In Tibet a CIA sleeper is about to awake…he could change the course of history.

At CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, a retirement party is being held for Harvey Crocker, a veteran agent who has seen better days. Most people at Langley are glad to see the back of him. Unknown to everyone, however, buried deep in the archives, Crocker has left a time-bomb quietly ticking.

The pawn in Crocker's game is Ari, a young incarnate lama smuggled out of Tibet to be trained for a devastating mission. For years he has been biding his time, exactly as instructed, waiting for the moment to strike. Isolated once more behind the Himalayas, cut off from his masters in Langley, Ari is not to know that in Washington the line has changed…