The East China Sea. Six Japanese submarines are attacked and believed destroyed. To the world, it seems like an accident. But to one man, former submarine commander Dick Donchez, it is the first act of war. He alone knows the truth: that the old guard of Red China has stolen the subs to wage a massive attack against the new Free China. Vice Admiral Michael Pacino can't prove Donchez's theory. The U.S. government will not officially retaliate. But when a full-scale battle erupts, Pacino is quickly given command of the Navy's latest undersea weapon: the highly classified submarine known as SSNX. It is America's most advanced and sophisticated warship?and the world's only hope in the final, desperate war for freedom...