In this world of committed, courageous ferrets, Captain Bethany Ferret stands apart. A kit from humble beginnings, she rises quickly to command the swift J-boat Resolute, once derelict, which she herself has rescued from the rocks. Bethany and her crew measure the days by storms at sea, by ships in distress, and by lives saved from tempest.

When the alert siren shrieks in the midnight storm, Bethany shakes away sleep and races to the bridge. "Boa, start Engine One, start Engine Two." She does not inquire whether the Chief Engine ferret is ready for action on a quarter-minute warning. She switches to the ship's loudspeaker: "Topside crew, paws on deck. We have a vessel in distress, this is not a drill."

Engines bursting awake, searchlights blazing, crew and boat battle swells and screaming wind to reach desperate creatures in black water, the lines between life and death now drawn only by the limits of the ferrets' courage.