Mira smiled. Downloadpirate —the ghost ship every rogue data-jockey whispered about. Captained by the legendary Sarya "The Seed" Kovac, who believed information wanted to be free. The ICF had put a trillion-credit bounty on her head.
"Yes. In exchange for passage to the Unregulated Sectors."
When the ICF ship limped away, Sarya turned to Mira. "You have two choices. Join us, or take a shuttle to the nearest colony and live quiet." downlaodpirate
"And the terraforming codes?"
The USS Reprisal had been adrift for three cycles. Its crew of twelve, led by Captain Mira Velez, survived on recycled protein paste and the static hiss of a dead comms array. Their crime? Downloading a forbidden database of pre-Collapse terraforming codes—a treasure the Interstellar Copyright Federation (ICF) called "piracy." Mira smiled
Ensign Tago zoomed in on the long-range scanner. "One. No transponder. Flying a Jolly Roger—skull and crossbones, but with a cracked hard drive for an eye."
"Knowledge is a virus," Sarya said, spinning the helm. "Make it contagious." The ICF had put a trillion-credit bounty on her head
Sarya extended her human hand. "Welcome to the download. There's no upload from here."