Captain Hale is charged with protecting Caribbean trade from pirate craft that refuse the battles the navy is prepared to fight.

A frigate guarding a convoy cannot pursue every suspicious sail. A fast sloop can test the escort line, escape across shoal water, and recover through hidden coastal contacts before the patrol can rebuild a reliable picture. Each failed chase reveals another part of the system: watering places, repair sites, pilots, merchants, cargo transfers, signals, and command links.

Hale begins with convoy reports, contradictory depositions, seized papers, and damaged vessels. As the campaign expands, he must decide where to concentrate force, which evidence deserves belief, and how much lawful commerce can be disrupted in the name of protection.

Destroying pirate hulls will not be enough if the organisation behind them can still repair, redirect, and reassemble.