Clive Franklin, a Russian language expert in the Foreign Office, is summoned unexpectedly to Moscow to act as translator for the British Prime Minister. His life is turned on its head when, after over a decade, he discovers that his former lover, Marina Volina, is now the interpreter to the Russian President. At the embassy, Clive learns of a Russian plot to cut the undersea cables linking the US to the UK, which would paralyse communications and collapse the Western economy.

Marina stuns Clive with the news that she's ready to help stop the attack, betraying her country for a new identity and life. Clive becomes the go-between, relaying Marina's intelligence to MI6 back in London. What are the odds that two lovers, running the Moscow marathon with the FSB on their backs, can save the UK and Western Europe from economic meltdown?