Covert-One agent Jon Smith is sent to Taiwan to meet with another agent who has acquired the ship's true manifest. But before Smith can get it, they are ambushed, the second agent is murdered, the proof is destroyed, and Smith escapes with only his life and scant clues to mystery behind the cargo ship. As the Chinese cargo ship draws ever closer to its end port, Smith must race against the clock to uncover the truth about the ship and its cargo, a truth that probes the deepest secrets of the Chinese ruling party, the faction in Washington working to undermine the elected government, and the international cabal who is thrusting the world to the very brink of war.