Tom is a Preform, a male between the age of 14 and 30, sequestered for those years with other young men in the Preformery aboard a generational starship to prevent the disruption and recklessness of males inherent in this age range until they join the ranks of the Evolved. All aboard the ship are believers of al-Aweh, the name for God in a theology that has combined all theologies of the world. The Earth is no more, and humankind has come to believe that they are the diaspora of another world, the Homeworld and destination of the starship Oikumene 5. Corinne is a girl Tom's age who is having a crisis of faith. She is having visitations that inform her that things are not as they seem. As she begins to uncover the reasons for her misgivings, she discovers something even more unsettling. A generational starship would have to maintain peace between multiple generations over multiple decades, essentially achieving and preserving world peace. A group of radical secularists seek to change the course of history and the fate of humankind aboard the Oikumene 5.As tensions rise and divisions are seeded, the truth escapes: it's all a lie.