Frank Mercer finds a computer chip embedded in ancient rock, the last message of a dying civilization. It tells of a toxic interstellar Cloud larger than the sun that glides through the galaxy, destroying all life.Earth is next.With all the resources of Genesis Corporation, Mercer conceives a plan to save a select few and restart civilization under his control. Billions will die.Only the science prodigy Qaara Kapoor stands in his way. With Mercer in pursuit, she escapes to warn the world and save as many as she can. Fourteen-year-old Luca lives in squalor at an Institution for schizophrenic girls born a century after the Japanese nuclear disaster in Fukushima. The radiation gave her a special mutation: the thoughts of others play as voices in her mind. One night, she makes mental contact with the Cloud. It's alive, hungry and searching.As Qaara and Mercer fight each other, they both come to the same conclusion.Luca is the key to everything.