Research scientist Hal Cousins is looking for a cure for old age. He thinks he almost has the answer, but then the pilot of a submarine tries to kill him, and five other scientists in related fields die violently in the space of a week. Hal discovers a trail of death stretching back over decades, from indoctrination camps in Stalin's Russia to the building known as Anthrax Central in present-day Manhattan. Now a new epidemic of murder by superbly trained killers has been triggered by what he nearly discovered.