Life on Old Earth is simple. Under the rule of the Spark Lords, most chaos has been brought under control. Five unsatisfied teachers out for a night of drinking is nothing out of the ordinary . . . until they find one of their students has been murdered by an unknown alien organism. When it is discovered that the murdered student's boyfriend has gone missing, these misfits find themselves tangled in an unofficial homicide investigation that uncovers things they had never imagined. The hunt for a murderer unveils a horrifying conspiracy that may involve everyone from the Spark Lords to the League of Peoples . . . and a force more sinister than anything they could have imagined.