When the incomplete invention of a genius environmentalist falls into the wrong hands, it’s the NUMA crew that will be the first casualties of war, and team leader Kurt Austin will stop at nothing to get justice for his fellow agents in this #1 New York Times- bestselling series. In the middle of the Indian Ocean, a NUMA research vessel is taking water samples at sunset, when a crew member spots the familiar sheen of black oil ahead of them. But it is not oil. Like a horde of army ants, a swarm of black particles suddenly attacks the ship, killing everyone aboard, while the ship itself goes up in flames. A few hours later, Kurt Austin, Joe Zavala, and other members of the NUMA Special Assignments Team are dispatched to check on their colleagues. They find no survivors, but the remains of a new technological marvel on the smoldering hulk of the ship point them towards a new adversary. Knowing the victims makes this mission deeply personal for Austin and Zavala. They’ll uncover the scheme: an audacial plan to alter the weather on a global scale. They’ll find the technology that can make it happen: microrobots, originally designed to stave off polution. But what they may not learn in time is the face of their true enemy. And, on  assignment this close to the hearts and minds of the NUMA crew, the danger is likely to hit close to home. Filled with the high-stakes suspense and boundless imagination that are unique to Cussler, The Storm is one of the most thrilling novels yet from the grand master of adventure. “Exciting…A clever twist at the end shows Cussler still plotting at the top of his game.”— Publishers Weekly Clive Cussler  is the author or coauthor of over fifty previous books in five bestselling series, including Dirk Pitt®, NUMA® Files,  Oregon ®   Files, Isaac Bell, and Sam and Remi Fargo. His nonfiction works include  Built for Adventure :  The Classic Automobiles of Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt , and  Built to Thrill:More Classic Automobiles from Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt,  plus  The Sea Hunters and  The Sea Hunters II ; these describe the true adventures of the real NUMA, which, led by Cussler, searches for lost ships of historic significance. With his crew of volunteers, Cussler has discovered more than sixty ships, including the long-lost Confederate ship  Hunley.  He lives in Colorado and Arizona.  Graham Brown  is the author of  Black Rain  and  Black Sun , and the coauthor with Cussler of  Devil’s Gate ,  The Storm ,  Zero Hour ,  Ghost Ship ,  The Pharaoh’s Secret, and Nighthawk . A pilot and an attorney, he lives in Arizona. Prologue Indian Ocean September 1943 The S.S. John Bury shuddered from bow to stern as it plowed through the rolling waters of the Indian Ocean. She was known as a “fast freighter,” designed to accompany warships and used to traveling at a decent clip, but with all boilers going full out the John Bury was moving at a pace she hadn’t seen since her sea trials. Damaged, burning, and trailing smoke, the John Bury was running for her life. The ship crested a ten-foot wave, the deck pitched down and the bow dug into another swell. A wide swath of spray kicked up over the rail and whipped back across the deck, rattling what was left of the shattered bridge. Topside, the John Bury was a mangled wreck. Smoke poured from twisted metal where rockets had pounded the superstructure. Debris littered the deck, and dead crewmen lay everywhere. But the damage was above the waterline, and the fleeing ship would survive if it avoided any more hits. On the dark horizon behind, smoke poured from other vessels that had been less fortunate. An orange fireball erupted from one, flashing across the water and briefly illuminating the carnage. The burning hulks of four ships could be seen, three destroyers and a cruiser, ships that had been the John Bury’s escort. A Japanese submarine and a squadron of dive-bombers had found them simultaneously. As dusk approached, oil burned around the sinking vessels in a mile-long slick. It fouled the sky with dense black smoke. None of them would see the dawn. The warships had been targeted and destroyed quickly, but the John Bury had only been strafed, hit with rockets and left to run free. There could be only one reason for that mercy; the Japanese knew of the top secret cargo she carried and they wanted it for themselves. Captain Alan Pickett was determined not to let that happen, even with half his crew dead and his face gashed by shrapnel. He grabbed the voice tube and shouted down to the engine room. “More speed!” he demanded. There was no response. At last report a fire had been raging belowdecks. Pickett had ordered his men to stay and fight it, but now the silence left him gripped with fear. “Zekes off the port bow!” a lookout called from the bridge wing. “Two thousand feet and dropping.” Pickett glanced through the shattered glass in front of him. In the failing light he saw four black dots wheeling in the gray sky and d