Colonel Anton Konstantin Alekseev, an ageing SVR Officer of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service wants a new life. A life on the other side of the world. A life in which he will be able to dwell in peace and harmony with those he loves and those he has now come to love. But first he must overcome many hurdles, not the least of which is his ally, a Venezuelan assassin and the machinations of a shadowy cabal known as the 5th Directorate deep in his own Intelligence Service. Former NZ Army Infantry Captain Bill Jolly, no early adopter of new technology, becomes an unwitting but compliant instrument in The Major's search for answers as to whom may be crossing New Zealand's borders and in the process Bill meets his match, the very lovely Natalie.