Adda and Iridian are newly-minted engineers, but in a solar system wracked by economic collapse after an interplanetary war, an engineering degree isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Desperate for gainful employment, they hijack a colony ship, planning to join a pirate crew at Barbary Station, an abandoned shipbreaking station in deep space.
But when they arrive at Barbary Station, nothing is as they expected. The pirates aren’t living in luxury — they’re hiding in a makeshift base welded onto the station’s exterior hull. The artificial intelligence controlling the station’s security system has gone mad, trying to kill all station residents. And it shoots down any ship that tries to leave, so there’s no way out.
Adda and Iridian have one chance to earn a place on the pirate crew: destroy the artificial intelligence. The last engineer who went up against the security system suffered explosive decapitation, and the …
Adda and Iridian are newly-minted engineers, but in a solar system wracked by economic collapse after an interplanetary war, an engineering degree isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Desperate for gainful employment, they hijack a colony ship, planning to join a pirate crew at Barbary Station, an abandoned shipbreaking station in deep space.
But when they arrive at Barbary Station, nothing is as they expected. The pirates aren’t living in luxury — they’re hiding in a makeshift base welded onto the station’s exterior hull. The artificial intelligence controlling the station’s security system has gone mad, trying to kill all station residents. And it shoots down any ship that tries to leave, so there’s no way out.
Adda and Iridian have one chance to earn a place on the pirate crew: destroy the artificial intelligence. The last engineer who went up against the security system suffered explosive decapitation, and the pirates are taking bets on how the newcomers will die. But Adda and Iridian plan to beat the odds.
There’s a glorious future in piracy…if they can survive long enough.
After reading this book, I had only one question. Was I entertained? Yes, I was. This book is more like a film that plays in your head as you read it. At least that's what was happening in my head. But, I have watched a lot of science fiction in my time. If you're looking for deep and meaningful, then this is not your book. However, if you're after an easy read to satisfy your 'inner space-opera nerd' then you could do a lot worse.
Also, i prefer my pirates more anarcho-syndicalist, but that’s just me. At some time, the pirates divide up the loot: “‘These things cost future money (…) some totaled-up price when we get to our bank accounts again.’” What? Cost? Bank account? For Caribbean pirates, what they got as loot was divided, and what they got was what they got. No need to bring det¹ into it.
What i found odd was a bit of jargon: Apparently the word “atmosphere” was too long for a breathable mix of nitrogen, oxygen and a bit of water vapor for these spacefarers so they use “atmo”.
