When Kurt Austin, the leader of a courageous National Underwater and Marine Agency exploration team, rescues beautiful marine archaeologist Nina Kirov off the cost of Morocco, he becomes the next target of Texas industrialist Don Halcon. A madman bent on carving a new nation out of the southwestern United States and Mexico, Halcon's scheme hinges on Nina's recent discovery involving Christopher Columbus and a priceless pre-Columbian antiquity buried in the battered remains of the sunken Italian luxury line Andrea Doria. Only Kurt Austin and his NUMA team stand between Halcon and the Andrea Doria's silent steel hull--and if their deadly mission fails, Halcon will ride to power on a wave of death and destruction.