Content Warning: The source text and this section of the guide mention antisemitism, rape, the Holocaust, and other acts of violence. The text also contains stereotypical and offensive portrayals of Arab Palestinians.

Mark Parker, an American journalist who came to prominence for his coverage of World War II and the Nuremberg trials, lands in Cyprus in November 1946. The reason for his trip is to find an old friend, the young nurse Kitty Fremont. She, along with her late husband Tom, grew up together with Mark, but Mark has lost track of her ever since Tom’s death in combat four years prior.

While settling in after his trip, Mark receives a visit from a British military officer, Major Fred Caldwell, inquiring as to why the journalist is on Cyprus, which is under British authority.

In a different part of Cyprus, a Jewish man, David Ben Ami, is hiding beside a bay at nighttime with a Cypriot forest ranger, awaiting the arrival of a clandestine ally. After hours of waiting, they hear the telltale sounds of a boat stopping and a swimmer dropping into the water. Within a few minutes, they contact the new arrival,