Ishmael was the sole survivor of the ill-fated Pequod that Moby Dick attacked. We know that Captain Gardiner and the whaling ship's crew, the Rachel, saved him. But whatever became of him once he was saved? Days after being rescued the Rachel was set upon by the pirate ship, the Flying Dragon. She was captained by two of the most notorious pirates, Captain Calico Jack and Captain Black Dog Billy Twigg. Ishmael and several other seamen were conscripted aboard to serve aboard the Flying Dragon for three years to share in all of the crew's booty. With the onslaught of steam-powered war vessels, Ishmael and the others knew that it was only a matter of time before they would be captured and hung. With the news of the gold strike in California, the crew of the Flying Dragon decided to set sail to the port of San Francisco. When the Civil War broke out, Ishmael felt the need to volunteer for the California Brigade fighting alongside Kit Carson for the Union. After a distinguished career as a Union Captain in the war, he became one of the largest cattle ranchers in California. Upon a chance meeting with Teddy Roosevelt, Ishmael was invited to join Roosevelt's Smithsonian Institute's year-long expedition to capture, collect, and catalog wild and unknown species. Tired and wanting to return home to his Stockton ranch, Ishmael books passage back to the United States from England with his friend John Astor and his wife, Ava, on a luxury liner. It's a story of danger, adventure, drama, romance, and morality, as told by Ishmael himself.
