Introduction

Jason and Steve, cofounders of an information technology start-up located in Carrs Pt., a small coastal community on the Olympic Peninsula, are profiled in tech media owing to their innovative software.

Interest from the Defense Department

The publicity catches the attention of the Defense Department which believes the work of the two young men might have important defense-related applications.

Espionage and Threats

A criminal syndicate based in Eastern Europe has also become interested and sends an espionage team to Carrs Pt. to steal the start-up's proprietary software, intending to sell it to the highest bidder.

Countermeasures

But the Defense Intelligence Agency, fearing such a development, arranges for one of its key operatives, Lt. Colonel Elliott Stone, to take up temporary residence in Carrs Pt., posing as a fledgling fiction writer there to attend a writers workshop hosted by the local college.

Espionage Tactics

Using cold-blooded tactics, including murder, the espionage team successfully positions itself where it can conduct data-acquisition surveillance.

Climax and Resolution

As the plot unfolds, Col. Stone is forced to lead a desperate effort at interdiction—one that ultimately involves the services of a Delta Force team in the forced boarding of a super yacht in the Black Sea, just off Odessa.