In the premiere episode, ""Reunion,"" When Nikko Zond, a hyper-intelligent but rebellious teenager still mourning the death of his renowned archeologist mother, is kicked out of yet another boarding school, he is delivered to his estranged archaeologist father, Solomon. But on the way home, when the two narrowly escape pursuit by armed men, Nikko realizes his father's career as a university professor is just a cover. Solomon is really head of the Veritas (Latin for ""truth"") Foundation, whose agenda is to seek the truth behind the mysteries of history and civilization and to protect its secrets at all costs. Soon, and against his father's better judgment, Nikko enters the high tech, classified world of Veritas and begins a journey that will lead to the unlocking of universal mysteries and, hopefully, bring him and his emotionally estranged father back together. Nikko and the Veritas jet to Paris, where Solomon is hot on the trail of a fabled vessel that contains a key to the puzzle of how