If Clive’s sidestep into non-fiction with The Seahunters added a new dimension to his persona, his next undertaking would be the first step in the creation of a literary phenomenon.

Taking note of the success of Tom Clancy’s co-written Op-Center series, Simon & Schuster approached Clive and asked him if he would be interested in a co-written Dirk Pitt spinoff series featuring a new cast of characters and Cussler’s signature non-stop action. The NUMA Files would follow the adventures of NUMA’s Special Assignments Division, a group of highly trained professionals who operate outside the realm of government oversight. Although the team would be new, some of the characters from the Pitt novels would occasionally make an appearance.

In a letter to Peter Lampack dated 8-95, Clive addressed the original premise as proposed by the publisher:

The NUMA Files concept sounds good to me. But it will need some fine tuning before it flies in my mind. The danger with plots involving a deep sea exploration vessel puts it too close to the trite and banal Sea Quest show. The idea here is to be creative, to take paths no series of books or programs have traveled before. That’s why Dirk Pitt is what he is. The NUMA gang does not follow the common story lines of other authors. For better or worse, we at least stand in a class by ourselves.

I like the team aspect, especially changing the specialists who cooperate with them in each tale. As to the characters. Let’s get real. Here we come on like we’re casting a grade B movie. A navy seal, who is a jack-of-all trades, and the team leader. Ho hum. Better is an ex-ship’s engineering officer, who became a designer and builder of deep sea vehicles.

A female Marine captain, with special underwater engineering training, and cross-trained as a pilot of every flying machine ever produced. In her late twenties no less. Naturally, she would look like Sharon Stone. Gag, retch, puke. Not believable. This character has to be a man. Also, keep the military out of the team. The natural personnel can enter via the various plot lines, along with intelligent female character, scientists, government officials, business executives, etc.

The brilliant oceanographer from Woods Hole? Here is an opportunity to be original. I suggest a husband and wife team or a couple who live together, particularly if they had a little spark and warmth between them. Here you get two for the price of one, a man, along with a woman who is bright and feminine . . . Let’s break new ground, let’s be fresh and original. I personally detest anything mundane.

Let’s break new ground, let’s be fresh and original. I personally detest anything mundane. Clive replaced the navy seal with Kurt Austin, the son of a wealthy marine engineer. A professional diver, Austin worked for the CIA before being recruited by NUMA. The foxy Marine aviatrix was scrapped in favor of Joe Zavala. Born in Santa Fe, Zavala graduated from the New York Maritime College. A gifted mechanic and accomplished pilot, Zavala boxed professionally to pay his way through school.

Paul and Gamay Trout met when they were attending the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. An expert diver, Gamay has a doctorate in marine biology. Paul Trout, fascinated by the mysteries of the sea since he was a child, earned his Ph.D. in ocean science.

With his characters fleshed out, Clive now needed a co-writer.

In late 1997, Paul Kemprecos was surprised when he answered the phone and heard Clive Cussler’s voice. Kemprecos smiles when he recalls their conversation. “Clive explained the NUMA Files, a spinoff of the Dirk Pitt novels was in the works, and would I be interested in co-writing the series. I would do all the work, and he would get all the money. Hey, how could I pass up an offer like that?”

Kemprecos grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts. After graduating from Boston University’s School of Journalism, he spent twenty-five years as a reporter and managing editor for two local newspapers on Cape Cod. When a reporter covering the search for a pirate ship lost during a storm in 1717 unexpectedly quit, Kemprecos took over the story. “The Whydah was reportedly carrying a fortune in gold when it was driven onto the shoals near Wellfleet,” Kemprecos says. “During the early 1980s, three salvage outfits were going head-to-head and the competition got pretty hot at times. I thought it would make a good non-fiction book, but nobody was interested.”

Although his only previous attempts at fiction were several Christmas stories for the newspaper, Kemprecos decided to use the salvage theme as a vehicle for a detective novel. His hero, private eye Aristotle “Soc” Socarides is an ex-cop, fisherman, and accomplished diver. “I used the last name of a high school English teacher,” Kemprecos explains, “who passed me despite my aversion to homework.” More philosophical than hard-boiled, Soc lives in a boathouse on Cape Cod with a cat named Kojak.

Kemprecos sent several chapters to an agent who sold a two-book contract to Bantam Doubleday Dell in 1986. Elated over the sale, but concerned about finding time to write, his problem was solved when the newspaper let him go. After Kemprecos turned in his first manuscript, his editor sent it to Clive who provided a favorable blurb used on the book’s jacket. Cool Blue Tomb was published in 1991, and a year later, won the Private Eye Writers of America’s Shamus Award for best first P.I. paperback novel.

Kemprecos personally sent Clive a copy of his second novel, Neptune’s Eye. “Clive called,” Kemprecos says, “and told me he usually doesn’t do two blurbs - ‘one to a customer.’ Nobody was more surprised than I was when he wrote, ‘There can be no better mystery writer in America than Paul Kemprecos.’”

