Arianrhod's Line
Description
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.
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Content
Arianrhod's Line (Excerpt, Ch 1): The captain of the PSS Arianrhod scanned the depths of the Half Moon in a Puddle from her viewpoint at the bar. Several ships of the PSS fleet were in the Web, that vast mercantile grid of docks that lit up the sky over Merkat Three like Armageddon, and she spotted two crews other than her own among the Half Moon's clientèle. She waved to her first mate, seated at a corner table with no-one at her back and a good view of the entry. The commander had company, and the captain groaned as she turned back to the bar and its hovering proprietor.
"Set me up a tab, Ally, and make my ale a large one," she said. "And another for Commander Apnis, I see she's drained her pot. How long have Fleetskup and Buntle been in?"
"A few minutes," Ally replied as he dealt the goods. "Tallulah came in two days ago. Captain Fleetskup's promoted his chief tactical officer to first mate, though he'd only been a lieutenant commander for a year or so, Mr Buntle said," he added confidentially. "Doesn't want a repeat of the last one, I guess. But Tallulah's still short-handed; with new trade ships coming online and the expansion of the charted galaxy to beyond zone Mu, competition for crews must be tough."
Captain Cinnabar Ahxenta accepted the news with a nod and made off to join her mate and the two from the Tallulah. Numerous pairs of beady eyes tracked her progress, two of which belonged to a brace of topers in a wall booth with one of the best views in the house.
"Wonder how long Arianrhod's stopping in, Malty," one of the two mused as he took a sip from his mug. "She was out by Alto Finglas last I heard, swopping insults with the ISP over unpaid bills."
"How did you hear that?" his friend enquired. "I've heard nothing and I spoke to her senior navigator only this morning."
"You don't ask any of Arianrhod's crew about their business," was the hissing retort. "None of them will tell you, 'cos if they did, Captain Ahxenta would have their ears, and then she'd have yours. I got it from an ensign off the Tallulah, a new blood she picked up at Milkit Major. He was wet behind the ears and didn't know not to talk ship's business off-ship, even if you've had a few."
"He'll learn, Jurry my lad; or maybe he won't, given the Tallulah's his ride," Malty replied. "But how did he find out?"
"Tallulah Tommy's big mouth," Jurry said, squinting at the table where the privacy shield's glow and visible jammers implied that those seated discouraged intrusion. He quickly looked away when he caught Ahxenta's icy eyes on him. "Pinch of salt with anything Tommy Buntle says; another lesson Tallulah's crew has to learn," he slurred. "But I heard Arianrhod was in a dust-up with two Treskk heavy cruisers off Brown Amber not long ago and routed the pair of them. It was said to be payback for the trouble she caused a gang of Treskk shady dealers here, helping to put them and their slimy mates out of business. Some people never learn that you don't take on the Arianrhod and win."
The hollow tale of her clash with the finance wing of the Interstellar Systems Protectorate had reached Captain Ahxenta's ears and she was justly irritated. Her affairs she did not intend to share with any outside her own, and as subtle probing by Buntle alerted her to a likely source of the rumour, she was quick to quash it and to state in concise terms the fate of any she caught broadcasting it.
