3Raymond Charles Brickman III and Kathy Ann Erickson-two individuals who will never meet in space-by chance collide in time. Both think they've been wronged and plan retribution. To avenge long-held grievances originating from America's Civil War, Brickman intends to extract concessions by threatening to destroy critical American satellites. Erickson seeks no such concession. Her family killed during the Soviet war with Afghanistan, her objective is the total annihilation of her homeland, the Russian Federation. Into this brew of hatred and vengeance drop Drs. Victor Mark Silverstein and Linda Ann Kipling, scientists at the Naval Research Laboratory in Monterey, California-and part-time CIA operatives. No strangers to international intrigue, this time they gain a partner, Russian spy Dmitri Smirnov. Battling clever adversaries, near-death experiences, and a ticking clock, over a grueling three-day period the threesome fight not only to save the satellites but to prevent nuclear Armageddon.