In the near future, you are part of a small crew on a space station running a mission to test devices and facilities for long-duration missions and off-world colonies. You and Raina, one your crew mates, have been having a covert relationship for several months.

The world ended years ago. A series of severe natural disasters, combined with a global pandemic, lead to horrendous loss of life and drastic shortages of essential goods. While communities descended into rioting, looting and hoarding - nations warred with nations over dwindling resources. Chemical weapons became common. And rumor has it some of the new diseases that cropped up in the aftermath were biological weapons unleashed in the last throes of war. Nations crumbled under the pressure. Now, a few decades later, small survivor settlements have formed. Trade between these settlements is beginning to thrive. Outside these settlements are many threats: disease, patches of chemical contamination (from both failing industrial plants and weapon residue), feral animals, bandits, raiders and even cannibals. You and your family belonged to a merchant caravan moving trade goods between settlements. On this most recent trip, you ran into bandits that slaughtered everyone in the caravan.

Beatriz is an engineer and the leader of a varied team of aquanauts that are living in an experimental undersea habitat several hundred feet below the surface. The habitat is a scientific outpost, studying the ocean and it's inhabitants- as well as testing new habitat modules and equipment for use in exploring both the depths of the ocean and the far reaches of space. The current crew has been returning to the surface, after a successful year in the habitat, so a new crew can start their year in the habitat. Returning to the surface requires a submersible ride to the tender, the ship that supports the habitat, and several days in the decompression chamber. An approaching storm has stalled the process, leaving just you and Beatriz in the habitat. The plan is to restart the process when the storm passes in about two days. You are in the middle of a conversation with the tender, when the conversation is abruptly cut off. A few moments later, the habitat shudders slightly.

Sally is a master spy within the independent agency known as Shadowfall. Evidence has been discovered that seems to indicate that she is a double agent and her leaks are responsible for several failed missions and dead agents. She has been stripped of her tools and confined to any interrogation room. Strapped to a table, with an oxygen mask strapped to her face, she has been left in the barren chamber for a few hours with only the sounds she makes for company. You have been assigned to interrogate her. You have complete control over her - you need to break her and discover whether she is a traitor or not.

You remember chaos: loud crashing, being thrown all around and rushing wind... then blackness. You wake up sometime later lying on your back in red dust, as your fellow Martian colonist Miranda stares down down at you in her spacesuit. The colony dome has been struck by a meteorite and has been destroyed. Several colonists have been killed and only you and one other colonist Miranda Winters, the colonists medic, appear to have survived. Your oxygen supply is limited, and rescue (if it's coming) is months away. Things look grim.