Secret Service Agent H. Hunter Mahoy uncovers a plot by three foreign governments to eliminate officials in the line of succession to the US presidency. Even though security is increased and other measures are taken, numerous statesmen are killed. Others are gravely wounded. Air Force One also comes under attack. President James Nelson Weber and Hunter Mahoy access an escape capsule shortly before the aircraft explodes at twenty thousand feet. The fiery debris rains down to the desert floor below--just inside a remote, well-guarded bombing range in south-central Nevada. Weber and Hunter land safely about two hundred miles northwest of the crash site near the Sierra Nevada Mountains but are pursued almost immediately by two all-black unmarked helicopters. Hunter shoots one down with his semiautomatic pistol, thereby eliminating half their problem. They take refuge from the bone-chilling cold and the rest of the bad guys by hiding in a cave close to the California border. Unfortunately, the second chopper drops a couple of grenades into the snowbank high above them to start an avalanche. In mere seconds, the cave's entrance is buried under tons of snow and ice. The Secret Service and the FBI work together to mislead news organizations and the public about Air Force One's crash. Now a desperate search is on to find President Weber alive! The American people--and more importantly, enemies of the United States--must not learn that no one else is available to legally take control of running the country.