The narrative begins when a scout ship from an advanced extraterrestrial civilization malfunctions and crashes in the mountainous terrain of Pennsylvania. Its pilot, an agent known as Firstspacer Lors, survives the impact but suffers severe amnesia. Wandering into a nearby town, he is discovered by Beth Danson, a young woman whose husband, Nicholas Danson, has been missing for thirteen months. Mistaking the alien for her husband, Beth takes him home, and despite the alien nature of his memories and dreams of a distant planet, a genuine romance blossoms between them.
Meanwhile, human authorities—including Secret Service agents and local detective Nolan Brice—investigate the strange wreckage, suspecting foreign espionage or extraterrestrial phenomena. As Lors's memories slowly return, revealing his mission to prepare Earth for interstellar trade under the command of the ambitious Commander Imry, the tension escalates. The real Nicholas Danson is discovered imprisoned on the mother ship, and Lors is forced to choose between his loyalties to his own race and his deep emotional attachment to Beth. Through a series of daring maneuvers and confrontations, Lors ultimately arranges to return the real Danson to Earth to live with Beth, while he returns to his people, forever changed by his brief sojourn as a human.
