From deep within the Venezuelan rain forest emanates the legend of a whit goddess and a mysterious tribe with startling technical accomplishments. Few believe the tribe exists – and even fewer suspect its deity may hold knowledge that can change the course of history. For National Underwater & Marine Agency crew leader Kurt Austin, an investigation into the sudden deaths of rare whales leads him to the Mexican coast, where someone tries to put him and his mini-sub permanently out of commission.

Meanwhile, in South America's lush hills, a specially assigned NUMA crew turns up the white-goddess legend – and a murderous cadre of bio-pirates intent on stealing medicinal secret worth millions. Soon Austin and his crew realize they're working the opposite ends of the same grand scheme. A billionaire California tycoon is poised to rise to power by monopolizing the earth's vastly depleted freshwater reserves and ultimately dominate the world. Austin has a hunch Venezuela's mythical tribal goddess has some real roots in science, and may be the key to locating a secret formula that could turn vast amounts of seawater into fresh. But with each step into the bush, he and his NUMA team feel like fish out of water – and must fight a deadly, twisting trail of enemies through a dense jungle of treachery, blackmail, and murder.