The train carries Jewish emigrants from Moscow for eventual passage to Israel. Two men await the train's arrival -- one, chief of the First Directorate of the KGB; the other, the head of Israeli Intelligence. A pawn in their cat-and-mouse game of espionage and counter-espionage is Steve Barth, a student at Hebrew University, formerly of the University of California. Unaware of his role in the game, he agrees to pick up some Hebrew texts from an Israeli group and smuggle them to Jews in Moscow. Assigned to accompany him on his trip is Susan Stern, young, attractive, and also American. The tragic outcome of their assignment is, for Steve, the beginning of a maelstrom.