In the Micronesian Islands, a U.S. government-sponsored undersea lab conducting research on a rare jellyfish known as the Blue Medusa disappears. At the same time, off Bermuda, a bathysphere is attacked by an underwater vehicle, its passengers--including Joe Zavala--left to die. Only Kurt Austin's heroic measures save them, but, suspecting a connection, Austin puts the NUMA team on the case. What they find is a hideous series of medical experiments, an extraordinarily ambitious Chinese criminal organization, and a secret new virus that threatens to set off a worldwide pandemic.