Zero point energy is a state of energy contained in all matter everywhere. Nobody has ever found a way to tap into it --- until one scientist thinks he discovers a way. The problem is, his machines also cause great earthquakes, even fissures in tectonic plates. One machine is buried deep underground; the other is submerged in a vast ocean trench. If Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala and the rest of the NUMA team aren’t able to find and destroy them, the world will be on the threshold of a new era of earth tremors and unchecked volcanism.

In the middle of the Indian Ocean, a NUMA research vessel is taking water samples at sunset, when a swarm of black particles suddenly attacks the ship, killing everyone aboard. A few hours later, Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala are on their way to the Indian Ocean. What they will find there on the smoldering hulk of the ship will eventually lead them to the discovery of the most audacious scheme they have ever known.

When two ships burst into flames in the same location, Kurt Austin and the rest of the NUMA Special Assignments Team rush to the eastern Atlantic region to investigate --- and find themselves drawn into an African dictator’s complex plot to extort the world’s major nations.