Summoned to a remote oil rig to diagnose a strange medical ailment among the rig workers, ex-Navy physician Peter Crane soon discovers that the condition is linked to the underwater excavation being done at science research station Deep Storm.

Agent Dirk Pitt of the U.S. National Underwater and Marine Agency battles genetically engineered neo-Nazis, seeking to establish a Fourth Reich once they wipe out humanity. They plan to unleash a flood by splitting the Antarctic ice shelf. A beautiful archeologist is on hand to help the hero.