Cold War adversaries Col. Jack Knowles and his Russian counterpart, Col. Valachev, are stationed on opposite sides of the German-Czech border. Both men are responsible for a group of troops in their remote settings, and both have been shaped by their combat experiences and a shared aversion to their superiors' ways of doing things. After a defector is killed, things escalate into a full-fledged battle with serious geopolitical ramifications.

Los Angeles homicide detective Jerry Beck searches for the murderer who killed a police officer on Christmas Eve. The investigation takes Beck inside the violent world of hate groups and white supremacists, who are hatching a deadly plot to attack even more innocent people. Beck must also confront his own personal demons, including his growing problem with alcohol, if he wants to track down and stop the violent neo-Nazis before it is too late.

Menno is a computer programmer at The Resort, an enormous funhouse where people can live out their fantasies in virtual reality. Feeding their personal data into a software program called The System, head of security Felix Medina is setting up a big voting fraud, in order to win the presidential elections. His only concern is a group of terrorists, rebelling against his plans. As an ex-colleague of their leader, Menno is forced to help them.