Christopher Boyce grew up in Palos Verdes CA, the son of an FBI agent. He began working at aerospace company TRW in 1974 and, despite his limited experience and young age (21), was given access to the black vault, which contained secret US defense information. A party animal, Boyce by chance reunited with childhood friend and cocaine trafficker Andrew Daulton Lee. One day, after a coke binge, the two devised a plan to sell the information in the black vault to the Russians.