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Phil Nelson is a wanderer. A jack-of-all-trades who never seems able to hold any job for very long. So how did he become the world’s greatest secret agent?
"All I did was agree to pick up a package. U.P.S. does that every day and nobody tries to kill them!"
With the help of childhood friend Jon Cleary, Nelson has landed a temporary job burning de-circulated and counterfeit money at the Treasure Department, where Cleary is an agent. When Cleary’s superiors suddenly need a non-entity in the intelligence community to pick up a package in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and bring it to D.C., Clearly suggests his old friend.
"It’s a midnight run," Cleary tells Nelson, "and when you get back we’ll pay you a fat tax-free bonus." But when Nelson arrives in Cedar Rapids he finds his contact murdered and narrowly escapes the same fate. He calls Cleary, who dispatches the nearest intel op, CIA man Jim Connors, to extract Nelson. Then Cleary begins leaking word through the black world’s grapevine that Nelson is Agent Alpha.
"Agent what?"
"Alpha, Phil. The techno-weenies at Foggy Bottom made him up a few years ago to intimidate our enemies. Alpha’s dossier is built out of missions executed by operatives from various agencies who died completing their assignments. A few of our enemies suspect alpha’s a fabrication, but you’d be amazed how most of them respect this character. Hopefully that includes the guys chasing you. If they hesitate, that may be Connors the time he needs to reach you."
"Are you trying to make me feel better, Jon?"
Cleary’s ploy appears to work. Connors reaches Nelson and the two men escape Cedar Rapids, even recovering the package lifted from Nelson’s dead contact along the way. And, to his amazement, Nelson discovers he handles himself pretty well under pressure. "Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I could get used to this." But then the ploy backfires when the man who tried to steal the package traps Connors in London and demands to see Agent Alpha.
"The bad guy’s name is Robert Welsh," Cleary’s #1 superior, Frank Derleth, informs Nelson. "Very respected in British society, but he makes his money stealing anything from anywhere. Never fails…or, didn’t until Agent Alpha came along." After Cedar Rapids the CIA sent Connors to London to find out who retained Welsh to steal the package, which contained a computer disc with the list of names of America’s undercover ops and their informants in Eastern Europe and Asia. "Connors has gone underground, but it’s on a matter of time before Welsh finds him; however, Welsh has offered to call of his dogs if Agent Alpha brings him the disc. My guess is he wants to kill Alpha, but, on the off chance I’m wrong, maybe you can delay Welsh long enough for Connors a chance to compete his mission before we pull him out of London."
How can Nelson pass up such a tantalizing offer? He can’t. Not after Connors saved his life.
In London Nelson finds himself in a deadly contest of upmanship espionage with Welsh, who has no delusions that Nelson is Alpha or that Alpha actually exists. "You’re a lucky amateur, Nelson, who will never see America again unless you deliver that disc." Nelson has no intention of giving Welsh the disc – which is good, since neither does Derleth – but he also has no delusions that he isn’t in way over his head. Welsh is ruthless, has his organization, and is playing on his home court. On the other hand, Nelson has the imagination "to think outside the box" and an uncanny ability to do what Welsh least expects at the most unexpected times.
"Maybe I’m not just lucky," Nelson tells Welsh when they meet for what will be the last time, for a fight only one of them will survive. "Maybe I finally found a job that I’m really good at."