January,1889 The Kaiserreich, with their Dutch allies, have claimed victory in the Boer War and control all of South Africa. Fearing loss of sea access through the Cape of Good Hope, the British Royal Navy has pushed forward research into submersible warfare. Under the command of Ian Rollins, the HMS Thunderbolt has been playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the Kriegsmarine off the Cape, but their tense standoff with the Germans turns unexpectedly to a tense alliance after they are ordered to aid in the rescue of a disaster-stricken German Antarctic Expedition. The boat is forced to operate with merely a skeleton crew, and to navigate with experimental equipment beneath the ice. Can they even locate the island before the survivors succumb to the frigid land? Rollins must keep his one good eye on his German guests, on the ice above him, and on the two technical advisers assigned to the mission, one of whom has already proven herself a distraction at the best of times. With no way of knowing for sure who is a friend and who an enemy, can even the famous "Commander Claw" come out on top this time?