Deathstalker 01 - Deathstalker

"I'll decide where we're going."
    "Then get on with it," said Ruby Journey, trimming her nails with a nasty-looking dagger. "There are a lot of people looking for you, Deathstalker, and I don't think we should still be here when they arrive."

    "She's got a point," said Hazel, and Owen nodded.
    "We're going to Shandrakor. If my ancestor is there, he and Jack can take over this rebellion, and maybe then I'll be allowed to retire to the background and get a little peace. Oz, power the ship up. We're leaving."
    "Yes, Owen. I have a message from Mistport control tower."
    "Put it on."
    "Sunstrider, this is Mistport security," said a harsh voice. "You do not, repeat not, have permission to take off. Power down your engines; our people will be boarding you shortly."
    "Don't put money on it," said Owen. "Oz, are we ready?"
    "Just say the word, Owen."
    "Get us out of here."
    The AI shut off the Mistport channel in mid-splutter, and the Sunstrider leapt up off the landing pad and into the sky. Several ships started after her, but they were no match for her speed. Sunstrider shot beyond the atmosphere and settled into orbit, ready to make its jump through hyperspace. And that was when things really went to hell.
    "Ah, Owen," said the AI, "we have a problem. Two Imperial starcruisers are heading right for us. They must have already been here in orbit waiting for us.
    They're opening fire."
    "Shields up!" yelled Owen. "I thought we left those bastards behind on Virimonde. What the hell are they doing here?"
    "Hitting us with everything they've got," said Ozymandius dispassionately.
    "Shields are holding, but I don't know for how long. They were never designed to take this kind of punishment."

    "Two starcruisers?" said Jack Random. "Two bloody starcruisers?"
    "They must really want your aristocratic ass," said Ruby Journey. "This heap of yours have any weapons?"
    "Nothing that'll stop a starcruiser," said Owen. "Oz, make the jump. Now."
    "I'm afraid that's not possible, Owen. I'm still working out the exact spacial coordinates. Jump too soon, without everything correct to the last decimal place, and we could end up materializing inside a sun, or something equally unpleasant. Port shield just went down. Brace yourselves."
    The ship shook and alarms shrilled as everyone staggered back and forth. The ship shook again and again, and smoke billowed into the lounge. Bottles fell from the bar and smashed on the floor. Owen clung to a wall bracket and thought frantically about what to do next. Somewhere entirely too close he could hear the crackling of a large fire.
    "Oz, status report!"
    "Bad, and getting worse. Half our shields are down, outer hull penetrated in seventeen places, inner hull breached in three. We're losing air fast."
    "Can't we try and run?"
    "If you really want to annoy them. Just hold on, Owen. We'll be gone in a few minutes."
    "We don't have a few minutes! Go now! Make the jump!"
    "I really cannot recommend that, Owen. If we jump now, I cannot guarantee a safe arrival."
    "Jump now! That's an order!"
    "Yes, Owen. On to Shandrakor, and death or glory!"
    The lights flickered and went out. Smoke filled the lounge. The ship lurched heavily as the stern blew apart in an echoing explosion, and then the Sunstrider
    dropped into hyperspace and was gone on its way to an uncertain destination.

Chapter 6
    Under the fishes, the City
    John Silence, once again a Captain in the Imperial Fleet by Her Majesty's pleasure, sat stiffly in the command chair on the bridge of his new ship the Dauntless and tried unsuccessfully to get comfortable. It wasn't that there was anything actually wrong with the chair, it was just so new, like everything else. It didn't give in the right places, or make allowances for his habitual gestures, like the old one had. But that chair was long gone with the rest of the good ship Darkwind She'd been his ship for many years, and a good ship, too.
    Silence snorted silently. Here he was, with a new ship and a second chance he'd had no right to expect or hope for, and all he could do was find fault. Well, thought Silence, do what you're best at, that's what I always say.
    But he had to admit the Dauntless was something special, even if she was still fresh from the stardocks, all sparkling clean and completely untested. If she lived up to even half the claims the engineers made for her, she'd be the fastest, best-gunned ship in the Fleet, and a genuine wonder of the Galaxy. She had the new stardrive, more