Spring 1792. Captain James Rennie is anxious to be active again after a year on the beach. & this time he longs for regular service with the Fleet as opposed to the extraordinarily dangerous detached missions he has been assigned by Britain's shadowy spy masters in the last few years. His friend Lieutenant James Hayter is haunted by his past & he too longs for the sea. Both will find their escape but not in the circumstances they would have wished. Once more the summons comes for a secret voyage in pursuit of a heavily armed neutral vessel. Aboard the ship lies a secret that could change the course of the coming war for Britain & the loss of which could tip the balance irrevocably in favour of Revolutionary France. Rennie & Hayter must play a deadly game involving sea battles mutiny & breathtaking deception. & of course the only stakes in the game are victory or death.