Two months after Jason Bourne's second wife has dies, he learns that Martin Lindros, his only friend in the CIA, went missing in Africa where he was tracking shipments of yellowcake uranium. After Bourne finds him, Martin returns to the U.S., but only after he persuades Bourne to go to Odessa to penetrate the clandestine world of terrorist money men there.

In Odessa, Bourne is hampered by confusing flashes of memories. He becomes convinced that they're false, but who planted them and why? And how can he function if he can't rely on his own memories? Eventually, Bourne figures out that the man he saved in Africa isn't his friend but a double, a terrorist intent on sending Bourne off on a wild goose chase while he himself steals U.S. intelligence and uses the information to coordinate an attack against a major U.S. city using nuclear devices.