Mars was dying 30,000 years ago, and the Martians moved to Earth. Remaining hidden, they observed the advances of Man and they wait for a time when they can be accepted by humanity. Some of the Martians, Abdicators, have grown dissatisfied with the idea of waiting and want to take the Earth for themselves. One young Earth boy, Angelo, becomes the center of attention for one of the Abdicators, Namir, as well as one of the Observers, Elmis. In the first part of the book, Namir attempts to use Angelo, age 12 at this point, for his own purposes. He tries to make him hate humanity, but Elmis consistently thwarts his attempts with the help of Sharon, a young girl who likes Angelo. Namir does manage to force Angelo to run away, and thus separate him from Elmis. In the second section of the book, time has moved forward 9 years, and we see the end of Elmis search for Angelo, who now goes by the name Abraham Brown. Once again Namir is attempting to use Angelo, and once again Elmis works to stop him. Namir does manage to release a disease which threatens to depopulate the Earth.
