Passage

The Passage begins with a mystery: a U.S. attack sub is lost on a secret mission off the Siberian coast. As the Navy investigates, fearing that somehow its codes are being read, Lieutenant Dan Lenson begins a crucial assignment. Ordered to straighten out the radically innovative but failure-prone combat system of USS Barrett, DDG-998, Lenson is at a personal crossroads. His wife has left him, his previous tour of duty ended in tragedy, and he is beginning to doubt his own sense of right and wrong. Barrett is on her way to a demanding workup in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. If she fails, his career will be over. As Dan starts his voyage, newly widowed Graciela Gutierrez begins her own. A pregnant sugar-cane worker, she dreams of raising her fourth child in freedom. With eight others in a remote village in Camaguey Province, she plans a daring escape from Cuba in a homemade boat. If they succeed, a new life awaits in America; if they fail, they will die in the shark-filled waters of the Windward Passage. Struggling to crack an electronic virus, Lenson and computer expert "Doctor DOS" Shrobo gradually uncover more problems aboard Barrett. Captain Thomas Leighty may be losing control of his ship. There are whispers about his sexual orientation and the executive officer's loyalty. As a massive refugee boatlift begins, another danger is unmasked: somewhere aboard is a ruthless and cunning spy, with a plan that will lure the Navy, Barrett, and Lenson into a frightening international confrontation.