With the discovery of the so-called ‘living water’ on Novus, Earth is determined to control the supply. Three different superpowers are fighting over the one small valley where the miracle elixir can be found. From the United States, Major Ethan White is heading up a company of elite Army Rangers charged with organizing the Novians and claiming the valley for America, but internal conflicts among the colonists are threatening to tear the fledgling colony apart.Layla Bester just wants to keep her baby girl safe, and Tom Smith is determined to help her. Having learned who the girl’s father really is, Layla is on the run, but it’s not easy to find refuge in a world that is teeming with deadly creatures. When she accidentally encounters the vitrified remains of Jessica Brady and Neil Forrester, she fears that Novus’s deadliest secret has yet to be revealed.Meanwhile, something strange is happening in the skies above and deep within the bowels of Novus. Reverend Mark Cole says it’s a portent of a coming judgement for the invaders, and the mayor of Elysia, Preston Baylor, fears that the truth isn’t any less sinister: the architects are about to be revealed.