John Pearce discovers that Madrid plans to desert the British-led coalition and join the enemy. In company with Lord Langholm, he has taken a Spanish treasure ship. But a violent Atlantic westerly forces them into a deep bay, overlooked by Spaniards who have created a trap with cannon on the heights aimed at the narrow entrance. Pearce must take the lead, exposed to plunging fire, lucky the guns do not quite have the range and, having succeeded, he must find a way to get Langholm's frigate and the damaged Santa Leocadia through the same bottleneck. Only quick thinking and an act of sheer inspiration make it possible. His orders take him via Gibraltar, then on Admiral Jervis, who hates him, to warn of Spanish duplicity. Finally, Jervis sends him to Bastia in Corsica, where the Viceroy, Sir Gilbert Elliot, is seeking told the island for Britannia in the face of Napoleon's successes in Italy. In night actions, outnumbered on land and sea, he must fight the Francophile Corsicans, arming themselves for an insurrection. Will he succeed, or will John Pearce, HMS Hazard, and the Pelicans pay the ultimate price of failure?