Pat Ruger is a retired detective who joins his ex-partner, Jimmy Stewart, and his wife on a cruise in the Caribbean. Once on board, a woman he met is murdered and Pat and his partner are asked to investigate. They track down the killer, but before the suspect could be brought to justice, the cruise ship is boarded by a group of modern-day pirates and the passengers are in real danger. Before long, Pat and Jimmy have to deal with the pirates' inside man, a "family" intervention, corporate espionage, a stand-off between the US and a foreign navy, and a scientist who is trying to defect.