A Russian cargo ship sinks in the shallow waters of the Bering Strait, and somehow vanishes without a trace. In the Colorado Plateau Desert, a cowboy follows a river of sand into an undiscovered ruin. A tunnel-boring operation between the Alaskan and Siberian peninsulas is stalled when its largest burrowing machine disappears into an abyss.
Sam Reilly leads a search and rescue mission for the missing ship and crew. What should be a simple operation quickly turns into something much more dangerous. He soon learns that all three strange events are irrevocably interwoven, and unlocking their connection may just hold the key to the survival of the human race.
