Encryption technology keeps the codes for the world's security and communication systems top secret. Deregulating this state-of-the-art technology for export could put a back-door key in the front pocket of spies and terrorists around the world.

Africa has become the battleground of a 21st-century war. As fiber-optic cable is laid down around the continent, UpLink Communications, headed by Roger Gordian, battles for control against his nemesis, Harlan DeVane, who trades in black-market commodities with terrorists and rogue states. DeVane kidnaps Gordian's daughter to ensure his success. Now Gordian must trust his UpLink team as never before.