NUMA Special Assignment Team leader Kurt Austin, and his right-hand man, Joe Zavala, are looking forward to a submersible race to test out their prototype Barracuda, in an effort to enjoy their own special brand of rest and relaxation. But then a Japanese cargo ship cruising the eastern Atlantic near the Azores bursts into flames. When a gang of pirates try to take advantage of the disaster, their own boat explodes. And Austin and Zavala find they’ve got no choice but to investigate.
The discovery of ships and planes littered across the sea floor in an underwater graveyard lead the NUMA team to the research of a top scientist, who recently disappeared off the streets of Geneva. Somehow connected to the decades-old defection of a mysterious citizen of the USSR, the scientist’s studies on magnetics may offer answers. But Austin and Zavala will have to seek help from another Russian operative if they are going to find out the truth.