In 1967 Leah Commoss arrives in Turkey to teach on Karamursel Air Station (KAS), an American ’intelligence gathering’ base where secret Russian radio transmissions are monitored. She soon realizes there’s more intrigue on the base than in the air waves above it. Leah is drawn into a frenzied dance of vindictive rumor and innuendo, choreographed by a sinister Turkish woman she barely knows, and whose motives she cannot even imagine. After finding a dead man on base, and another floating in the Dead Sea, Leah is dubbed "a walking international incident" by policemen of several countries. Leah’s teaching responsibilities and travel perks can only partially divert her concern over unwarranted harassment, imminent arrest, and the black market activities she’s discovered rampant on KAS. Caught up in this uncontrollable whirl of events, Leah discovers there is no way to safely sit out "dancing with a dervish."