After almost seven years as Lunar Enforcement chief, Jared Pearce has come to enjoy life on the moon.

The small-town atmosphere and low crime rate are just what he needed after a 20-year career with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

When he learns that his son and daughter-in-law, shuttle pilots Joel and Wanda, will be allowed to have the first baby born on the moon, it is cause for celebration.

Then, Jared gets word of a fatality during a routine moonwalk. Felix Woods' spacesuit has decompressed. With so little crime, Lunar Enforcement investigates any death like a homicide.

Technicians find no visible tear in the suit. When they analyze the software, it appears to be functioning normally.

Jared gives his self-aware computer, Rita, the task of interfacing with the spacesuit's computer. Rita finds the "shadow" of something that has been erased.

This was no accident. Felix was murdered.

Was this an isolated incident, or are other workers at risk? Which member of their close-knit community would commit such a crime? Who has the skill to write the virus that killed Felix? Did the killer act alone, or is this part of a conspiracy? And why?

Jared and his officers race to find the answers before the killer can slip away.