Fun-loving San Francisco Police Department investigator Nash Bridges is part of the elite Special Investigations Unit. He tackles crime using his keen sense of humor and charm. Joe Dominguez comes out of retirement to become Bridges' wisecracking yet more rule-abiding partner.

The omnipotent presence of a mothballed aircraft carrier, long forgotten since it's heyday of recovering Apollo moon missions, begins to make itself know to three generations of residents in the sleepy island town of Alameda, adrift in the San Francisco bay.