The K-19, the Soviets' first nuclear-powered ballistic missile sub, goes into service after completion of its sea trials. Its orders are to play cat and mouse with its own fleet in a giant exercise. In a first for the Russians, they go deep under the polar sea ice. But while there, alone and cut off from command, the K-19 encounters something that threatens the sub, its crew, and ultimately the entire world. The crew becomes mutinous under the pressure...