In the spring of 1854, shortly after the start of the Crimean War, the brig “Artemida,” with a secret mission from Emperor Nicholas I, departs from Arkhangelsk to Cuba. As a result of an unexpected twist of fate, a boy from a small Siberian town turns out to be aboard the ship. Many adventures lie ahead for the boy Grisha and the brig crew during their dangerous mission… The publication of this book is timed to the seventy-fifth anniversary of Vladislav Krapivin’s birth.