Synopsis Deep in the mountain wilderness of southeastern Tibet a remote monastery preserves a mysterious tablet. Few people have seen it, though a number of refugees from Chinese controlled Tibet have heard of it. They have been told it is an ancient and sacred Buddhist text. But Roger Hanson, an evolutionary biologist and mountaineer, has found a letter from his great-uncle, Fred, which conviences him this is no ordinary religious relic. Fred has seen the tablet after parachuting from his airplane, lost over Tibet while flying the "Hump" during World War II. Eager to solve the mystery, Roger organizes a team of Americans and Tibetans, and sneaks into Tibet with the help of Tibetan resistance fighters. They find a nomad camp near the rumored location of the monastery, and under constant pursuit by suspicious Chinese troops launch their search for the tablet and the secrets it holds.