Lyn Harlan, a young schoolteacher, finds herself on her half-brother Adam's world, with a deep sense of loss, a feeling of something very important that she must do, and without any memory of her past. She must recover her memory, perform the quest, and return to Earth, but she has no idea where to begin. Adam has been waiting for her. Their father has told him that, when she arrives, they must begin the new race to replace the dying Watchers. Lyn adamantly refuses to have anything to do with it. Lyn is reunited with her cousin, Larry, and fiance, Steve, on a world/city called Centralia. Larry was raised with her, as his mother died shortly after his birth. His father and Lyn's mother are twins. The three of them, plus Adam and two girls from another world, escape from Quinbar of the Centar, rulers of this area of the galaxy, and find themselves stranded on a cavern world with a humanoid people called Bramites. The next generation begins to arrive as they find a way off this world and eventually reach Earth.