Allie and Nick are on paddleboards at sunrise, waiting to see dolphins. Nick lets Allie know that he is serious about her, but she wants to take things slowly. The dolphins come by, and Allie enjoys swimming with them. In the air, a Cessna piloted by a young daredevil with two female passengers buzzes the water too closely. The plane banks hard, loses control, and falls into the water. Nick and Allie immediately spring to the rescue. Using Nick’s innovation and Allie’s quick thinking, they are able to rescue all of the passengers. On shore later, Allie and Nick flirt some more, and she lets him know that she is willing to take a chance on their relationship.
AA COLLEGE PROFESSOR and two of his STUDENTS decide to try his experimental sub-mersible in shallow water. As this is just an experiment, they only plan to go down 20 feet and stay for a few minutes. Later, they will spend more time studying fish. Back on shore, Allie and Nick share a romantic moment before she must go back to join the team. For the first time, she is secure that she has found someone.
The Professor and his students are ready to return to shore, even though the beauty of the underwater makes them want to stay longer. Something goes wrong and the vessel loses control. It heads out to the ocean and sinks to the bottom. Fortunately, they have a radio, and call in for help. They also have about one hour of oxygen, but the tanks have been on since they left shore.
Back at headquarters, Sean, Jason, Dawn and Allie can barely make out the distress call from the submerged vessel. Then, the Coast Guard call in. They don’t have a minute to lose. Everyone immediately jumps into action mode. Because Nick is well versed in how to handle mixed air rescues, he substitutes for JD. As they strap on their gear, they note that there are only six mixed air tanks available. This should be enough, barring any unforeseen circumstances. Allie tells Nick she’s inspired by his take-charge can-do atti-tude. Only Nick, Allie and Sean will be going down. Nick is the only one who is quali-fied, but he might need help. Sean looks and feels nervous about something. Nick sees this, but Sean is quickly able to hide his trepidation
Sean warns the team that the submersible is in deep water, so they will need to factor in time to recompress. When they get to the submersible, they see the situation is much worse than anyone thought: not only are the people inside gasping for breath, there is a leak of precious oxygen and a yellow substance, which Nick fears is battery acid. The Coast Guard is still about a half hour away, so Nick decides to jerry rig a device that will allow them to attach their extra air tanks to an opening in the submersible, allowing the people inside to have oxygen until the Coast Guard arrives. Allie and Sean remove their extra tanks as Nick removes his. Sean still seems to be visibly nervous. He offers to do the work and tells Nick to return to the surface with Allie. Nick, seeing the Professor and students inside suffering, refuses, reminding Sean that only he can jerry rig the connec-tion. That decided, Sean and Allie begin their ascent. Nick assures them he will be coming soon.
Unfortunately, Nick has some trouble with coupling the air tank to the submersible. The knob breaks off. Bubbles float to the surface, alerting Allie and Sean that something has gone wrong. Sean offers to return to the submersible, but Nick assures him he has the situation well in hand. He picks up the second tank and starts working.
The Coast Guard is now ten minutes away. Kekoa warns Nick that he had better start for the surface. But, Nick knows the victims won’t last until the Coast Guard arrives. As Sean and Allie rise, Nick reminds her of the dolphins they had seen earlier. Just in case something goes wrong, Nick tells Allie to make sure the Coast Guard is ready for a pos-sible recompression emergency. He knows that there is a risk he will suffer from the bends, but he feels his body won’t let him down. Kekoa makes the call. Nick succeeds in attaching the air tank. Sean drops his air tank: he and Allie will buddy breathe back to the surface. Looking at the victims inside, Nick feels that they won’t survive on one tank and knows he must use this extra one. And, he needs his regulator to make the connec-tion firm. He lets Sean and Allie know that he will be returning to the surface quickly. He looks at his watch and sees that his warning light has gone off: he is in the red zone. Nick drops all of his gear and starts rocketing to the surface. Allie wants to go to him, but Sean holds her close: they need to share air to the top.
Nick passes them on his way to the top, too far for Allie to break away and join him. The rescue helicopter arrives and Nick is taken away just as Sean and Allie break the surface. Allie is afraid she is going to lose him. But she and Sean need to remain behind and help bring the submersible back to the surface. When they get it there, the professor and the students are barely conscious. Nick has saved their lives, but now his own is in danger. The helicopter rockets back to shore, keeping below the required 33 foot limit, but Nick is obviously in agony. His body has let him down
In the hospital, Nick moves in and out of consciousness. Allie presses her hand to the glass of the recompression chamber and he does the same. Finally able to find her voice, Allie tells him she loves him. Moments later, he flatlines and dies. Allie is devastated. Sean tries to console her, but can’t.
Mitch and Kekoa are worried about Allie. Even though Aussies are tough, there are times when one needs to release them or risk breaking down. In a quiet moment, Mitch speaks to Allie and suggests a lifeguard memorial service since Nick died performing a lifeguard’s duty. At the ceremony, the Professor and students speak to Sean. They can’t get over the fact that someone would give up his life for them. They will always remem-ber that. Finally, after the touching ceremony, Sean consoles Allie by reminding her that people like them can take tragedy and move on without forgetting the person they lost, knowing they are saving other lives.
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