Book excerpt: During the revolutionary turbulence of 17th century France robbers brutally clubbed and stripped a young sailor, then left him unconscious to die in the cold fields of a beleaguered farming community. At the precipice of nonexistence, a nearly invisible mysterious being intervened by sending what appeared to be little flying sparks to his aid. These agents halted his external and internal bleeding and help him to begin healing. Thus begins the first contact between alien antd human. Vincent lives, but not until he finds himself abandoned on an uncharted island does he learn who saved him, and why. The alien seeks a sacred covenant wit him and his people. A seemingly all-powerful being offers a thousand additional years of life—for a price.