For 60,000 years the five races of the Galactic Milieu have watched and waited for the time when human mental development on Earth is ready for the Intervention. As the 20th century draws to an end, phenomenal mental powers are displayed by operants all over the Earth - they can 'farspeak' to one another telepathically. They can build mind-shields and they are capable of coercion by the power of mind. One of these is Rogatien Remillard, a dealer in second hand books, whose memoirs - written a century on - are the basis of this chronicle. Here is a world where the mind is a weapon; here are two brothers, each possessed of extraordinary powers. One is a peace-bringer and the other is an advocate of evil. Cover art by Stephen Bradbury.