Lieutenant Don Fields is a genius with a PhD in math, but like many such credentialed academics, he also struggles with a limited understanding of people. When he finds himself recruited into an exclusive international military unit populated by other brilliant and accomplished people, he thinks he may have just found a home. Soon, he begins to make friends among these geniuses, who, like him, were recruited from all over the world. To his surprise, he finds that not only can he make friends, but he can also fall in love. It's not long, however, before he deduces that the unit has enemies-powerful enemies who are willing to do anything they can to harm him. And because of these people, what should have been the happiest day of his life quickly becomes the saddest. At their hands, his greatest joy turns to ash. Through his grief, Don is forced to continue his work on the unit's goals. Even though it may seem impossible, the newly shaped soldier in him knows that he must put his suffering aside, because the unit's goal is bigger than anything he's ever dreamed of.