In Athens, a Boeing 737 noses into the gate, and its crew is suddenly confronted by Greek officials waiting to arrest one of its passengers, a beloved ex-President of the United States, John Harris. Captain Craig Dayton, believing Harris' life is in danger, stages a daring escape by backing the jet away from the gate without clearance and taking off down a vacant runway.

The dilemma for Captain Dayton and his precious cargo is that Peru has signed an Interpol warrant for President Harris' arrest, using the same treaty employed to extradite former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. The Peruvian government alleges that Harris is personally responsible for a supposed CIA-led strike against a biological weapons factory during his term of office. But the nightmare for Harris - and the U.S. State Department - is this: There is no place to hide, because almost every nation in the world has signed the treaty and every one of them must honor the warrant and give Peru what it wants - a president to humiliate on the international stage.

Captain Dayton flies Harris and his crew on an against-the-clock mission around the world to find a safe haven, while Harris' rumpled and out-gunned lawyer wrestles an international team of legal sharks snapping at their biggest prize yet.