At the end of World War II, Army officers Webb and Parker make a deal with the sinister but brilliant Dr. Ran, head of an infamous Japanese institute that uses prisoners as guinea pigs in a germ-warfare program: their silence about his crimes for his scientific cooperation. Forty-five years later, Ran is chief researcher for Webb's giant pharmaceutical company, Parker is the U.S. Army's surgeon general, and the stage is set for a potentially genocidal project masquerading as part of the army's antigerm-warfare plans. Meanwhile, a Washington epidemiologist discovers several mysterious cases of bubonic plague and, though possibly infected himself, embarks on a race against time to avert a national catastrophe.