Raymond Charles Brickman III and Kathy Ann Erickson—two individuals who will never meet in space—by chance meet in time. Both think they’ve been wronged and have planned retribution for most of their lives. Threatening to destroy the country’s weather satellites, one intends to extract concessions from the U.S. government because of longheld grievances originating from America’s Civil War. The other seeks no such concessions. Her family killed during the Soviet war with Afghanistan, her objective is the total annihilation of her homeland, the Russian Federation.

Into this brew of hatred and vengeance drop Drs. Victor Mark Silverstein and Linda Ann Kipling, scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, California. No strangers to international intrigue, once again they find themselves called upon to save the world. But this time they have a partner, Russian spy Dmitri Smirnov. Battling clever adversaries, near-death experiences, and a ticking clock, over a grueling three-day period the threesome fight not only to save the satellites but to prevent nuclear Armageddon.