Agents of the State

BERLIN. Agent Vicki Kahn is on her first foreign mission for the South African government, on the trail of an international child-trafficker. A complication she doesn't need is that the President's son is somewhere in the mix. When Vicki finds her contact on the kitchen floor with a hole in the head, all her instincts tell her to get out. But her handlers have her on a tight leash, and getting out is not an option.

CAPE TOWN. A rebel colonel from the Central African Republic is taken down in a spray of bullets on the steps of the city's oldest cathedral. Next day, Vicki's surfer boyfriend, PI 'Fish' Pescado, picks up a new brief. Find out who killed my husband. Even if it was the President. A brief like that, Fish knows he should say no. Only saying no isn't his strong point.

BAMBATHA PALACE, NATAL. The President is giving a party to celebrate his latest marriage. The great, the good and the not-so-good of the rainbow nation are all there. Also present are Agent Kahn and PI Pescado. The players are assembled. Now it's show-time.