Deep in coastal security red-tape, Lieutenant Commander Corwin does not need the distraction of a distant murder. It seems far from his own base and far from his area of concern. The strange death of a well-known whale seems more immediate; until one determined would-be sailor convinces him the two deaths are suspiciously linked. Sailing the waters of Cape Cod bay, a small sailboat, a Coast Guard cutter and an immense Middle Eastern freighter take on a collision course.