There's a constant demand on the never-ending conveyor belt of transportation security, and it's summed up like this: Keep me safe without slowing me down. Some would call it a classic paradox, and an ongoing war between commerce and security. The unstoppable force is a rapid flow of goods and traffic; make the inspection process faster or get run over. The immovable object is a safe and lawful world to protect; find what's not supposed to be there at any cost.

But Alex Preston doesn't see it that way. Preston is head of a large operation backed by technology giant Leidos. He's a larger-than-life figure at Leidos, a towering man with a heavy Scottish brogue and even weightier ideas.