While the stories are divided by thread, once the time travel begins the story switches between the two threads periodically.
—
It's been two years since the last Hawkins/Plimpton adventure. Our main narrator is Rebecca Plimpton, youngest child of Garth and Jenny Plimpton. And per her view, things are looking good! Harry Hawkins is coming back from his mission in two weeks, Meagan Hawkins is about to start her senior year of high school, and Mary Ben Symeon (now a ward of the Hawkins family) finally has her driver’s license!
But there are two threats looming; first and foremost, twelve-year-old Joshua Plimpton’s ambitions. The eldest of Garth and Jenny Plimpton's two children, he lived his first six years in Nephite times, and he’s beginning to wonder why they don’t save them from being destroyed. And at the same time, while working in Mexico Apollus Brutus Severillus comes across a man who seeks the Sword of Akish, and claims that he’ll do whatever it takes to recover it. His name? Todd Finlay. And during their conversation, Apollus lets it slip that he's not from Ancient America, but ancient Judea, and Finlay realizes that you can travel to more than one time. He also reveals that during a career of purveying witch-related talismans, he's obtained two shining white stones he wears around his neck, which he refers to as seerstones.
The next weekend, Apollus quits his job and starts driving up to Utah, determined to warn the Hawkins about Finlay. But he is too late. Jim, Garth and Jenny are all away for work, with Mary babysitting Joshua and Becky. When Mary takes the two to a local theme park, Finlay kidnaps them, and leaves a note telling the senior Hawkins/Plimptons to show up at Frost Cave by the next morning. It's clear what he wants - for one of them to lead him through the caves to ancient times.
With the parents unable to get back in time, Mary, Megan, Megan's boyfriend Ryan, and a newly arrived Apollus start driving to Frost Cave in the hope that they'll be able to make the exchange themselves. That morning, Joshua manages to create an opening for Becky to escape, but is left behind with an enraged Finlay, who makes an important discovery - Joshua is old enough to remember the route through the tunnels. And so he heads into the tunnels early, taking Joshua with him.
Apollus, Megan, Mary, Ryan and a newly-collected Becky follow them, hoping to catch up and negotiate. They finally meet in the Rainbow Room, only to find that it and the Galaxy Room above it have merged, and a giant silver pillar now runs through the center of the room, setting off earthquakes every few minutes. They try to negotiate, but the latest earthquake collapses the platform everyone's on, heaving them into the branching underground rivers that run through the cavern. Finlay goes down one route; Ryan, Apollus, and Megan go down another; and Mary and the kids go down a third.
End Part One
—
Rebecca, Garth and Mary wake up in a desert and discover they're in Palestine. But not just any Palestine; the Palestine of the 1830's, which is under Muslim rule. Becky also realizes that during the struggle in the cave, she snatched the seerstones Finlay was wearing off his neck, and has one right now. Since seerstones are a part of Mormon lore, she looks into it and discovers that she can receive spiritual insight, and it tells them that they should go to Jerusalem before trying to get home.
The group meet up with a traveling caravan run by a shifty extortionist/thug named Salim, using the contents of Mary's purse to barter. The two meet a nice monk named Brother Isaiah, but also a creepy monk named Shika. Shika is interested by Rebecca's seerstone and reveals that he himself is crafting an elaborate sword that he has with him in a cover. While staying the night at their monastery, the three are nearly attacked while they sleep and - with the seerstone's prompting - decide to leave immediately. They camp outside the walls of Jerusalem and awake the next morning to find what the stone was guiding them towards - an apostle of the early Mormon church named Orson Hyde, who was sent to Palestine to dedicate the land for the gathering of Israel by Joseph Smith. They follow him and watch him give a dedicatory prayer for said gathering. Said prayer is also the spiritual boost the stone needs to tell them when the closest time tunnel is, and when it'll open back to their time - the city of Petra in three days, but only at sunset!
However, after the prayer Hyde goes swimming in a nearby lake, and is accosted by Salim and his men, who had previously lusted after Rebecca's seerstone. Realizing this is the other reason they were led here, Rebecca intercedes and offers the seerstone in exchange for his safety. But she is kidnapped wholesale by them, and discovers they've gained a new client since last they met - Todd Finlay.
