Arianrhod's Line

Arianrhod's Line is the third book in The Pirates' Web series. Nothing's free but trouble, and there's plenty out there with Arianrhod's name attached... The trading ship PSS Arianrhod, under her owner-captain Cinnabar Ahxenta, has to hold her own within an expanding charted galaxy of fluid political alliances, where changing Trades Alliance rules are forcing the PSS fleet into the firing line of any future conflict. Though the war that created chaos across the charted galaxy is over, hostiles are still out there spoiling for a fight, and with a newborn interstellar alliance calling the shots and sending out high-tech ships to explore beyond traditional zone boundaries, Arianrhod and her sister ships find themselves running afoul of home-grown as well as alien hazards. As underhand deals between alliance partners and greedy outside contractors to increase power and profits undermine political unity, old and new threats surface, and grisly alien secrets that have personal meaning for Captain Ahxenta amongst others, come to light. But trading across the charted galaxy brings surprises as well as dangers and some of those tie the mighty Private starship even closer to the aloof Captain Thal and his maverick Starfall fleet. With doors closing and trade tighter, Arianrhod finds herself in a pact that means a flight into the unknown... where past sorrows and more troubles arise to haunt her captain. "You're worried about what you've got your crew into... half the ports in the galaxy closed to us, trade taking us to the edge of nowhere... And now a blast from the past you could've done without... The missed time you'll never make up, links to griefs you thought you'd mastered." Dr Axellina Flintlock.