It's early l968, and the war in Vietnam is raging. CIA officer, his nerves shot as the result of an almost-successful assassination attempt during the Tet attack, arrives in Vientiane, Laos, looking forward to an uneventful tour of duty. His Chief of Station, however, needs a big win to further his own career, and assigns Ivorson to steal the North Vietnamese diplomatic cipher, a job at which both CIA and NSA have failed for years. Furthermore, his USAID cover officer hates both CIA and Ivorson, his all-time best agent is shot dead under his eyes, and the French-Vietnamese beauty he's trying to get to bed is working for the other side. When it gets to be crunch time, in the swamp behind the NVN Embassy, everyone in town is out to get him, including his own boss. Ivorson is on his own.