World War II had just ended with two huge atomic explosions. Canada's first nuclear reactor had achieved criticality at the Chalk River Laboratory near the military base at Petawawa, Ontario. Meanwhile, the USSR embassy in Ottawa was making it their highest priority to collect scientific and technological intelligence for military purposes.At the embassy, in a guarded room, a young Soviet cipher clerk named Igor Gouzenko coded and decoded secret messages to and from Moscow. These messages contained information gathered by Canadian spies working against their own country.Igor read telegrams about financing study groups that were actually "cells" for recruiting more undercover agents, setting up puppet governments, infiltrating labour unions, stealing military secrets, and starting a third world war.When he finished working with a document, all his notes would be destroyed in a small incinerator at one end of the hall. At the other end was an immense incinerator to be used in an emergency should large quantities of documents and codes have to be quickly destroyed.

His supervisor joked that it was big enough to make the body of a man disappear.One day, a terrifying telegram landed on Igor's desk. It contained the widely feared phrase, "is required for other work" - code-speak for "recalled to Moscow." But why? Had he said something wrong or been too obvious about enjoying the good life in Canada? Had he not shown the proper respect to his comrades? Not worked enough overtime?.