Clive Franklin, a Russian language expert in the Foreign Office, is unexpectedly summoned to Moscow to act as translator for the British Prime Minister. His life is turned upside down when, after more than a decade, he discovers that his former lover, Marina Volina, is now the Russian President's interpreter. At the embassy, Clive learns of a Russian plan to cut the undersea cables connecting the United States to the United Kingdom, which would cripple communications and collapse the Western economy. Marina stuns Clive with the news that she is willing to help stop the attack, betraying her country in exchange for a new life and identity. What are the odds that two lovers, with the FSB hot on their heels, can save the UK and Western Europe from economic collapse?