I’m Rishi Tremayne. I’m fifteen, female and desperately working to take care of my sick family.

I hunt wrecked spaceships, destroyed in battle during the Slave War and turn in their location for credits - credits I desperately need. Yeah, I know I used that word twice, so it's doubly true.

If I don’t find hulls. . . we don’t eat. . . or pay rent. . . or get the necessary meds my family needs to block the excruciating pain they suffer from that dreaded nerve disease.

I sometimes get into trouble finding those ships. And, yeah, I also get into trouble with my. . . attitude. Sometimes. Well, often. Whatever.

Anyway, I found what I thought was a valuable metal asteroid.

I don’t get credits for those. . . but when I posted it to the Mining Guild, the attacks started - my family and all of my friends were murdered by a squad of mercenaries. I saw them do it. They even used a battle drone to destroy our apartment building. Only elite Houses have that kind of wealth to hire merc’s and battle drones.

So. . . maybe it wasn’t an asteroid after all.

But it can’t be a warship. . . it’s just waaayyy too big for that - at over 2 kilometers long.

After the first attempt to kill me, I was saved by an elite warrior and now we’re on the run barely escaping attack after attack as the mercenaries try to kill us.

She’s convinced I accidentally discovered a warship - a dreadnought - that was supposed to be hidden. And, now she wants to share that with the Empress of the Empire. Not me. I just want to run, hide and live, somewhere, somehow.

So, this is my story. Yes, I do meet Empress Elith, leader of the entire Hoganthan Empire that spans the civilized galaxy and her elite warriors.

And, they have a plan. Their plan is scary simple - go kill the dreadnought. Simple and direct, but it is a plan. They are just so. . . competent.

Before? I wanted to run and hide. Now, after meeting them? I want retribution for those who killed my family and friends. I want revenge, plain and simple. I guess my attitude has changed.

Anyway, I get one shot at that. . . just one. . . IF I can live long enough to take it before our ship is destroyed by the enemy spaceships firing their weapons at us.