Precious Mental

A talented stardrive mechanic is kidnapped and hauled across light-years, ending up inside a derelict alien ship. The mission is to recover the treasure that must be somewhere on board. But where? The crew is untrustworthy, and the ancient creature at the helm might be insane. And the mechanic isn't a real mechanic, but instead Pamir is a criminal with just enough skills to maybe, maybe save the day.

"Pamir discovered an elaborate star chart waiting for him. The galaxy was stuffed inside a digital bottle, the nearest million suns translated into human terms and human clocks. At the center was the Kajjas ship -- a long dumbbell-shaped body with a severely battered shield at one end, the pulse engine and drained fuel tanks behind. Its hull was slathered with black veneers and stealth poxes and what looked like the remnants of scaffolding. The captains never spotted this relic; too many light-years lay between their telescopes and this cold wisp of nothing. Even the Great Ship was too distant to deserve any size -- the core of a jovian world rendered as a simple golden vector. Sixty years had been invested reaching the Kajjas vessel, and home was receding every moment. Hypothetical courses waited to be studied. Pamir gave them enough of a glance to understand the timetables, and then he seasoned the quiet with a few rich curses."

Robert Reed has written quite a lot about the Great Ship and its immortal crew. Novels in the series include MARROW, THE WELL OF STARS, and THE MEMORY OF SKY.


Genre: Science Fiction