When detective Matt Sykes' partner Bill Tuggle is killed by a Tenctonese in a robbery, Matt takes George Francisco, the first of the alien Newcomers to be appointed a detective as his new partner, in the hope that it will improve his chances of finding the killer. The trail leads the two of them to a Tenctonese business man who is producing a drug, SS'JABROKA, that causes a frightening transformation in the Newcomers.

The Francisco's move into their new home, in a middle-class suburb but face a campaign of hatred against them, which mirrors the wider campaign being run by the Purists against all of the alien Newcomers. At school, Emily is the only Newcomer and facing hostility from the other children, while Buck has joined a Tenctonese street gang. At the police precinct the relationship between George Francisco and Matt Sikes is still strained and becomes worse as the body of a human tramp, who has died of a mysterious disease is found. Then a strange and horrible creator is seen prowling the back streets of little Tencton.

A Newcomer police officer is wounded while saving George Francisco's life. At the hospital Matt meets an old college friend who has become the foremost expert on Tenctonese medicine. However, when the wounded officer suddenly dies while undergoing minor surgery and George finds out that he was not the first to inexplicably die, Matt and George decide to find out what is really going on at the hospital.

Matt is reluctantly persuaded by George to take in a young Tenctonese prostitute who has been threatened by her pimp. When the pimp catches up with the young girl and kills her in Matt's apartment, Sikes sets out for vengeance. Meanwhile, George's uncle Moodri turns up, to help Buck through a crises.

George and Matt are both having family problems. George's son, Buck, is still trying to leave his Newcomer street gang, while Matt's daughter Kirby has got a spaced-out boyfriend and wants to drop out of high school, but all his ex-wife, Victoria, can do is harangue him. Meantime, they are both stuck in a motel, guarding a Newcomer who has witnessed a murder committed by gangland boss. But their Tenctonese witness has taken SARDONAC and has only one thought on his mind, escaping so that he can spend time with his girlfriend, Wanda.

Los Angles is ablaze with riots and the police department at full stretch. Matt and George are left in control of the station, when further trouble develops. Then as Matt is called away, a gang attack the police station, with only George, Albert and Susan to put up a defence. The rest of the gang want money, drugs and guns but the female Newcomer who is with them wants something much more powerful.

George is having problems with the tax man and approaches a local Tenctonese business women, Bettsy Ross who has become friendly with him. Matt suspects that Bettsy Ross is not all she seems. Could there be some connection between Ross and the current "Jack" drug gang wars?

Newcomers are being murdered and mutilated in a way which conforms to a Newcomer legend. As Halloween nears more and more bodies are found. George sees the legend of Tagdot coming true, while his personal feelings clash with his job as a police detective.

g scientist is murdered Sikes and Francisco uncover a plot by the Purists and an Overseer to contact a probe that has come looking for the lost Newcomer ship, threatening both the Tenctonese and the Humans. At the same time Matt and Cathy get to know each other better as they share details of their past.

Matt is astounded at certain anatomical differences from the normal Newcomer in a murder victim. George explains that he was a Binnaum, necessary to catalyse conception. When further Binnaums are killed, Sikes and Francisco have to look for the culprit in the least expected of places. Meanwhile, Albert does not realise, when he agrees to be the Binnaum for George and Susan, that he may be next on the killer's list. Also George starts his match-making between Matt and Cathy.

It is the annual Newcomer holiday, the day of descent. While the rest of his family and even Matt celebrate, George remembers the horrors he endured on the ship, playing a kind of Russian roulette. Then he and Sikes begin uncovering bodies that look as if the game is now being played on Earth.

Someone is killing users of the Newmate Computer dating agency, which caters for Newcomers. Sikes and Francisco find that a drug, SARDONAC, which makes Newcomers fall instantly in love, is being used to trap the victims. Sikes gets a first hand demonstration of its effectiveness, when Marvin Gardens, a Newcomer male who was to be the next victim, falls in love with him.

Matt is trying to avoid taking a department wide psychological test, but George has more serious things on his mind when he is disturbed that he recognises a murdered Newcomer but cannot place him. More killings occur and a secret from George's past in "camp 7" is gradually revealed, involving a top-secret government programme.

The humans are holding a nation-wide ballot to determine whether the Newcomers should be allowed to vote. Susan and Buck become campaign workers, for a yes vote, but then are put in danger when the campaign by the Newcomers comes under attack. Sikes and Francisco investigate and find that politics can be a very dirty game.

The skeleton of a Newcomer who fell from the slave ship just before it crashed is found. Nothing suspicious appears to have happened, but what was he protecting? Then an alien box belonging to the Newcomer elders is sold at an antique auction. George's uncle Moodri seems desperate to return it to the elders, since it contains a prized Newcomer's secret. But every time someone opens the box they are burnt to death.

