The planet was dying. The latest catastrophic solar turbulences were giving it the final blow. The oceans had subsided dramatically, revealing many hills that were once submerged. Many archipelagos scattered across the oceans had expanded enormously and the islands had joined together. The polar caps were still resisting, but the gigantic flames released by the sun had caused catastrophic evaporation and the water was slowly reducing on the planet. The disproportionate increase in the solar wind which strongly ionized the atmosphere created devastating turbulence. The surface of the continent was subjected to a process of desertification and the temperature, in many areas of the planet, constantly approached 45°C. The torrid winds, which swept the scorching atmosphere, contributed to the agony of the plants, whose roots searched deep down for some trace of water to survive. The increasingly frequent and violent solar flares caused a generalized migration of all terrestrial fauna towards the poles, where the chances of survival were greater. The insects sought refuge by nesting deep in the sandy soils. Fish survived better and, in the warm waters of the oceans, the presence of species, which had adapted to climate change, had increased abnormally. The large settlements that had been populated by humans had become deserted agglomerations, burned by the sun. Ten years earlier, the government had offered everyone the chance to leave the planet. Almost everyone had accepted and, when scientists were certain that the Sun would go crazy within a few decades, the first departures began. Dozens of planets capable of welcoming Terrestrians had been colonized, and superships continued to explore space in search of other new worlds capable of welcoming them. Thousands of spaceships were built and the Great Exodus lasted two years to allow the enormous number of individuals to leave Earth and settle on new worlds. Not all humans, however, had abandoned the planet. A large group of humans, who for various reasons had not been able to leave, organized themselves near Vancouver Bay where an underground city was built, sheltered from solar radiation. Their hope was to find some ship, abandoned by the government,  to leave the planet before the catastrophe. Three inexplicable crimes shock the community already troubled by climate events and Mortimer, a former security agent, takes charge of the investigation to discover the culprit