 The American nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Jimmy Carter is attacked by a mysterious underwater object which stalks and disables the Seawolf-class super-sub with a powerful electromagnetic pulse. The underwater arctic research complex Hubris witnesses the attack and reports a rapid rise 1n the temperature of the Polaris Trench which threatens to melt the ice cap and flood the world s land surface. At an emergency United Nations scientific conference, Hubris director Dr. Ann Fletcher is dismissed when she urges caution and her archrival Dr. Chomsky pushes through a far more aggressive plan to deal with the crisis. When Chomsky s plan fails and contact with the Hubris complex lost, Dr. Fletcher is asked to participate in a follow-up expedition, which also includes Chomsky, by her ex-husband, Navy Captain Andy Raines. Once at the North Pole, the expedition finds that the Hubris complex is completely intact, but its personnel have been incinerated. Dr. Fletcher makes a starling discovery that could change the fate of the world while Dr. Chomsky has a secret that could end it!