It has been five years since the lunar drilling accident and two years since survivalist Richard Phelps has seen a living thing, other than his wife and dog. Yet, he could see five men moving along the creek bed eight hundred feet below the bluff that had been his home for the past twenty-six months. Longing to remain undetected, he hopes they will move on. He wonders if his AeroStream camper's silver reflection in the distance among the dead vegetation is the reason they have come. He knows there will be trouble when the men begin making their ascent toward his position at the top of the ridge. "I should have painted that damned camper sooner." he scolded himself. They claim the three men killed in the drilling accident on the Moon was nothing more than a gas pocket explosion. But when it is realized the gas contains mostly water in the form of steam, Emma Cross' masters' thesis suddenly makes her the lead GPATT lunar geologist, none of which would be happening if Earth's copper hadn't been depleted. Emma's investigation isn't limited to the drilling accident. She is also cataloguing strange phenomenon attributed to global warming which is threatening civilization. Not convinced global warming is the cause, Emma makes a discovery that may explain the reason for the disaster which has stricken the planet, but humanity is already on the brink of annihilation. Escape to the orbiting platforms seem the only safe havens, or will they become orbiting tombs?