Many thousands of years ago on a planet in the Belt of Orion, Captain Bel'lar accepts a monumental task. Overconsumption is destroying his home planet, and synthetic foods are turning his people into degenerated mutants. As one of the few remaining but persecuted Organs, Bel'lar and his small crew are sent to find the semi-mythical blue-white planet and discover if it is really a place for humanity to begin again. But the visions of his beautiful companion Ry Sing, a mystic and seer shake Bel'lar. She tells him that eons ago, Bel'lar was faced with the burden of saving his people from their own greed. Only then he was the Great One, the sacred head of their religion. He had seen no other way to liberate them than to destroy the planet in a great cataclysm. . . But could this vision be true? Bel'lar and his crew find the blue-white planet, a wonderful, habitable place. They return home but 350 years have passed. The Synthetics have taken over the planet and Organs don't exist anymore. Searching for anyone to take back to the blue-white planet, Bel'lar is captured and taken to the Compound of the Congress where he learns he will be sacrificed at the Last Rites of Ester. When Bel'lar is brought out to be sacrificed, the truth of Ry Sing's vision begins to reveal itself. Will he be able to avoid his destiny this time? Or is he fated to live the vision once again?