Although Declan McGowan was a seasoned naval engineer, the enormous vessel that nearly destroyed the protected cruiser Atlanta was unlike any ship he'd ever seen, and the mysterious weapon it deployed was powerful beyond anything he could have imagined. But under what nation's Ensign did it sail? And who could be capable of constructing such a thing?
The year is 1887, and skilled workmen are mysteriously disappearing throughout Europe. Ships at sea have gone missing in good weather, and there are ominous lights and sounds in the skies above. Inexplicably, the Navy's most advanced steel warship is violently disabled under questionable circumstances. Behind closed doors, survivors tell of an attack by a terrifying ship, and an unknown, but incredibly destructive weapon. After the Pinkerton Detective Agency is engaged to initiate an international investigation, a bright young Naval Engineer working at the Brooklyn Yards is drafted into a covert task force to locate and identify the source of the mystery ship. Then, on a transatlantic voyage he becomes entangled with a singular young woman with secrets of her own. As they begin to realize they have a shared problem, can they learn to trust one another?