Deep in the Arctic, two crew members of Dr. Carol Harmon's research vessel are ravaged by what appears to be radiation poisoning. Carol calls on Brock Garner--oceanographer, ex-Navy man, and Carol's ex-husband. He's the one she trusts most and is at the South Pole when her call comes. They soon find something deep beneath the ice is leaking deadly radiation which could superheat the polar ice cap, leading to the first man-made Ice Age.