An eight-member crew mans a 20-metre yacht involved in a strange mission off the coast of Turkey. The memories of the captain, Giuseppe bring back to life the events that preceded their voyage. These include his separation from his wife, his work as a journalist and his move into a new apartment shared with young carabiniere officer Riccardo.
Purely by chance, their lives are disrupted by the arrival of Sandra, the upstairs tenant in their building. A simple secretary Sandra is somehow involved with Giulivi, the arrogant undersecretary for the environment who has his finger in a multitude of different pies. One of his pursuits is the acquisition of "Rete Blu", the small independent TV network where Giuseppe works. Major suspicions have been aroused regarding Nautilus, the company where Sandra is employed, which is believed to be involved in some shady business with the dumping of toxic waste.
Giuseppe is the right man to recover a computer disk containing the complete truth. Momentarily lost in the lining of Riccardo's uniform the disk is retrieved by Sandra without his knowledge. She disappears with it to Switzerland and returns a rich woman, having emptied Giulivi's illicit bank accounts. Pursued by the undersecretary's armed henchmen the trio makes a hasty escape.
What is to be done with the money? Enjoying it, as Sandra suggests or giving it to the Authority like Giuseppe says? At the end, there is another solution as well.