Can rebirth come from intentional destruction? And when is it better to abandon a damaged world or time than to try to fix it? These are the questions that need to be answered for the future people of Earth, whose home world has been devastated and left without water by the unseen force of Dark Energy. In an attempt to revive the now evacuated planet and reintroduce water to it, scientists force a collision between earth and Saturn's icy moon Enceladus. Will the planet be saved or must humanity be forced to seek other alternative habitable planets? From their vantage point above Earth in the last starship, all they can do is wait for the dust to settle.
Meanwhile, Earth in the present is experiencing staggering leaps in technology, as Dr. Stella Cooke, a present-day human who time travelled to the future and was enhanced by their technology (a hubrid), works to prepare humanity for its planet's impending devastation. Working with present-day investment capitalists, scientists, and even Homeland Security contacts, Stella introduces humanoids a combination of tissue engineering, robotics, artificial intelligence, and fusion power to the world as well as the hyperspace ship VARRO that is capable of time travel. As the fates of those in the present and the future become hopelessly intertwined, Stella and her associates from both time periods must decide where and when home is and what being a human truly means.