The Cascadia Independence Movement, a radical political group, aspires to succeed where others have failed and split off the Pacific Northwest as an independent nation. With a sympathetic politician occupying the seat of president pro tempore of the Senate, CIM hatches a daring plan. Eliminating the President, Vice President, and Speaker of the House in a coordinated attack would be difficult enough, but to do so and get away with the crimes would border on the impossible. They plot to frame the commander of The Strategic Global Intervention Team, James Nicolaou, for the murders and steal a revolutionary weapon under development by Peter Savage, which will assure success. With Commander Nicolaou missing, and the subject of a nation-wide dragnet with orders to shoot to kill.