In January 1994, the U.S. USS "Montana" has an encounter with an unidentified submerged object and sinks near the Cayman Trough. With Soviet ships moving in to try to salvage the sub and a hurricane moving over the area, the U.S. government sends a SEAL team to "Deep Core", a privately owned experimental underwater drilling platform near the Cayman Trough to use as a base of operations. The platform's designer, Dr. Lindsey Brigman, insists on going along with the SEAL team, despite her estranged husband Virgil "Bud" Brigman being the current foreman.