In 1920, Eve Tozer's American tycoon father is captured by a warlord in China The ransom was a priceless statuette Eve had with her, and the only way of getting it there in time was to fly Finding a pair of ex-FFC pilots, and equipping three aircraft, they evaded trouble in France, ran into it in Germany and were helped by a former member of von Richthofen's circus Wild characters are met in the Balkans and in India, and Bradley Tozer, in China, is fascinated by and finds himself liking his captors, even while waiting for the blade to fall on his neck