MI6 members John Avery, Haldane, and their superior LeClerc hatch a plan to retrieve the photographs and to verify the rocket by sending a lone operative over the East German border to Kalkstadt.

Polish defector Leiser, who illegally entered England to be with a woman who is bearing his child, is vetted for the role by MI6 and offered UK citizenship if he agrees to work for them.

When she tells him that she had their child aborted, Leiser is deeply distraught and loses the motivation to carry out the mission, but changes his mind after bonding with Avery over a night of drinking.

The Stasi immediately notice inconsistencies in Leiser's circumstances and identify him as the person who breached the border and killed the guard but the soldiers are ordered to let him go so that his intentions can be determined.

That night, the MI6 operation is ordered to be shut down since it caused an international incident; at the same time, Leiser witnesses the East German rocket being transported through Kalkstadt's streets.