Midshipman Martin Stockley is 15 years old and back in the Falcon for another tour at sea. Returning from a trip to the Nordics as part of a prize crew he is unexpectedly summoned to the Admiralty. The following meeting with Admiral Lord Hood and William Wickham twists his career in the Navy in a direction he never expected and his talent for trouble is suddenly in demand. Add to the mix a beautiful widow and you have a story full of adventure, derring do and romance. He ends up back in Toulon with the beautiful French spy Linette where he is tasked with finding out what the hell Napoleon is up to amassing thousands of troops and hundreds of ships on the Mediterranean coast.