In the Siberian mountains, MI6 commander James Bond, codename 007, uncovers a microchip hidden in the locket of dead fellow agent 003, whose body is frozen in the snow. Spotted by Soviet KGB (Komitet gosudarstvennoy benopasnosti) patrolmen, Bond flees down the slopes and escapes in a submarine. Back in London, England, MI6 technology expert, “Q,” examines the chip and reveals that the silicon device is impervious to damage caused by nuclear explosions. “M,” head of the Secret Intelligence Service, notes that the private contractor who developed the chip was recently acquired by an Anglo-French company, Zorin Industries, which has ties to the KGB. Although the owner, Max Zorin, is described as a “staunch anticommunist,” the team travels to the Ascot Racecourse to observe him and his mysterious American lover, May Day. When Zorin’s horse easily wins the race against more qualified opponents, horse trainer and MI6 officer Sir Godfrey Tibbett suspects he is somehow cheating. In Paris, France, Bond consults with a detective named Achilles Aubergine, who suggests an answer can be found at Zorin’s annual thoroughbred sale in Chantilly later that month. During their meeting at the Eiffel Tower, May Day sneaks in undetected and kills Aubergine before jumping from the stairs with a parachute. Bond gives chase in a stolen taxicab, but is unable to catch her. With Tibbett posing as his valet, Bond attends the horse sale at Zorin’s stud farm under the pseudonym “James St. John Smythe.” During a welcoming reception, Bond breaks into Zorin’s office and finds a $5-million check made out to an American woman named “S. Sutton.” He approaches her in an attempt to glean more information, but Zorin orders May Day to separate them. That evening, Bond and Tibbett discover a hidden underground facility run by Zorin’s breeding expert, Dr. Carl Mortner, and deduce that the prized horse has been implanted with a special microchip that releases steroids during the races. After finding a warehouse full of identical chips, Bond runs back to the chateau where he is staying, but Zorin and May Day have already been alerted to the disturbance and notice that “St. John Smythe” is missing from his suite. To eliminate suspicion, Bond hides in May Day’s room and pretends he is there to seduce her. The next morning, Zorin uncovers Bond’s identity as a British secret agent, and May Day kills Tibbett. When she returns, she and Zorin lock Bond in the back of Tibbett’s car and push it into a lake. Bond escapes, but Russian General Gogol reprimands Zorin for eliminating the agent without his permission and abandoning his former position with the KGB. Intent on pursuing his commercial ventures, Zorin proposes Project Main Strike, which will monopolize the microchip market and obliterate California’s Silicon Valley. Bond follows Zorin and his team of investors to San Francisco, where he confers with CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) agent Chuck Lee. According to Lee’s findings, the check to “S. Sutton” has not yet been cashed, and Dr. Carl Mortner is actually Hans Glaub, a Nazi physician who performed tests on expectant mothers in concentration camps to enhance their babies’ intelligence. Although most of the fetuses were aborted, Lee believes Zorin may be one of the few surviving children born with an outstanding IQ. That night, Bond investigates an oil station that has been pumping seawater into Zorin’s wells and encounters his former lover, KGB agent Pola Ivanova, sent by General Gogol to record Zorin’s conversations. Bond steals her tape recording and later tracks down a mysterious blonde woman he saw at Zorin’s party at City Hall. He follows her to her estate on San Andreas Lake, posing as “James Stock,” a London Financial Times reporter writing an exposé on Zorin. She introduces herself as Stacey Sutton, State Geologist and heiress to her grandfather’s oil company, which Zorin took over before she came of age. Since then, Stacey’s efforts to regain control have been met with generous settlement offers, including Zorin’s most recent check for $5 million. When a minor earthquake hits, she traces the epicenter to Main Strike, an abandoned silver mine now home to Zorin Industries. She and Bond search the company records at City Hall, but Zorin arrives and kills Stacey’s boss with Bond’s gun, framing him for the murder. While police attempt to arrest Bond, he and Stacey steal a fire truck and speed away. Arriving at Main Strike, they disguise themselves as workers and jump onto a mine wagon containing hundreds of pounds of explosives. Inside the mine, they watch as Zorin and May Day inspect a powerful bomb that has been planted in a powder keg of dynamite. Uncovering a geological diagram of the region, they realize that the mines are located directly beneath San Andreas Lake. Stacey deduces that Zorin plans to bomb the area around the San Andreas and Hayward Faults, triggering two simultaneous earthquakes that will submerge all of Silicon Valley under water. Upon discovering their presence, Zorin orders May Day to chase them through the mineshafts while he floods the pit with lake water, knowing May Day and his workers will drown in the process. Although Stacey climbs to the surface, Bond and May Day are swept back into the tunnels. When the water levels begin to drop, they return to the main quarry. Outraged by Zorin’s betrayal, May Day helps Bond remove the bomb and jumps onto a handcar to push it outside the mine. The device explodes, killing her, while Zorin and Dr. Mortner watch from a zeppelin floating overhead. As Stacey emerges from the bushes and runs toward Bond, Zorin swoops down and abducts her. Bond grabs hold of the mooring rope and dangles hundreds of feet below the passenger cabin while Zorin flies over the city. As they pass the Golden Gate Bridge, Bond ties the rope to one of the towers, anchoring the airship so it crashes into the structure. Stacey attacks Zorin and sneaks onto the tower to rejoin Bond. Zorin follows, wielding an ax, and engages Bond in a fight atop the suspension cable until he loses his balance and falls to his death in the icy bay. Dr. Mortner lights a stick of dynamite, but before he can throw it, Bond cuts the rope and the zeppelin explodes. Afterward, KGB General Gogol awards Bond with the Order of Lenin for his services defeating Zorin. Although M admits that Bond has been reported missing, Q eventually tracks down the agent at Stacey’s house as they make love in the shower.