Following the death of her husband Leofric, Ealdorman of Cumberland, Beatrische knows help will not come from the 19th or 26th centuries, unless she can contact a mythical future community her daughter insists is real. 19th century Glasgow publisher, Edward Creasey, desperate to keep his business afloat, learns of Beatrische and her ambition to be ealdorman. Thinking his financial prayers have been answered, Creasey becomes distracted by rumours surrounding the Far Future myth known as the Last Man Alive. His curiosity brings him into conflict with increasingly antagonistic 26th century governors desperate and determined to end the Quarter Moon phenomenon. Part one of a science fiction trilogy. Three periods in history, the Dark Ages, the Enlightenment and the Far Future, thrown together and struggling to coexist in an unpredictable world.