A secret criminal cabal sets in motion a diabolical plot which targets the Balfour family. Myles Balfour and his friend, Thomas Compton, struggle to understand the peril, taking desperate measures to stop the relentless terror. British revenue cutters, piracy, kidnapping, and worse stalk Balfour as he sails into perilous waters as captain of the schooner Penobscot in pre-revolutionary America.