St Libra is a paradise for Earth's mega-rich. Until the killing begins. In Newcastle-upon-Tyne, AD 2142, Detective Sidney Hurst attends a brutal murder scene. The victim is one of the wealthy North family clones - but none have been reported missing. And the crime's most disturbing aspect is how the victim was killed. Twenty years ago, a North clone billionaire and his household were horrifically murdered in exactly the same manner, on the tropical planet of St Libra. But if the murderer is still at large, was Angela Tramelo wrongly convicted? She never waivered under interrogation - claiming she alone survived an alien attack. But there is no animal life on St Libra. Investigating this alien threat now becomes the Human Defence Agency's top priority. St Libra's biofuel is the lifeblood of Earth's economy and must be secured. A vast expedition is mounted via the Newcastle gateway, and teams of experts are dispatched to the planet - along with Angela Tramelo. When murders begin inside the St Libra rainforest, Angela is suspected again.