Following an accident where two KGB agents are mistakenly killed during a failed attempt to help a Russian athlete's defection to the West, the head of CIA in Paris stipulates an agreement with his Russian counterpart to have two American agents killed in order to avoid retaliation. The choice falls on Bruland, an uptight agent passionate about his job and on the promotion ladder, and Griff, a somehow cynical and disillusioned courier. When the two men discover the plot, they form an uneasy alliance to try to escape, eventually getting involved with a French anarchist group and an independent French agent.