Glamorous reporter Tracy Ballard finds love and danger when she joins President-elect Buck Lattimores secret plan for achieving Middle Eastern dtente and the greening of America. Tracy and an unlikely but potent set of allies enter a deadly race with Chinese, Russian, and paramilitary forces of Lattimores political enemies, converging on Washington States storm-tossed entrance to Puget Sound.

Somewhere offshore the escape capsule and crew of an aborted Chinese space mission have splashed down. National and multi-national interests are willing risk death and DefCon 1 to acquire the missions flight recorder. Who will win the race, and can the losers afford to let the winner keep the prize? Will the Pacific Northwest be the birthplace of a new America or another Ground Zero?

The answer depends on one courageous reporter and whether the superpowers will honor a space treaty's fifth provision: PROVISO V