The protagonist of the story is a lowly U.S. diplomat, Peter, based in North Carolina, who together with his wife Sylvia, have made a commitment a long time ago to help humanity uplift itself above the narrow minded thinking that has dragged society into the quagmire of economic chaos and war which threatens to destroy its civilization, if not its existence in the shadow of a nuclear war.

The story that is presented here is situated in the aftermath of a horrendous economic breakdown that has devastated much of the world and caused the death of hundreds of millions of people. The story follows a U.N. conference that had been designed to reestablish the primacy of property rights over human rights. But Peter, and a number of close friends, had ripped up that agenda and turned it upside down. While there had been some movement on the front of this conference, in dealing with the fundamental rights of humanity, too little had been accomplished to uplift the agenda of the world to avoid a nuclear war. Pete and his friends become involved in an emergency brain storming session, searching for a breakthrough approach.

His long time friends that play a role in the story are Tony, an ex-Air-Force officer; Ross, a science researcher; Heather, who survived the long time struggle of standing between two men; Indira and Tatsuhioko, a woman and a man of Pete's family in India; Olive, a woman who by her very love has already moved heaven and earth; Steve, a leading edge intellectual; Ushi, his wife; and Helen, a scientific genius whom Peter had once met eons ago in a profound whirlwind affair that had set the stage for a radical change in his life that encompasses the entire series of five novels. One more person that is mentioned in the story, is Fred, Peter's boss, a quiet man with a deep insight and a giant heart.