[Poodlebrain]

What will be the justification for NUMA to visit Mt Ararat? I think Cussler is ready to retire Dirk Pitt. At least Dirk's retirement was brought up in Trojan Odyssey which ended with Dirk marrying Loren Smith, Admiral Sandecker going to become the Vice Presidential running mate of the incumbent President (the current Vice President has terminal illness), and Sandecker recommending Pitt take over as Director of NUMA.

[Quilla]

While studying a strange yellow tide that recently surfaced in the Black Sea, Al Gordino and Rudy Gunn are taken captive. Apparently the next novel's villain is developing a weapon derived from melting snow, a byproduct of which is creating the deadly tide. Who else can Vice President Sandecker send to quell this evil but Dirk Pitt? Not to mention the fact that Pitt is chomping at the bit to save his best friend and deputy director of NUMA. Searching for the villain's hideout in NUMA's signature turquoise hovercraft, Pitt, assisted by virtual intelligence from Hiram Yeager, eventually ends up in Mount Aratat and happens upon Noah's Ark.

Check your Doxa dive watch, it's not time for Dirk Pitt to retire. ;-)