Margo and Matt visit Margo's brother, John, at a religious conference he is attending in Los Angeles. While they are there Matt spots some unusual jobs being completed by the security personnel. As he tells Margo what he has seen his fears are confirmed by the sudden announcement that the conference has been taken over by terrorists.

In an unusual turn of events the leader of the terrorists demands that the American government deliver 20 million tons of wheat to the starving nations of the Third World. This gets not only the majority of the hostages on their side, for their aims if not their methods, but also a lot of the press outside. Matt doesn't trust them though and wonders what they are really after.