Jim Quint, a reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, goes to cover a luncheon speech by the American commander, Gen. William C. Westmoreland. In a parking lot, Quint meets Vivienne the beautiful young Vietnamese wife of Col. Del Lambert, scion of a wealthy Hawaiian family and Westmoreland's chief of intelligence in Vietnam.

Seated beside Lambert, Quint soon learns that the amiable officer thinks Quint is a coward and a traitor for reporting the views of draft card burners and war protestors. Still, Lambert invites Quint to have dinner at his home, high above Honolulu. Afterward, Lambert orders his wife to strip for Quint. She refuses. He bullies her. She does. Lambert can see desire and longing on both something he wants. If Quint can get that, Vivienne is his. A dangerous, passionate struggle ensues between soldier and war critic, a fight for Vivienne that mirrors the war in Vietnam.

Elemental forces drive these three Americans ensnared in a love triangle -- desire, love, hate, rage, torment, sacrifice, tragedy, and ultimately, hope.