In 2008, the war in Afghanistan is at its height, with NATO struggling to suppress the influence of the Taliban. The British Government has an innovative but politically explosive plan to level the playing field; a plan so controversial that it must employ Matt Denard, a mercenary, to carry it out, in order to allow 'plausible deniability', should it go wrong. Against Matt's wishes, he is ordered to take a technical expert with his team; the beautiful and feisty Dr. Swann Marling. Despite misgivings about the Army, Swann is forced to reconsider her views, as she trains with the special forces team. When the mission goes terribly wrong, leaving them stranded in country struggling for survival, the team is forced to rely on her resilience and courage. As the mission unfolds, Matt and Swann have to examine, not only their personal feelings for each other but whether the information they have been given has been the whole truth or whether there is dark, unstated purpose behind their presence in Afghanistan.