Picked up more dead than alive from the North Sea, Casca is taken to an Alexandria hospital. His amazing power of recovery arouses the suspicion of medical orderly Ieaun Clark and when Casca escapes, fearing his immortality would be discovered, two British soldiers are accidentally killed.
Clark is recruited by the British army to help track Casca down, so the Eternal Mercenary tries to hide within the ranks of an Australian unit bound for Gallipoli. Once there, Casca has to endure the horrors of trench warfare on a narrow front hemmed in by the Turkish army as well as to evade the closing net led by the determined Clark.
Casca's situation is not helped by falling for an Australian nurse, and his identity is jeopardized when one of his colleagues decides to betray him to the military police. Once again Casca must use his centuries of knowledge and skill to outwit an implacable enemy.