In the East China Sea, Japanese and American warships on scheduled training exercises are attacked without warning and sunk by a hypersonic weapon for which there seems to be no defense. The U.S. Government receives an anonymous message: withdraw all military forces from Southeast Asia or suffer total destruction of the Seventh Fleet. Meanwhile, a young woman named Jade is viciously attacked in Bend, Oregon. She narrowly escapes harm when Peter steps in to protect her from the would-be kidnappers. But the threat persists when others are sent to complete the job. When Peter is summoned to Brunei, he unearths dangerous secrets—secrets aimed at neutralizing the threat posed by Peter and Jade while ushering in a new world order.