It's 1968, and CIA officer Peter Ivorson is in deep trouble. Transferred from Viet Nam aftera barely-failed assassination attempt left his nerves in tatters, Ivorson is hoping for an uneventful tour of duty in sleepy, small-town Vientiane. The secret war in Laos is in full swing, however, and Ivorson's new boss needs a big win to further his own career. He assigns Ivorson to steal the North Vietnamese diplomatic code, a mission at which both CIA and NSA have failed for years. In addition to the impossible assignment, the USAID personnel officer, whose job is to protect Ivorson's cover, can't stand either the CIA or Ivorson, and his all-time best agent is shot to death under his eyes. Worst of all, the French-Vietnamese beauty Ivorson is trying to get into bed is really working for the North Vietnamese Embassy intel chief. He killed Ivorson's predecessor, and intends to do the same for Ivorson. Balked and stalked at every turn, Ivorson keeps on trying, but by the time he's waist deep in the swamp behind the NVN Embassy, everyone in town is out to get him, including his own boss. Ivorson is on his own.