Tempest and the Guerillas

1811: Giles Courtenay is asked by his mentor Lord Crompton to join a squadron off Lorient which had recently suffered the loss of a ship in what was considered to be odd circumstances. He soon finds a sense of complacency among certain of the other captains, although he does at least have allies in David Wyvern and Steven Ffoukes, with his Admiral seemingly happy to effect a blockade without actually doing anything. Courtenay gets reluctant approval to prevent some French ships entering their port, then is sent off to assist some Spanish patriots who are trying to evict French soldiers from a small coastal town. He succeeds, and then subsequently finds that a captured French officer is not all that he seems to be. Meets up with his old friend Piers Tandy and then rejoins the squadron off Gibraltar to where it has been ordered, to join the Mediterranean Fleet. Once again Courtenay is asked to assist the Spanish in taking what is an old castle dear to Spanish hearts. He then receives orders to seek out and destroy a new French seventy-four that has been fitting out at La Spezia, but soon finds his orders kept something from him and his men which could lead to the loss of his ship.