Five thousand years ago, a spaceship from far away mysteriously crash-lands on Earth. The crew senses an evil presence on the planet but, nevertheless, settles in. Since their ship is irreparable, and they have no communication with their home planet, they have no choice but to make Earth their new home. Eventually, the crew intermixes with the primitive natives of Earth. Three thousand years pass, and Sathel, the head of the Xerxes Galaxy, becomes intrigued by a phenomenon he has noticed occurring across the universethe occasional arrival of a messianic individual on a primitive planet, signaled by an unusual star. When such a signaling star is noted over Earth, he sends an investigatory expedition to find out more about this messiah, the fifteenth, according to his count. His instructions are for the investigators to enter the society incognito and observe the messiah as closely as possible and then report back. Enemies of Sathel send hostile forces to Earth at about the same time, and their goal is the destruction of the messiah. Toler is Sathels spy, and he is given one crew member, Sarn, a young man without any experience and totally ignorant of the nature of the expedition. Toler is angry at the apparent shortsightedness of Sathel but decides to go ahead with his mission. Toler and Sarn develop a close relationship as they meet up with the hostile forces from back home. Inevitably, they become involved with Earth people, including Aleah, an innocent young girl, and Mary Magdalene. At times they also all move among the disciples and interact with the messiah. They meet up with Lish, an eccentric solo investigator from back home, who has spent twenty years on Earth searching for evidence of the original crash landing three thousand years before. The hostile forces sent to sabotage the messiah become controlled by the evil force already inhabiting the planet. Toler and Sarn become instruments used by the good force embodied in the messiah. It becomes an epic battle of good versus evil. New Testament events are woven through the telling, bringing a new dimension to the saga of good versus evil, an age-old conflict of universal proportions. The story ends with Toler and Sarn returning to their home planet and confronting Sathel for having placed them in great peril on Earth. All is explained, except for one question.