They call it simply "the object." It sits at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, waiting. Waiting . . . for what? An American research ship disappears in the Arctic's Chukchi Sea only to reappear a few days later. When a special U.S. Coast Guard unit boards the vessel, they find it deserted, its power grid wrecked, two bombs waiting to explode, and an even darker secret hidden below her decks. A few miles across the international maritime boundary, a massive Russian oil platform harbors its own secret. Below the behemoth lies a mysterious energy source so powerful it threatens to topple the balance of world power in favor of Moscow. The Russians will to kill to protect it. The Americans will kill to stop its recovery. And still . . . the object waits.