 Tom Rowse, a cultivated English gentleman, has given up his nerve-racking job in the British secret service a long time ago in order to concentrate on his work as a successful author. He is persuaded by his former boss, McCready, to work for the British secret service one last time. Rowse has specialized in Middle Eastern affairs and is asked to prevent Libya from delivering weapons to the Northern Irish terrorist organization, IRA. On his way to Libya, Rowse stops in Vienna to meet Major Pyotr Karyagen from Russian Intelligence. He informs Rowse that a certain Jaloud, a Libyan secret agent, is known to be an international arms dealer. Rowse meets Jaloud sooner than expected. On his arrival in Libya, he is arrested at the airport, taken away and interrogated by Jaloud. Despite all his refined tricks Rowse cannot convince Jaloud that he is not working for the British secret service, but as a go-between for arms dealers and IRA terrorists. He is deported to Cyprus by the next plane. In the Grand Hotel in Cyprus Rowse meets the pretty Monica, and passes the time by eating lobster and drinking red wine with her. Rowse suspects that Monica is an IRA terrorist, who has good connections within the Libyan secret service. He manages to convince her that he is an influential mediator in international arms business. She organizes a meeting between Rowse and Jaloud in Cyprus. They reach a business agreement: Jaloud is prepared to deliver weapons in return for a certain amount of dollars. Rowse is to wait in Great Britain for further information. Back to England Rowse meets his boss McCready. A murder is attempted on both of them. Who is responsible for this? Have the Libyans guessed that they have been double-crossed? Then Jaloud s son appears in England. He informs Rowse about the exact place of the arms delivery. The ship is expected to dock in Hamburg harbour. The British secret service finds it advisable to seize the ship in international waters. Every available means is employed to locate the ship that must be somewhere in the Mediterranean.