But Patricia's father chose to live on the floating city of New Galveston, instead of following his congresswoman wife to Washington. His choice was to operate an underwater salvage business. Now, several years after his death, it's Patricia's business, and her city. She's a wealthy woman, on the city council, well known to the local Immigration and Naturalization Service commander and the New Galveston police.

But none of that will help Patricia when she stumbles across a recently sunken freighter that has dozens of bodies chained up in its hold and clear evidence that it had been fired upon by an INS ship.

Patricia's evidence of a rouge operation within the INS brings her together with Thomas Beckett, a government investigator assigned to the case. Romance blossoms while they pursue and are pursued by the killers -- into the heart of a conspiracy.