A breakthrough in nanotechnology is poised to change the world. The developed countries are prepared to sign the treaty needed to accumulate the vast investment needed to realize the promise of the discovery. Only China is holding out. The CIA has obtained a secret protocol from the highest levels of the Chinese government thought to give the final bargaining position of China. To their dismay, the agent carrying the document is killed as the airliner bringing him to the United States is destroyed in flight. The placid world of engineer Ed Breckon is thrown into chaos as he finds himself in China on business. Through a case of mistaken identity a package is thrust into his hand by a man who moments later is killed. The CIA as well as the Chinese state police know he received something, but are not sure what it is, and Breckon isn't talking. Greg Daley of the NSA has identified a mole in his agency. If anyone learns of his finding he'll be killed. He links the mole to Breckon's China trip and goes to him for help. Together they look for answers that will save their lives. The clues lead them into the Beartooth Wilderness in the high mountains of Montana where they face their own innermost fears as duplicity, confusion, and high-tech satellite weaponry reign.