Half the world is a wasteland: the other half is on borrowed time. The West has been devastated by epidemics, bioterrorism, war, and famine. Asia has shut its borders to keep the threats at bay, and some with power and influence have already abandoned Earth. Now an escape route a century in the making - the Nomad mission - finally offers hope to a small town and a secret research centre hidden in a rural American backwater. Shrouded in lies and concealed even from the research centre's staff, Nomad is about to fulfil its long-dead founder's apocalyptic vision of a colony to preserve the best of humanity on a planet far from Earth. But who decides who's worthy of being saved? The choice is now in the hands of a unique AI called Solomon. An encounter with a group of military veterans and the civilians they've sworn to rescue reshapes what he considers the best of mankind. But the arrival of a scientist with a grudge threatens the whole mission - and time isn't on anyone's side. Karen Traviss is the author of a dozen New York Times bestsellers, and her critically acclaimed Wess'har books have been finalists five times for the Campbell and Philip K. Dick awards. A former defence correspondent, newspaper reporter, and TV journalist, she lives in Wiltshire, England. Website: karentraviss.com