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 the Technical Officer assigned to help him firmly intends to take credit for anything Ivorson achieves. Worse yet, the French-Vietnamese honey Ivorson is trying to get into bed is really working for the North Vietnamese Embassy intel chief, who killed Ivorson's predecessor, and intends to do the same for Ivorson. Balked and stalked at every turn, Ivorson slogs onward, but by the time it comes down to the wire, everyone in town is out to get him, including his own boss. Up to his waist in the swamp behind the NVN Embassy, Ivorson is on his own.