When Inca Gold was published in June 1994, Kemprecos, who had never met Clive in person, learned he was going to be signing books at a Boston bookstore. After an eighty-mile drive and standing in line with more than 200 Cussler fans, Kemprecos finally arrived at the table where Clive was sitting, pen in hand, waiting for the next customer.

When Clive asked him what he would like inscribed, Kemprecos immediately responded, “To Paul Kemprecos, who taught me everything I know about writing.” Caught off guard, Clive looked up, grinned, and wrote, “To Paul Kemprecos, who taught me everything I know about writing and then some!”

“After he signed my book,” Kemprecos says. “Clive stood up, shook my hand and told me, ‘If you came all the way from Cape Cod just for me, you made my day.’”

Although four more “Soc” books were published during the next six years, Kemprecos was ready to call it quits. “My books lingered in mid-list hell,” he says. “The victims of low press runs and even lower promotional budgets. After finishing Bluefin Blues in 1997, I told my wife, Christy, I don’t think I’m going to write any more books. I was drained both creatively and financially, and considering a job that might be more lucrative - like working in a 7-11.”

Kemprecos’s convenience store career was put on hold after Clive called and offered him the co-writing job on The NUMA Files. Thrilled by the opportunity to work with Clive, Kemprecos also had serious reservations. “It was one thing to write Cape Cod regional private eye mysteries,” he says. “I wasn’t sure I could make the jump to a globetrotting adventure series with the expectations of a bestselling author.”

Hearing nothing from Clive for several months, Kemprecos called and asked him what was going on with The NUMA Files. “Clive told me,” Kemprecos says, “there had been some legal hold-ups because, as he put it, ‘the lawyers have to justify their existence.’ I’m convinced it was dragged out because Clive was making sure from the get-go he maintained tight control of the spinoffs. Tom Clancy was signing contracts for writers to simply use his name and Clive wasn’t going to go that way. I told him my finances were getting pretty tight, and he said he would try to hurry things along.”

A week later, Kemprecos opened his mailbox and found a letter with a check for $10,000 drawn on Clive’s personal account. When Kemprecos called to thank him, Clive told him there was no reason to wait for a contract, and they should begin working on story lines. A week later, Clive sent Kemprecos another $10,000.

During their early phone discussions, Clive outlined the cast of characters. “The inclusion of the married couple, Paul and Gamay Trout,” Kemprecos says, “is a typical stroke of Cussler genius. Married people talk differently, and it was fun to play around with their relationship.” Clive suggested a possible plot - Atlantis is discovered at the South Pole. Kemprecos spent several weeks dutifully researching Atlantis and the South Pole, only to have Clive call and tell him he had decided to use the Atlantis legend in his next Dirk Pitt book (Atlantis Found, published in 1999). “I told him,” Kemprecos says, “If I knew you better I’d say you were a bastard.”

The lost continent was replaced with a plot revolving around Pre-Columbian contact between the old and new worlds. Kemprecos, who had considered using the sinking of the Andrea Doria in one of his “Soc” books, suggested the disaster might provide an exciting prologue if the Italian liner was sunk on purpose. Clive liked the idea, suggesting there might be something aboard the ship that the villains are determined to keep from getting to America.

“We went back and forth,” Kemprecos says, “and came up with a priceless ancient carving that went down with the ship. Clive added another wonderful Cussler touch, stashing the carving in an armored car in the Andrea Doria’s hold.”

After researching Pre-Columbian civilization, Kemprecos went to work, completed the first 100 pages and sent them to Clive. “He told me it was terrible,” Kemprecos says, “couldn’t believe it was written by the same guy who wrote the ‘Soc’ books. I knew I couldn’t match Clive Cussler, but I was determined to write the best adventure novel Paul Kemprecos was capable of. I confessed I didn’t like it either and told him I could use some guidance.”

Clive suggested Kemprecos fly out to Phoenix. The two men sat down in Clive’s office, and Clive was soon regaling Kemprecos with a story. “I’m sitting there,” Kemprecos says, “worried sick about how I’m going to write this book, and he’s off on a story. Then, somehow he got me telling a story, and another, and another. I began to see the light. Clive has always told me I’m a better writer than he is - which is flattering - but he is a consummate storyteller and has an amazing instinct for what people are interested in reading. I went home and finished the book during December of 1998.”

Serpent, A Novel from the NUMA Files was published as a paperback by Pocket Books on June 5, 1999. One reviewer wrote, “I’m not even a full chapter into the book and I’m drawn.” Another reported, “Cussler has taken on a co-author, which may account for a fresh poetic reach and smoothness to many of the pages here.”

Die-hards were put off by what they perceived as an unnecessary deviation from Dirk Pitt. “Sorry Clive,” one critic grumbled, “I like my usual hero better.” A number of Clive’s readers, convinced The NUMA Files signaled Dirk Pitt’s retirement, contacted his publisher with their concerns. “One irate fan,” Kemprecos recalls, “sent an email to Simon & Schuster telling them he wanted Dirk Pitt to kill Kurt Austin in the next book.”

When they were totaled up, the yeas overwhelmingly outnumbered the nays and Serpent made its first appearance on The New York Times paperback bestseller list on June 20, 1999.