 When cattle mysteriously start dying of anthrax in a small Alberta ranching community, an RCMP officer ( Cameron Daddo  (qv)) tries to keep the peace as ranchers lay the blame on a local agricultural research center. A reporter ( David Keith  (qv)) encourages the angry ranchers - led by the Mountie s mother-in-law ( Joanna Cassidy  (qv)) - to stage a sit-in at the research center (the head of the facility is played by  Ed Begley, Jr.  (qv)) . When an eccentric old rancher ( Jan Rubes  (qv)) dies after being exposed to a deadly strain of anthrax, the protesters are quarantined. No one notices that the reporter has disappeared - along with several vials of the deadly bacteria. The RCMP officer begins his own investigation, gleaning information from a U.S. government agent ( William B. Davis  (qv)) . He finds himself racing against time to recover the stolen anthrax.