In this hardboiled science fiction novella set before the events of the Shieldrunner Pirates trilogy, Ku Nel-Aoki sets out to learn why a colony ship is still docked after refueling. The reason turns Ku’s comfortable life of crime upside down.

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A member of the organized crime group known as the Ceres syndicate has gotten arrested and the entire neighborhood’s police force has been replaced. Ku’s syndicate boss drops the whole mess in her lap. Now Ku has to clean it up before the police find a reason to put her in a cell too, or her boss gets impatient and kills everyone involved.

Length: about 20,000 words or 44 pages