A group of 21st-century colonists inhabit an underwater city called Pacifica. Originally intended as a purely scientific installation, the U. S. government wants to stash all its gold reserves from Fort Knox there, along with a fantastic new radioactive element. The brother of Pacifica's returning former commander plans to steal the gold and on top of that, the city faces destruction by an asteroid from outer space!
Two men are released from the Arizona Territorial Prison at Yuma in 1898. One, the Dutchman, is out to get both gold and revenge from the people of a small mining town who had him imprisoned unjustly. The other, McBain, is just trying to go straight, but that is easier said than done once the Dutchman involves him in his gold theft scheme.
