Civilization on Earth nearly reached its terminus. Climate Change, radically accelerated by human-caused expansion of the Greenhouse Effect, and the resulting rise in sea levels created severe shortages in food stocks and potable water. Along with out-of-control population growth, these scarcities led to widespread migration and escalating conflicts between people and nations. The global war that ensued, in which nuclear and biological weapons, along with the starvation and disease that war typically spawns, wiped out 92% of humanity-and many other species entirely. The survivors eventually established a new world order in which science, technology, and equitability, rather than financial profits for the privileged few, determined how civilization was to be recreated. High on their agenda was the reversal of centuries of environmental degradation. Unfortunately, all the scientific breakthroughs and aggressive geo-engineering projects that were implemented proved too little, too late. All carefully reviewed research indicated that humans had a limited amount of time before their world would become uninhabitable-too much damage had already been done. Scientists, with the full support and cooperation of the people, ramped up space exploration with a focus on finding a planet that could naturally support human life. Several candidates were identified but the scientific community viewed E-D-10 as their best possible prospect. Hopes were high that this distant planet could, in fact, become Earth II. Teams of scientists sent to study the New World became stranded there and two of them begat a child named Ava who is destined to change the world.
