Two idealistic students attending the College of Fourah Bay, Freetown, Sierra Leone debated and dreamed of a nation where equality and respect where not only possible, but embraced. Karmo Bockarie is an avid student of military history; strategies and tactics. His mentor, the old warrior Effendi, teaches him practical manuevers as well as history of war and the ways that all war is deception. His dear friend Ansa Kabbah is a spiritual man who disdains religion, believing instead of the power and destiny of the stars and the universe. They are kidnapped in 1830, shipped through the Atlantic Middle Passage to be enslaved in the Americas. At a layover in the Caribbean, Karmo escapes and vows to find his friend Ansa. Through their separate journeys they encounter brutality, deception, betrayal and challenges to their beliefs. But they also experience profound kindness, respect and even honor. Their love for those left behind become a guiding force. They become residents in a foreign land, welcomed and unaware of the other's presence until a chance meeting in San Francisco. Another odyssey ensues to build a nation of their dreams, but not without struggle, death, betrayal and blood.