Cali Abdullah's mother was born and raised in the small, isolated, town of White Water, Minnesota. Moving back, Cali is an outsider. Images of terrorism on television, magazines, and social media, haven't helped the whispers that follow Cali given her Indian heritage. This has added to the trauma of her return to the little municipality.

She faces this torment alone, until the untimely death of his mother brings Josh Taylor abruptly into her life. The California boy, with deep ties to White Water, may just be the thing to bring her back from the abyss she teeters upon as their not-so-instant connection turns into something more than friendship. That is, until they meet the other transplants to this seemingly homogeneous community.

The pair of 16-year-olds, along with Tal Vang and Sydney Espinoza, discover the timing of their moves to White Water were much more than coincidence. Their relocations, like themselves, were engineered. They are "special."

As their abilities begin to surface they are pressed into unwilling service. If they refuse they face a lifelong stay at Guantanamo for themselves and their parents. A terrorist plot to hold an elite preparatory school hostage, is discovered, forcing the teens to race against time and complete their training. They face the loss of their freedom and must endure trauma they can't yet understand, all to become, Northern Lights: Coded To Kill, covert operatives.