Harry and his best friend Ferghal O'Connor are cadets at Fleet College, eager to master their skills in preparation for commissioning to a ship. They've barely stepped foot on campus when they realize they're targeted and sabotaged at every turn, but this doesn't stop them from exuberant participation in the Sailing Regatta, the Gun Run, and the usual flirtations and hijinks of college life. Meanwhile, the Consortium, supporting the Johnstone Group, does everything in its power to keep them from testifying at an enquiry to expose Johnstone's questionable research practices that nearly killed Harry in their secret laboratory on the planet Pangaea. No quarter given, none asked, Harry and Ferghal overcome every obstacle with youthful vigor and optimism, intelligence and training, and prove valuable to the Fleet as junior officers of the NECS Leander in the ongoing struggle against the Consortium.