We meet Jim Brady as a Lieutenant Commander, commanding Circe, a destroyer on a war footing. The rapidity of his promotion, however well-deserved, brings its own problems, and Brady remains far too conscious of the fact that he has risen from the lower deck, and fancies that his seniors and his juniors resent his promotion. Brady, though unsure of his personal relationships, is a first-class seaman and commander, and, despite the inner tension, succeeds in achieving a happy ship.