Begins with the death of six young people—three in Mexico, two in the United States, and one in Spain. All are admitted to heaven by St. Peter and given special assignments to interview six important personages in the conquest of Mexico: Hernando Cortés, Pedro de Alvarado, and Martín López; Doña Marina, Isabel Moctezuma, and Leonor Cortés Moctezuma. The six messengers are returned to life and placed in the century of conquest with specific assignments - to illustrate how three men steeped in Roman Catholicism and three pagan women become worthy.