Dirk Pitt

Dirk Pitt is an old friend of Heidi Milligan. Pitt works for the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). They meet in Washington, and before she leaves, she gives him an envelop with a photograph and information on the North American Treaty and asks him to look it over and let her know if he thinks it is important. While she is out to sea, he is out on a test mission in the Doodlebug when it is fired upon by an American submarine. Dirk and the crew make repairs to the computers and survive, having found a vast offshore oil reserve in the waters of Quebec.

Dirk reads the file that Heidi gave him and starts to ask questions. He has a reporter find what information he can on Shields and Essex. He finds John Essex dead and the missing diary. He travels to the sites...