When the NSA's strong code-breaking machine encounters a confusing code that it cannot decode, the office contacts its top cryptographer, Emilia Marie, a brilliant, brilliant mathematician. What she discovers sends shock waves through the force tunnels. The NSA is being held hostage - not by weapons or bombs, but by a code so complicated that its delivery would impair US expertise. Marie strives to defend the workplace she believes in, trapped in a maelstrom of mystery and untruths. Deceived on all sides, she ends up fighting for her country, her life, and, finally, the life of the people she loves.