December 1999. The United States relinquishes control of the Panama Canal. The Chinese-owned Panama Ports Company assumes control and a disturbing veil of secrecy descends over the strategic waterway. A clandestine mission to China's Fujian province discovers that most of the missiles pointed at Taiwan are dummies. CIA analyst Jonas Benjamin suspects that the missing missiles are being shipped to Panama on Chinese container ships. He sets out for the Panama Zone to confirm his suspicions but disappears. It is then up to Special Forces Major Jim Harper to stage a desperate rescue mission. The legendary Chinese spymaster Goldenrod is sent to America to launch a devastating cyber-attack on America's electronic eyes and ears. Amid the digital battle that ensues, a disaffected computer hacker known as Captain America discovers the truth. Against a mosaic of unforgettable characters, where nothing is as it seems, the forces of greed, power, avarice, fear, and honor collide on a silent battlefield in a race against time where most of the players do not even realize the clock is running...