Born in rural Georgia, Michael Healy kept his slave roots hidden during most of his life. Raised in an educated and religious family, this "black sheep" ran away to sea and in so doing changed the landscape of the United States forever.

In the aftermath of the Civil War a new land opened up in the United States: The Alaska Territory. With more coastline than the rest of the United States combined, it fell to a few hardy Revenue Service Captains to bring law and order, and the greatest was Captain Michael Healy. With a ship's wheel in one hand and a pistol in the other, the name of "Hell Roaring Michael Healy" was respected by all and feared by law breakers. By sail and steam, his ship would dare the most violent Arctic blows to bring safety and succor to Natives and settlers alike.

But when Healy's racial origins were exposed and his world collapsed around him, he had to face and defeat his greatest nemesis and the only one with the power to landlock him: himself.