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?
