Fantasio, chasing a scoop, slips through a cordon sanitaire surrounding a cargo ship fresh from Antarctica. He's hoping to investigate some disturbing rumours about the base where the ship comes from. But a seriously ill man has escaped the quarantine and begs for assistance. The Count of Champignac can help, but only if he has access to a very rare toxin - one that is stored, for example, in that mysterious ice base, where more patients await.