This is the fourth book in the Minerva's Shield series. The action picks up right where Apollo's Plague left off. The bunker suffers the loss of 10 of their members to the alien attack and worse than that, Bob Norton, their leader, is presumed dead as well. However, the community recovers quickly after Debra Vitale is elected their new president. Life inside the bunker improves dramatically and it seems that the Georgia survivors will do quite well.
Unfortunately, outside of the bunker's new private mini-grid, the rest of area known as the Zone is suffering from an incredibly violent drought. Many forces come into play, all vying for control of the planet. Yet in far off Texas, it appears that Bob Norton did survive after all, but the grueling torture he is forced to endure changes him forever, both mentally and physically.
In the remaining ¼ of earth still controlled by humans, the remaining countries still can't let go of their past histories and politics embroil the free world in an ugly race for power. Russia, the only nation still almost entirely intact, goes on the offensive, invading former neighbors, while battling aliens and seizing vast resources for their own use.