The September 11 terrorist attacks are nearly a five-year-old memory. Though the United States has never felt more secure, al Qaida is getting ready to prove otherwise. Instead of commercial airliners, now al Qaida plans to use a biological weapon of mass destruction they call the "Phoenix." Instead of fanatical Muslim terrorists, they've recruited three young American men to commit acts of bioterrorism without suspicion. Instead of targets like New York City and the Pentagon, they plan to strike America's Heartland, unleashing the Phoenix on three unsuspecting cities while the nation celebrates its independence. The government's ultra-secret Phoenix Task Force races against the clock to decode al Qaida's encrypted communications network and expose the Phoenix operation. The President orders task force agents army officer Matt Garret and government scientist Annie Stewart to work undercover for the head al Qaida Phoenix operative in the Costa Rican tropics. With only seven days before the attack, Matt and Annie become entangled in a web of love and terrorist intrigue, putting their lives at risk to unlock the secrets of the Phoenix and to stop al Qaida's diabolical plot before the Phoenix can rise Out of the Ashes.