For President of the United States, crisis point is approaching fast. With his new Soviet initiative entering its most crucial phase, the president suddenly finds himself faced with a pollution disaster of potentially cataclysmic proportions. And then - incredibly - he vanishes. It's left to troubleshooter Dirk Pitt to find the connection between these two shattering events. From the icy Alaskan waters to a blazing inferno in the Mississippi Delta, he tracks down a conspirace so fiendish and sophisticated that even the superpowers are helpless in its grip. -- back cover.