When a corporate pharmaceutical sponsor is about to pull the plug on research, part-time adventurer Dr. Jack Byron re-awakens their interest with tales of the Borneo black orchid, said to produce a chemical that can keep a cell reproducing indefinitely. When the trip becomes increasingly dangerous, due to floods, capsized boats and gigantic, ill-tempered anacondas, Byron refuses to allow his crew to end the expedition, and resorts to foul play in order to keep them on the trail...