It is unlikely that Dirk Pitt, director of the National Underwater Research Administration, could have imagined, when setting off on his next expedition, that a stunning discovery awaited his team. A chance discovery from the twilight of the Roman Empire leads archaeologists on the trail of unique artifacts from the distant past, each of which is capable of changing the fate of the modern world. The dogmas of Christianity are under threat - and, on the contrary, Islam may gain unprecedented strength. But Muslim extremists, who closely monitor the work of archaeologists, are aware of all this better than Pete and his friends. They begin a hunt for artifacts recovered from the sunken ship. Their goal is for the Muslim crescent to rise above the ruins of the old world, and to achieve it they will stop at nothing...