Flight time from London to Sydney: three hours.Sabre 005, a synergetic, air-breathing rocket engine,will revolutionise air travel as the world knows it.

Paul Santos, a French engineer, developed the aircraft with his government. A jet in the atmosphere and a rocket in space, Sabre 005 is set for its first ever commercial test flight - and its first fare-paying passengers are already scheduled for two years' time.

Joe Yavanoski, union boss for the United States civil aviation authority, knows the threat Sabre 005 poses.Its success will spell the death of his country's former great aircraft industry and the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. Including that of top technical engineer Jean Lesseps.

Together, Yavanoski and Lesseps hatch a plan to shatter the public's confidence for ever - the perfect, undetectable bomb that will wipe out Sabre 005, its passengers and its crew, once and for all All they have to do is get it on board...