It is October, 2001, but in a world very different to our own.

In 1795, a meteorite struck the earth outside the village of Wold Newton in Yorkshire. The occupants of two passing coaches were irradiated by the strange rock. The radiation had no apparant effect upon them, caused beneficial mutations in their children. Future generations of the "Wold Newton Families" would change the world.

Wold Newton decendants include many of the most famous heroes and villains of the last two centuries. Sherlock Holmes, C. Auguste Dupin, Fu Manchu, Sir Harry Flashman, Bulldog Drummond, Doc Savage, Tarzan, Philip Marlowe, Prof. Moriarty, James Bond, Dr. Caber, John Shaft, Fa Loh Suee, Travis Mcgee, The Shadow, Derek Flint, Buffy Summers, Dana Scully, Charlie Chan, Prof. Calculus, Indiana Jones, Prof. Challenger, Carl Peterson, Mr. Moto, Lex Luthor, Monk Mayfair, G-8, Prof. Quatermass and many others were descended from one or more of the Wold Newton Families.

But their legacy is more than mere tales of adventure. Many of the genius-level scientists and engineers of the Wold Newton Families invented machines and processes which changed the world, and not always for the better.

Professor Cuthbert Calculus' experiments in low-cost space travel gave his native Belgium lunar travel while the Americans and the Soviets were still at the drawing boards. As of this date, only the European Community and Japan have an active space program, though the US has lately shown renewed interest in space. The only private organisations with working spacecraft are the Dr. Evil Experience, which is alleged to have lunar-capable rockets; and International Rescue, which has a space station and at least one orbital rocket.

A post war meeting between the Oxford Group of Howard Florey (which had pioneered penicilin research) and Doc Savage and Monk Mayfair lead to the developent of a vast array of new drugs to combat fatal diseases. World population now stands at ten billion, and rising fast.

In spite of the many great advances in other fields, energy remains largly a matter of fossil fuel. At present, only the European Community is looking hard at alternative energy sources.

Robotics has been an odd field, with a number of ups and downs. Industrial and military robots capable of fine, complex tasks have only just begun to take off, largely due to the expansion of LexCorp. Armed with a combination of his grandfather's secrets, patents bough from retired super-villains and his own genius, LexCorp Ceo Dwayne Luthor-Shaft has begun a revolution in modern industry. Unemployment is expected to skyrocket over the next decade.

While a number of artificial intelligences have been created over the years, as yet there is no dependable, repeatable way to create thinking machines. At present, the only two AIs known to be in opperation are Hymie and KITT.

On a political level, the Wold Newton world also differs from ours. The world is divided into 7 main power blocks; the USA, the European Community, the Soviet Bloc, The Peoples Republic of China, The Pan-African Community, the Commonwealth of Nations (British Commonwealth) and Japan. All of these groups belong to the U.N., an organisation whose influence is on the rise.

The nuclear arms race came to an end in the mid sixties when the USA and the USSR, recognising the race for the stalemate it was, developed "doomsday" bombs. These are devices represent the ultimate deterent. They are capable of causing a nuclear winter at a stroke. In the seventies, Britain and Europe each also developed doomsday bombs. China, India and (allegedly) Israel maintain small stocks of conventional nuclear weapons.

One problem faced by the world is the ever-present threat of alien invasion. According to the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, the Earth has been invaded by hostile forces at least thirty times in the last two hundred years. Other estimates place the number of alien invasions at between sixty and two hundred. In spite of this, the majority of people do not believe in extra-terrestrial life.

To combat the various problems with which the Earth is beset, legendary scientist and adventurer Doc Savage has come out of retirement to call a meeting of thirty of the most influential people in the world.

Representatives include

-People with ties to six of the major power blocs and the U.N.
-Representatives of the scientific and industrial communities
-Individuals and non-government organisations with access to military resources which might be used in the defense of Earth
-And individuals who have dedicated their lives to the defense of the human race.

The meeting is to take place on the International Rescue space station. As hosts, IR will be sending no delegates