Finlay forces Becky to tell him about Petra and starts traveling there. Eventually Becky escapes and is discovered by Mary and Josh, who linked up with Brothers Isaiah and Shika again and are heading to Petra too. Eventually the group arrive, but are ambushed by Salim and his men. But in that moment, Becky is kidnapped by Shika and hustled into a tunnel. Becky and Josh pursue, and both groups arrive in a chamber at the same time as Todd Finlay. Only for Shika to make a reveal - he isn't Shika. He is the Book of Mormon sorceror Akish. And the sword he mentioned working on, which he has right now ... is the Sword of Akish. Finlay traveled to the right time after all. And while the sword isn't quite finished, it's about to be finished ... with a coating of human blood. Akish paralyzes them all with sorcery and kills Finlay where he stands. But Mary and the kids are able to break free of the paralysis with a prayer and rush away to the tunnel they need to go through. The three reach a cliff and realize they have to jump, but in the moment before they do, Akish grabs Rebecca, wrenching the seerstone away from her ... but at the same time, lets the sword fall off the ledge with her. The three fall through the dark, traveling to a new destination, hoping they made it through at the right time.
End Part Two
—
In 4th century Central America, a hunter named Lamanai watches Ryan, Megan, and Apollus wash up on a riverside. In his narration, he realizes that these are divine messengers from the underworld of Xibalba, here to help him reclaim the Lamanite throne of Tikal, which was taken from him twelve years ago by the Teotihuacan general Fireborn. He welcomes them, and takes them back to his village, declaring them Mayan gods upon arrival. But his father, the village shaman, declares him mistaken on one point - the white shirt and fair complexion of the one who calls himself Ryan proves that he is the Nephite god Kukulcan!
The trio are very uncomfortable, but make a discovery - in a few days, the Teotihuacano leadership at Tikal are going to execute Moroni, son of Mormon. Since a prophet is the best source of return-to-your-time advice, and since time travelers have ALWAYS had to do something important before returning to their time, they cautiously deduce that they've been sent here to ensure Moroni's survival, and that while they don't like being declared gods, maybe it's an opportunity to teach the locals about Jesus Christ. They make a pitch to the villagers for it, and Apollus, Ryan, and Lamanai leave with sixty-four men to effect the rescue.
It's a disaster - Lamanai's snivelling half-brother warns Fireborn ahead of time. They storm the temple where Moroni and other prisoners are being held, but only Apollus, Ryan, Lamanai, two villagers, and three of the prisoners (Moroni, Gilgal, and a lady named Tzi'kin) survive. And they learn that Fireborn is sending soldiers to raze the village.
The group races to get back in time, but are too late to save anyone except Megan. But the events have nonetheless shown the world that an heir to the Lamanite regime has emerged. If Lamanai secures allies, a lot of the Lamanite world will likely join him. And the best place to secure allies? The hill Cumorah, where a lot of the Teotihuacano and Lamanite forces are mobilizing right now, to finally wipe out the Nephites once and for all.
Moroni proposes an alliance - if Lamanai unites the Lamanite people and promises not to destroy the Nephites, the Nephites will help him depose the Teotihuacanos and reclaim his throne. But to do that, he'll have to negotiate with Mormon, Moroni's father, who's at the hill right now. Ryan, Apollus, Meagan, Moroni, Gilgal, Tzi'kin, Lamanai, and Ryan's bodyguard Jacobah begin a long journey to the hill. And the Adventure Continues...
End Part Three
—
Epilogue
In the Rainbow Room (now nicknamed the Millenium Room), Harry and Jim Hawkins, Marco, and Garth try to decide how to pursue their lost loved ones. On the ground near the pillar, they discover the other seerstone Finlay lost when Rebecca snatched them off his neck. Harry picks it up and discovers that it works for him too. He gets the insight they need - Garth and Marcos need to jump into the pillar at a specific time to get one group; Harry will have to jump in at another time to get another group. Jim has to go back and tell everyone what's happened.
This happens, but before Harry jumps in, his sister Steffanie shows up, revealing that she's coming too. He welcomes her, and the two jump in, off on another adventure...
—-
This is the first book of the final and ongoing Rescue Arc, which continues for the next five (soon to be six) books.
