An English trawler strays into Russian waters. When it returns, the captain has a package to deliver to British intelligence. For the next four years a high-ranked Russian naval officer, Viktor Archenko, passes valuable information to MI6. Suddenly the flow of information stops. His contacts in London know nothing about him - but they know that he's under suspicion. The time has come to get him out.

But the new breed now playing the spy game have no interest in irrelevant Cold War sparring or the risk of a scandal. There are deals to be done, alliances to be made. They would rather leave Archenko to fend for himself. Only one veteran agent realises that there is much more at stake than one man's life. Only he dares ask the question: if the war is over, who will fight the peace?