Opening with the doomed captain of a Great Lakes ship a century and a half ago, this modern tale picks up with college student and reticent scribe, Jesse Carlton. Recruited by history professor and NSA station chief Lee Tondar, this ailing academic reveals that a Weapon of Mass Destruction is being developed within the depths of a major American city. If measures aren’t soon undertaken, its citizens are certain to perish.

Interwoven throughout is the appearance of the captain’s ghost in the guise of spectral agent Kriel. As the tense hours count down, the professor and his ghoulish operative must contend with the combined forces of a renegade U.S. Intelligence figure, rampant anti-government militants, and a mysterious assassin. With assistance from a female security chieftain and a young encryption analyst, they persist.

Meanwhile, ranking officials sit on the fence chasing shadows, as millions of lives hang in the balance.