 He finds himself on the run, suspected of attacking a policeman, as he tries to avert a catastrophe.The action takes place during the early years of the Second World War in the fictional town of Bridge in South West England, which is run by an ancient hereditary organisation, the Masters of Bridge.In the early days of World War II, a man wakes in a country hospital to find he cannot remember anything prior to his arrival except that he has something vital to do, somehow connected to the number fifteen.