An insatiably greedy Chinese businessman is making a fortune - in human lives. Dirk Pitt tracks the smuggler's nefarious activities from Washington State to Louisiana, where his quarry is mysteriously constructing a huge shipping port in the middle of nowhere. As he follows the trail, Pitt is led into a deadly race to find the wreck of the strange ship that Chiang Kai-shek filled with treasure when he fled China in 1949 - including the boxes containing the bones of the legendary Peking Man. As Pitt prepares for a final dramatic showdown, he is faced with the most formidable foe he has ever encountered.