Passing as a man while working at sea for a security company she discovers is part of a gunrunning operation, Vanessa Michael Munroe escapes a pirate attack and agrees to help find her crewmates only to discover that the hijackers were seeking the ship captain under her care. Vanessa Michael Munroe has a reputation for getting things done-- but her work has left her with blood on her hands and a soul stained with guilt. Fleeing to Djibouti, Africa, her only responsibility is greasing the wheels of commerce for a small maritime security company. When her boss pressures her to work as an armed transit guard on a ship bound for Kenya, she discovers the security contract is merely cover for a gunrunning operation of which she wants no part. When the ship is invaded off the Somali coast, Munroe and the captain are targeted by the pirates.