President John F. Kennedy listens to the secret proposal and approves Operation Alligator. Can anyone tread the deadly, delicate waters of diplomacy between Cuba and the United States better than Blackford Oakes? Oakes is sent to negotiate a trade and noninvasion agreement initiated by Che Guevara. The story takes off when everyone--the Cuban leaders, the Russians, everyone, that is except Oakes, discovers that our hero is being used as a pawn in an attempt by the Russians to deploy the missiles in Cuba.