Still reeling from the loss of their president, Styles and his team embark on the task of identifying, locating, and eliminating the man responsible for creating a tactically different approach for a bio-weapon, and arguably the worst synthetic toxin ever; one which has the potential to destroy all aquatic life. Aided by the unrelenting computer work of Darlene Phillips, it is discovered that this man also has his own computer guru watching over him, igniting a potential cyberwar between Phillips and Alexi Zvonchenko. This chase takes them to different locations in Europe; ultimately ending in Zurich. That is where they discover that Nicolas Emminger has constructed a virtual fortress; one that is guarded under state of the art security that is headed up by Erma Hartmann, a German national who shattered all Olympic records in weight lifting during the 2004 Olympics held in Athens before being disqualified for a previously unheard of discrepancy in her DNA.
During the quest to find Emminger, it is ascertained that a previously unknown brother was also involved in the president's death. This knowledge is gained when the team learns of a terrorist cell known as the Caliphate Soldiers out of North Africa, which has splintered away from Al Queda, believing that they have lost their way, plan to use a hijacked jet passenger jet filled with gasoline as a bomb to kill the Pope at the Roman Coliseum. An unexpected ally assists Styles at a crucial point in this aspect of the mission.
Styles, against his better judgement, is forced to split the team up in order to confront all that appears to be happening simultaneously. This story takes us on a whirlwind chase across Europe and into Algeria where no mercy is given.