self-betrayal."
To aid her, Dr. Gottway enlists the aid of Alisha Merk, a naïve young psycho-programmer, and Box, all-around technical and handyman. Alisha's idealism is shattered when she finds the pitiful creature that was Dr. Gottway's first failed attempt at cloning herself.
When Alisha confronts Box with her doubts about Dr. Gottway's methods, she learn that Box had planned from the beginning to steal the cloning technology. When Dr. Gottway discovers them, the ensuring struggle damages the clone and sets off the chain reaction that destroys the isolated mountaintop lab.