Vietnam, 1972 Tom Auden tries to remember what he saw in the village shrine, just before his world blew up. The memory is so horrifying and unspeakable that Auden buries it, deeper than even nightmares can reach. He forgets the gruesome scene—and loses six hours of his life. London, 1987 Tom Auden's missing six hours have become vitally important. The horrors of Vietnam are being recreated right outside his window; the terrible ceremony Auden interrupted fifteen years ago moves toward its inevitable conclusion. Unless Tom Auden can remember the secret.