 In the 26th century , a 17 @-@ year @-@ old novice named Brother Francis Gerard is on a vigil in the desert . While searching for a rock to complete a shelter , Brother Francis encounters a Wanderer , apparently looking for the abbey , who inscribes Hebrew on a rock that appears the perfect fit for the shelter . When Brother Francis removes the rock , he discovers the entrance to an ancient fallout shelter containing " relics " , such as handwritten notes on crumbling memo pads bearing cryptic texts resembling a 20th @-@ century shopping list . He soon realizes that these notes appear to have been written by Leibowitz , his order 's founder . The discovery of the ancient documents causes an uproar at the monastery , as the other monks speculate that the relics once belonged to Leibowitz . Brother Francis ' account of the Wanderer , who ultimately never turned up at the abbey , is also greatly embellished by the other monks amid rumours that he was an apparition of Leibowitz himself ; Francis strenuously denies the embellishments , but equally persistently refuses to deny that the encounter occurred , despite the lack of other witnesses . Abbot Arkos , the head of the monastery , worries that the discovery of so many potentially holy relics in such a short period may cause delays in Leibowitz 's canonization process . Francis is banished back to the desert to complete his vigil and defuse the sensationalism . 
