Norman Johnson, a psychologist who works with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigators to help plane crash survivors, is engaged in a new mission a few days before the Fourth of July. The Navy transports him to a ship anchored west of Tonga. The helicopter pilot tells him that he has flown in multiple people over the last few days, most scientists. The pilot comments on the weather, telling Norman how dangerous storms can get in the area. They arrive at the destination, where a large number of ships are gathered. The pilot explains that they include several destroyers, Remote Vehicle Support (RVS), Mission Support and Supply (MSS), and Oceanographic Survey and Research Vessels (OSRV). Norman asks if the mission concerns a plane crash, but the pilot doesn’t know.

Aboard a ship, Norman is escorted through a maze of rooms and observes monitors that are tracking divers on the ocean floor. Norman asks what they’re doing and is told that they’ve found a titanium fin. Norman is taken to a room to meet a man named Captain Harold (“Hal”) Barnes. When Barnes enters the room, he asks Norman what he’s been told about the situation. He’s pleased when Norman tells him nothing.