ot all things were cer

ent, skill and experience – and none of it any use to them! There was nothing they could do to prevent it! So they'd given up... They'd alread

as many hours. That minor detail had settled any argument. If they couldn't all go, then none of them would. Besides, where could they go to? They were well out of range of any of the nearest colonies.

was some kind

to the end. Death was certain... by asphyxiation and cold, as the life support systems inexorably drained their remaining power.

o and engage them!' Pouring another glass, Lofflin allowed his mind to rewind three d

our back on it, they said. Never let your guard down or

act mercilessly against any foreign ship or colony encountered. For the most part, they made forays into Terran space, harassed colonies and arbitrarily laid waste to anything that took their fancy. As the expansionist, though generally peaceful policy of the Empire pushed back the frontier of unknown space, exploring and establishing outposts and colonies along the way, they wer

sair's called their home world – Turtle Island, or its other name – Meradinis... but what nobody knew – that is, except for the Corsairs themselves, was the location of Meradinis. So, the Corsairs would raid here, and while the Fleet responded as quickly as they could, the Corsairs retreated, and raided there... and so it went, on and on,

ack for striking only at the least well-defended settlements, which seemed both terrifying and abhorrent at the same time. Raping, killing, looting, pillaging, wanton violence – hell, if there was a word to describe a

ust two years before, a fleet of black Corsair ships had descended on three local colonies simultaneously and killed

crease the ship-count of the Main Fleet. The Phoenix Refitting Program resulted in a twenty percent increase in patrols to be made of the frontier worlds, while newer, larger warships were bui