When Dr. Tommy Lee, a Chinese American nuclear physicist working at the US nuclear lab at Los Alamos, New Mexico, theorized that the W 88, the standard nuclear warhead mounted on all US missiles, could be more efficient and more powerful, within acceptable weight and size limitations, he found himself encouraged to embark on a journey of 'discovery' to China's nuclear establishment at Miangyang, Sichuan, China. Scorned by his colleague and competitor, Dr. Carla Stiles, who is unaware of his discovery, he becomes a target of intelligence agents of three nuclear powers, including the countries of his birth and of his adoption.