In September 1858, an Antarctic whaler stumbles upon an aged wreck, its grisly frozen crew guarding crates of odd antiquities - and a skull carved from black obsidian. In April 2001, a research ship manned by Dirk Pitt and members of the U.S. National Underwater and Marine Agency is set upon and nearly sunk by an impossibility - a vessel that should have died fifty-six years before. Pitt's investigations send him deep into an ancient mystery with very modern consequences, up against a diabolical enemy unlike any he has ever known, and racing to save not only his own life but the future of the world itself. Filled with dazzling suspense and astonishing set pieces, this is Clive Cussler's greatest adventure novel yet.