Drake Taylor, Undersecretary for Intelligence and Analysis within the Department of Homeland Security, watches helplessly as terrorists detonate devices in downtown Houston. A few days later, the scene is repeated in another city across the globe. In each case, the terrorists methodically avoid human casualties, providing advanced warning and sufficient time to evacuate.

Taylor, the President, and the world as a whole are in a confused state of shock—baffled as to why the terrorists have so meticulously avoided human casualties, and horrified by what might come next.

Just as Taylor and his team begin to get some leads on who they’re dealing with, the terrorists stun the world with a new threat and a set of demands that no one expected. In short, unless developed nations take specific actions to save themselves, then the terrorists will accelerate their destruction. They also make it clear that, for their next act, there will be no advance warning. Governments urge calm, but as the terrorists effectively take the world hostage, panic begets bedlam and paralyzing fear. Taylor and world leaders race to either capture the perpetrators, comply with their demands, or watch as civilization is dealt a crushing and debilitating blow.