In China, a simmering conflict between the government and rebel forces has boiled over into a full-scale civil war - and Taiwanese Nationalists have taken advantage of the situation to launch a lightning strike on the mainland. US analysts believe that the communist government may try one last desperate throw of the dice in their fight to hold on to power - launching a nuclear missile against Taiwan from a submarine lurking in the Yangtse river.
The only option is to send the stealth missile destroyer "USS Cunningham", captained by Commander Amanda Lee Garrett and fresh from its success in the Antarctic campaign, into the East China Sea to track down the submarine and destroy it before it can launch its deadly payload.
But hunting her prey in the midst of a high-tech shooting war, and with the risk of triggering a global conflict ever-present, Amanda Garrett may just find out she's stretching the capabilities of her ship and its crew beyond their limits . . .
