The scattered crew of the Caliban are facing two terrible tests a thousand miles apart. In what remains of Merrymount outside Boston, Thomas and Tarquin lie hunkered in the ruins of the exile Morton's house with the puritan militia waiting for them to surrender or be surrounded--with none other than Thomas' longtime rival John Winthrop Jr. leading them. Meanwhile in the Caribbean the Caliban has been sighted by a Spanish squadron off the eastern cape of Hispaniola; Captain Crowe has precious little time to lose them before they track him home...