When Naomi Lohan picks up the plaintive signal from the Magog artefact she is unaware that it has been waiting three thousand years for just this moment... The datastore of the artefact contains much unpalatable detail yet it is a treasure trove of information about the origins of human life on Kalal. Many Kalalese are startled to find that the semi-mythical figure, the Great Prophet Elijah, actually existed... And, that they are all descendants of his brotherhood of prophets. The information shakes a complacent and rigidly hierarchical society to its roots. Constrained by the command of the Lord Yahweh to "bring His chosen people back to Sion" the mission to the Old World becomes an urgent imperative. Instrumental in this momentous endeavour are the charismatic Governor of New South Judah, Daniel Cone and the machine- intelligence expert, Dr. Anna Rosen. For very different reasons the two are chosen to join the group destined to rediscover the Old World - 110 light years away and shrouded in mysterious radio-silence. It will be a long and hazardous trip and, though they do not know it, only the first move in an immense conflict...