When famous archaeologist John Shannon (Peter Weller) goes missing deep in the African Sahara, his daughter Diane (Ione Skye), working in the secret archives of the Vatican, desperately searches for the answers she needs to find him again. Partnering with Dr. Neal Hogan (Guy Lankester), Diane begins her search for the Tower of the Firstborn, said to house one of Christianity's greatest unsolved mysteries, and hopefully the key to her father's whereabouts. But Diane and Neal are not the only people searching for the Tower and the desert is filled with many who are determined to destroy anyone who gets too close.