When Professor Carl Blaney leads his archaeology students up the slope of a Tennessee mountain, he believes it's a dig excursion like any other. A few days of digging unearths ancient Cherokee artifacts, and spirits remain high. While eagerly exploring a cave at the dig site, a shifting of plates takes place in the bowels of the mountain.Without further warning the rumble becomes a roar as the floor beneath them opens and swallows two of the students. A cave-in ensues, making it impossible to access the youths, or even know if they're still alive. The cave-in is the catalyst for a number of secrets, lying buried deep within the mountain, to surface. With a cache of stolen gold bullion, artifacts of a civilization pre-dating the Cherokee, a Confederate soldier, a new element veined in the walls, and self-radiating rocks, the adventure is non-stop.