In Cuba, an ailing Fidel Castro lies dying. Across the Straits of Florida, an anxious U.S. awaits the inevitable power struggle, determined to have a say in who controls this strategically invaluable island. And the American president has an added reason for concern: an arms-control conference has just begun in Paris and, unbeknownst to either the American public or Cuba, the U.S. has hidden secret weapons inside the American base on Cuba's Guantanamo Bay. But no secret remains one for long, and when one of the Cuban factions finds out about the weapons, the excitement begins...

Only Admiral Grafton, on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Cuba, knows the impending danger. Only Grafton can save America from a disaster that would make the Bay of Pigs look like child's play.