Dirk Pitt

Dirk Pitt was once a major in the United States Air Force but now works for NUMA, the National Underwater and Marine Agency. This agency specializes in locating and salvaging old shipwrecks. In fact, Pitt has just returned from raising the Titanic from the bottom of the ocean. At the beginning of this novel, Pitt is spending the weekend in the Colorado Rockies with his lover, Congresswoman Loren Smith. While Loren looks through some correspondence, Pitt decides to go fishing, only to stumble upon a mystery. Pitt finds the nose gear and air tank to an old aircraft in the garage of Loren's family cabin. Pitt becomes curious about the wreckage and decides to check into it. Before long Pitt is obsessed with finding the crashed Stratocruiser that belongs to the junk in Loren's garage.

As Pitt investigates, he befriends Loren's neighbors as well as a colonel...