Keith Bailey, now trained and hardened by the instructors at Hereford, has yet to prove to the senior officers of MI6 that he can follow orders and be a good covert operative. In February 2011, he is sent into Gaddafi's Libya together with Graham Peterson with orders to find out where another MI6 agent is being held prisoner after a failed attempt to bring out a Libyan scientist.

Operating in one of the most hostile environments in the world, they decide to try and free the scientist as well as the agent, but - even if they succeed - is that going to be enough to convince the spymasters that they should keep Bailey in MI6?