The time is 8:00 PM.

Jack Bauer is a man without a country, a fugitive hunted by the most powerful nations in the world. He lives on the run, survives by his wits, and finds purpose in his exile by waging a one-man war against those who profit from the death and suffering of others.

On a self-imposed crusade to destroy the criminal empire of international arms dealer Karl Rask, Jack has infiltrated the crew of one of Rask’s freighters. But his mission is disrupted when the ship is hijacked by a band of suspiciously well-informed pirates off the coast of Somalia.

As Jack fights to free the ship, he discovers a deadly secret hidden in its hold: a prize the pirates were hired to steal, and that could be used to ignite a world war — unless Jack captures it first.

DAVID MACK is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty-five novels and novellas, including the STAR TREK DESTINY and COLD EQUATIONS trilogies. He developed the STAR TREK VANGUARD series with editor Marco Palmieri. His first original novel was the critically acclaimed supernatural thriller THE CALLING. Beyond novels, Mack's writing credits span several media, including television (for episodes of STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE), film, short fiction, magazines, newspapers, comic books, computer games, radio, and live theater.