A passenger jet is attacked in northern Africa by terrorists wielding RPGs, resulting in an enormous loss of life. Yet U.S. intelligence reports this is merely a distraction, a prelude to a worse terror incident.
A cargo ship is pirated off the African coast, and terrorists are puzzled to find in its vast hold just one mysterious crate. It contains a weapon they do not understand—one of vital interest to Al Qaeda. It is a weapon, we learn, that will inflict catastrophic damage on the United States if not stopped in time.