Synopsis
Double-crossed after an alleged ‘last job’, soldier of fortune Abel Powell sits rotting in the grimy hell of a sub-Saharan prison with nothing but his sense of humour for company. Long term friend and partner Sergeant Harris arrives with a plan to secure Powell’s release. But his freedom comes at a price: the completion of a new, even more dangerous assignment, working for a mysterious sponsor.
Chosen for his precision, specialist skills, and absolute discretion, Powell is hired to lead a team deep into a former Soviet State, now in the grip of a violent political revolt. Accompanied by six former elite soldiers, and Jennifer Healy - the steely representative of the mission’s mysterious backer - the team advance through a harsh and unforgiving forest. They must use surveillance, stealth and wit to pose as local workers in order to infiltrate a heavily-armed military base. They continue deeper into the pits of the earth, rapidly gaining access to the hi-tech underground bunker which lies a half mile below.
Leaving team-member Williams in the control room in the uncomfortable company of armed militia, Powell and the team infiltrate the base through a series of tunnels, lifts and stairways, threatened by menacing shadowy figures who drift in and out of vision, attempting to pick off the team with the poisonous syringes they wield.
Evading their macabre stalkers, and with Williams protecting their backs as best he can, our rough and tough heroes soon reach the secret subterranean biotech laboratory. They soon discover this facility has been paid for with the unlimited dollars of a supreme oligarch and houses Dr Irvine, an exceptional scientist. Her research with Alien DNA is revolutionary, yet it breaks every law and medical code in its aim to create a perfect, genetically engineered human race. The results are extraordinary and the potential applications will be worth billions. This could change the world as we know it, but at what price and on whose decision?
As tensions and mutual suspicions mount, game-plans are played out. Healy is revealed to have previously assisted Dr Irvine in the research facility, and the backers of this mission have recruited her to find the live specimens and secure them at any cost.