The briefcase, AKA the football, containing the go codes for the U.S. nuclear arsenal is carried by military aides who always accompany the President and Vice-President. In a strike on Washington, a terrorist group known as "Black Bear" gets away with the prize, killing many secret service agents and almost killing Captain Paul Decker: the officer charged with protecting the football. Black Bear breaks the encryption code, and opens a "trap door" into the nation's ICBM network...and is auctioning off targeted missile strikes. Many countries, both friend and foe, along with a dozen terrorist organizations, want what Black Bear has. And it's all for sale Paul Decker assembles his own team to go after the perpetrators. But he finds that everyone, including his hand-chosen people, has their own agenda.