Dan Tackett is slowly dying inside. A recent widower, he's struggling to provide for his two children when an intriguing, and lucrative, job offer comes his way - a counter-piracy mission, with a price tag higher than he's ever seen. He can't resist. He takes the job. The training is grueling. The secrecy is strict. And the mission is not what he expected. A Chinese frigate has deserted. Her captain has set himself up to become a pirate kingpin in the South China Sea, right along the primary trade route feeding into the Strait of Malacca. The contractors that Dan has joined have been hired to eliminate the pirates and liberate the oil company personnel on the islands that Captain Yuan has seized. It's not going to be an easy job, which is why the pay is so high. But it's only going to get harder, because there are other forces at play, including a task force of Chinese Sea Dragon commandos, who have the same mission: Kill Yuan.