 Lt. Brian Fleming volunteers to be flogged for a contrived offense and then discharged from the British Navy. Now he can infiltrate the pirate stronghold of Diego Suarez using his whip-scarred back as proof of his disgrace. While gathering inside information about this stronghold s fortifications, he falls in love with Jessica Stephens who s also courted by the pirate captain, John Avery. At the same time he must fend off the advances of a love-struck Moghul princess who s recently been taken captive. Events reach a climax in a shipboard battle when Fleming s true motivations are revealed.