In April 1942, British spy Frank Carlson is caught in a London Blitz air raid and sent back to 1912, finding himself aboard the RMS Titanic. He has a second chance to complete a failed mission: recover a stolen copy of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám before the ship sinks. German Oberst Zeitel is traveling with young spy Willi Von Haderlitz, having struck a deal with art dealer Sasha Barbicon to exchange the Rubáiyát for a painting hiding stolen British war plans, with Serbian stowaway Vlad Demonic acting as go-between. Also in play: a Bolshevik notebook that could prevent the Russian Revolution, and Black Hand financing hidden in a stolen diamond necklace. Fellow agent Penny Pringle assists throughout. The number of key objects recovered before escaping the sinking ship determines history itself — retrieve all four and World War I, the Russian Revolution, and World War II never occur.