The man calling himself Charles Hellquist is planning to steal a ton of highly radioactive nuclear waste, the most toxic substance known to man. It would be enough waste to decimate a large city, killing millions and leaving it a wasteland for centuries.

He wants to blackmail the UK Government into giving him £500 million sterling.
Against him stand three men - Commander Ben Warrington, Head of the MI6 special task force; Jacob Owen, a Field Agent on his way back from a failed mission, and David Stanley, a retired Sales Director and sometime spy who has a major problem with MI6.

A crime like this has never been attempted before, the stakes are sky high and new rules of engagement are about to be written. One mistake would mean a catastrophe.