When a Newcomer, Virginia Ham, working for a video pornography company appears to be murdered Sikes and Francisco are sent to find out the truth. Meanwhile, the Francisco family are having a television documentary made about them. This leads to conflict between Matt and George, as the TV crew start to interfere with the investigation.

George witnesses an underworld Kingpin commit murder, soon afterward Matt's old partner, Theo Miles, asks he and George to help in a drugs bust, but as Susan and George prepare to exchange their pod, George is accused of stealing three hundred thousand dollars worth of Jack. Matt sets out to find the true culprit.

George is pregnant and entering the last phase before giving birth, but he insists on continuing working, as Sikes and Francisco start to investigate a body-builder ring using Newcomer hormones to improve their performance. Nick Coletta, an old friend of Matt's comes to stay, causing jealousy when he asks Cathy for a date.

Matt is all set to go on vacation when a young woman is killed by a psychopath, reminding him of an old case from his days on the beat, where his failure to act promptly resulted in him being wounded and a young nurse being killed. Sikes cancels his vacation and swears to track down the killer, who is using Burns to get publicity.

While fighting with a Newcomer thief, Matt is injured and seems to die. Later at the hospital, Matt revives after a vision of the thief standing over him with a crystal. Sikes' search for the truth brings back uncomfortable memories from his childhood and leads him to the LUIBOF, a Tenctonese religious cult.

George, Susan and Captain Grazer invest in a company making an ultra strong Tenctonese material, but when one of the company's owners is found dead in his pool, Matt and George are sent to investigate. George finds out that all that glitters is not gold and Matt finds out that you should be careful what you wish for, when he gets a super new car.

The Overseers are trying to keep their order alive here on Earth. When they attempt to initiate a young Tenctonese boy into the Kleezantsun/ he runs away. The child winds up at the hospital where Cathy works and she recognises him as a youngster that she looked after on the slave ship. Unable to get Matt, George and Lorraine Clark to take the boy away from his supposed parents, she kidnaps him and goes on the run from both the Kleezantsun/ and the police.

Jealousy abounds as prominent Newcomers are being killed by the Purists. George has passed his detective grade two exam and now technically outranks Matt. When George starts to give Matt orders their friendship hits the rocks. At the same time, while Matt's feelings for Cathy are still confused, they seem to be finally be coming together, but after a disastrous diner date Cathy announces that since he can not accept her for what she is, she wants to break off their relationship.

Susan and Emily are both on life support machines after being poisoned by the Purists. When Cathy goes to break the news to Matt, she finds that he has sort solace from their break-up in the arms of a human women, Lorraine Clark. The Purists are mass producing a new bacteriological poison and will soon have enough to wipe out the entire Tenctonese race on Earth. Mean while, in the dark reaches of space even more malign forces are at work, as an elite Overseer is dispatched as the vanguard of a mission to locate and recapture the escaped Tenctonese and enslave the Human race. The CHEKKAH, Ahpossno can be charming as well as deadly and soon Matt has more than one reason to be suspicious of him.

A mysterious Tenctonese giant and his small child companion escape from a military complex and find their way to little Tencton, persued by their captors. When the child is taken into police custody a plot involving an evil Tenctonese scientist and a government conspiracy to create a super weapon come to light. In their desperation to suppress the truth, the government and the scientist, Chorbok, will go to any lengths, even killing George and his entire family. At the same time Matt tries to pursue a more physical relationship with Cathy, but finds he first has to take an evening class in alien sex - which he finds humiliating.

A newcomer teaching aid and religious device (the portal box from Generation to Generation) is stolen from the elders. The portal, which appears to transport the user to exotic alien environments, is being used as an hallucinogen by an unscrupulous cult leader. When Buck is drawn into the cult and joins the increasing number of missing people, Matt and George's search for him becomes more desperate. At the same time Matt thinks he has finally found a way to pass his detective 2 exam and Emily gets a human boyfriend.

Strange happenings in the LA sewers with a bunch of Eenos. Why was Gayle Warnings running away and is the Eeno's waste recycling plant all it seems? No one's love life runs smoothly when Albert and May ask George to help them have a child, but Susan is not amused and Cathy moves in with Matt, which proves a shock for both of them.

A Manchurian Candidate like tale, where Newcomers who were previously model citizens are committing bizarre crimes. Originally brainwashed to be used against the Overseers, someone is now using these people for their own ends. Things become more deadly when it is discovered that Emily is one of those who was brainwashed. At the same time Buck makes a decision about the future and joins the police and a deadly secret from Susan's past is revealed.