In Earth Struggles, the survivors of the plagues that decimated Earths population are living in twenty colonies scattered around the planet. Thanks to the generosity of the alien species that started it all, they now have a limited supply of power pods to run electrical plants, factories and other necessities. Whoever controls the pods is the real power in each colony, and newcomers are itching to take control of the pods and the colonists. A powerful and evil entity has taken over one of the colonists, directing his actions and putting the survivors at risk. Some of the twenty colonies that have survived are also reverting back to their pre-Rippple ways, with genocide, dictatorship and war against their neighbors. The bright future envisioned by the Key West survivors seems to have dimmed, and the threat of nuclear war is imminent. The aliens that were overseeing the whole experiment are having second thoughts, and the owner of Earth is contemplating another plague to eliminate the humans...