Frazer, an American army photographer, was stationed in South Korea after the armistice ended the Korean War. During peacetime, his primary job was to record accidents and the arrivals of prominent generals. After seeing and photographing his first corpse, Frazer begins to have a strange recurring dream that haunts him. Frazer receives some mysterious orders that turn out to be an interview for a position on a reconnaissance taskforce. Frazer was chosen for his photography skills as well as his high scores on the military aptitude tests. Frazer agrees to the assignment, though he doesn't know if he has a choice. His team is made up of three others: Captain Green, an administrative sergeant named Philo, and a translator named Remsen. Frazer becomes friends with Remsen. In the taskforce, Frazer notices that there seems to be a secret that Captain Green and Remsen know, but he and Philo do not. Their assignment is to conduct aerial recon. Because they are a special unit, Frazer no longer has to wear his rank on his uniform and he gets treated like an officer. Their main objective is focused on investigating a fuel pipeline that has been the target of many robberies. Captain Green suspects that it is the South Korean army that steals the fuel because, despite being allies, the Americans are limiting their fuel supply. When Frazer accompanies the other officers to an interrogation, he sees a double-agent being tortured. He tries to do something about it, but Remsen tells him that it is just the way the things are done here. A while later, Remsen was shot while they were on a mission. In a small Korean village, after visiting some prostitutes, Frazer found a building with fuel tanks full of the stolen fuel. When he got Remsen to investigate, one of the Korean guards shot Remsen in the chest, wounding him. After a long recovery period, he was sent back into active duty because he was valuable enough to not be sent home. One time after he awoke from one of the recurring dreams, Frazer went down to a hidden beach along a river with Remsen. Although it was breaking protocol, they had broken enough army rules that they were not worried. After undressing and swimming in the water, the two men lay out on the towel. Frazer says it would have been better if they'd brought girls with them, but Remsen says that there is something better than girls. He slowly moves towards Frazer. They are interrupted by a lieutenant of engineers who sees them from the road. Frazer draws his pistol and aims it at the lieutenant's heart. He realizes that this is the scene from the dream and knows what he is going to do. He snaps off the safety and prepares to discover the secret.