Alex Markov, a 27 year old Polish exchange student to the United States has discovered the secret of converting nuclear fusion to electrical power. Whoever controls the process will effectively control the world. An international cabal is determined to capture him or kill him. The United States Navy is tasked to protect the young man and choose Tony Ringer, a retired Navy man who operates a fleet of charter boats to keep him under wraps. Tony takes Alex aboard Willful Witch, his personal sailing yacht. A trusted State Department attaché is also a member of the cabal, and knows where Markov has been hidden. The story builds on a series of attacks by hired thugs, international operatives and a Cuban Mig jet fighter. Tony's contacts in world shipping help him foil the attackers searching for him in high speed boats, but it is a matter of time before they find him.
Tony eliminates one attack boat with a hand grenade, and shoots down the Mig jet with a heat-seeking missile rigged to Willful Witch’s mizzen boom. Alex is an idealistic peacenik who adds to Tony's problems by attempting to deep-six Tony’s store of weapons. In the first attack, Alex is wounded while trying to surrender. The attempt on his life has a profound effect on Kim. He forgoes his naiveté and takes the threat on his life seriously. He realizes that his notoriety brings danger to others. He disappears over Witch's side during a storm at sea. Tony at first assumes that Alex must be dead, but later finds that Alex had taken his snorkeling gear, two hand grenades and a life preserver with him. These figure in Alex's resolution, revealed in the last chapter.
