The Only Winning Move

It is 2015. The Cold War rages on. The Soviet Union prepares for the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution, and is rumoured to be planning the first human expedition to the Red Planet to mark the end of the first Red Century. The United States is launching a renewed bid for control over Latin America, causing instability in the region and concern from the world community. Meanwhile in Berlin, at the meeting point of the superpowers, the body of a US diplomatic attaché washes up in the Teltow Canal, and a man goes missing from a bar in Gesundbrunnen. No one thinks much of either event - a few deaths are inevitable in a city this size, aren't they? And this couldn't possibly be the beginning of something bigger - or could it?