Ten years after one of Dr Richard Long's military experiments went wrong and killed eighteen
US servicemen and a medical assistant, he has become a recluse in the small town of Jerome, Montana. He still conducts scientific experiments at the local base and his only social activity is going
fly-fishing with Tim Mason, a cook in the local run-down cafe. Long is murdered by Colonel Andrew Brynner, a former
Army officer who took the blame for the failure of Long's experiment and served 10 years in prison. Now a free man with a score to settle with the government, Brynner has assembled a team of mercenaries and plans to steal and then sell the highly volatile, blue crystal substance (known as 'Elvis'), to the highest bidder in revenge for his incarceration. Brynner and his team attack the
US Army research center where the chemical weapon is being stored, killing some of the Army MP's who were stationed at the base. Unfortunately for Brynner, Long has already delivered the crystals to Tim, along with directions that the substance must remain below 50 degrees, or it will detonate, causing enormous casualties. After Mason meets Arlo (an ice cream delivery man), they have a run-in with Brynner and set off with the crystals under refrigeration in Arlo's ice cream truck, to Fort Magruder which is 90 miles away. The two don't get along, with Arlo only agreeing to transport the crystals after Mason holds a gun on him — as the journey continues though, they find a common bond in trying to avoid Brynner and his team. With the help of a Colonel (Leo Vitelli) who is after Brynner, Arlo and Mason try to survive various attacks, avoid the local deputy who is convinced they are criminals, all the while trying to keep the crystals below fifty degrees, to stop them exploding. Arlo and Mason finally reach the base, but get ambushed by Brynner and his team who plan on detonating the device in an abandoned weapons test facility. Brynner does not want to leave witnesses, and decides to kill both of them. The military arrives and rescues Arlo and Mason before the device explodes, killing Brynner and his men. Colonel Vitelli arrives and congratulates them on a job well done, but Arlo and Mason threaten to expose the U.S. government for using unstable nuclear weapons for the past decade. Vitelli decides to pay them both to keep them silent, but also threatens to have them killed if they say a word about what had happened. All three of them leave the area in a helicopter. ==Cast==