On a long trail of mischief, Aussie smuggler Rollo Runyan casually planted seeds of a wicked rumor threatening the Persian Gulf oil fields. In a South African jail, a cell-mate taunts him that he'll always be a slave to his passions and, to prove the assessment wrong, Runyan toys with the idea of using skullduggery for good, the rumor to finagle an outrageous world fortune - which he would then surrender to form a worldwide philanthropic trust.

Emerging on the eve of the Gulf War, however, the rumor gets picked up by various intelligence services and can't be unraveled without interrogating Runyan who is now busy chasing, amoung other distractions, an extravagant parcel of emeralds halfway across the world in an attempt to keep himself both solvent and elusive.