Max Pauling, ex-CIA, ex State Department, has taken early retirement to become a flight instructor in New Mexico. A colleague, also retired, shows up offering a contract to fly medical supplies into Havana. This revs up Paulings engines in several senses despite the misgivings of Jessica his live in lover, he takes the deal, after flying roundabout route that takes him through Mexico, Miami and Columbia. He lands in Havana waiting for a contact who will help him with his Spanish. The first sight of her is both breathtaking - She is a beauty - and frustrating. She wants to move at her own pace. Max is a man of action and waiting for the action to begin does nothing for his mood or blood pressure.  The covert reason for their collaboration is to uncover the truth about an intense competition between rival US pharmaceutical companies for access to Cuba‘s, surprisingly high-quality anti-cancer research.