Lena Nylander joins Ottawa's Civil Service in 1958, expecting parties and glamour, but finds dullness instead. A leaked document about a proposed atomic test in Alberta raises her fears about the arms race and draws her into a local protest group. The stakes are high – if word gets out, there will be outrage from the Soviet Union, and the moratorium between the global nuclear powers will be in jeopardy.

Lena volunteers to organize a protest at the test site, convincing her estranged birthfather to come with her. Tagging along with them is her new boyfriend, a policeman on his own secret mission. When Lena discovers the protest leader in Ottawa wants her to stop the test, she has to decide if this is the right choice, and if she has the courage to pull it off despite the odds stacked against her and the certainty of a prison sentence as her reward for success.

(A novel based on true events)