Good adventure space yarn. ( )

Bet is the best ever sci fi woman. She's tough, knowledgable but vulnerable and real. I love this type of story. I prefer to read about marginal minor characters not the star ship captain or the planetary ruler. This is a great look at the bowels of the ship. ( )

After telling the story of the future, Cherryh returns back in time in the immediate aftermath of the Company wars. Elizabeth (Bet) Yeager used to be a marine in the Maziani fleet (the Earth fleet) and when the Fleet pulled out of Pell, she got stranded there with no papers and no options (or history she cared to share - in the aftermath of the wars, the Fleet is regarded as pirates and worse and even hinting at an association with them is a bad idea). A captain gives her a job for a while but then has to leave her on Thule Station - one of the Hinder stars which ended up on the path of oblivion in the aftermath of the new discoveries and the Union/Alliance split. But at least this gives her papers - not an uncommon case after the massive destruction - there were people left with nothing from all sides of the conflict.

And here is where we find her - waiting for a ship to hire on so she can leave the dying Thule - and not having much luck. Meanwhile she survives the best she can, mostly starving, but still remains convinced that her day will come so taking a local job is not an option - that would kick her off from the top of the priority list for the next ship that comes along. And just when she is sure she can see her future changing, a weird ship shows up and despite her misgivings, she needs to change her plans - not only because the previous option seems to not be a real option anymore but because there are two dead bodies which she cannot really explain).

So what happens when the universe's most damaged marine meets the man who is nicknamed NG (for "not good")? Love happens, that's what. Not that either of them will admit it. Or even think of it. Except that Bet has a secret and NG is way beyond caring - until he does. In a way, the whole novel is a love story between two damaged people. But at the same time, that story just gives the background for the story of the ship and the aftermath of the war and yet another chapter in the history of the Alliance.

We rarely see the command of the ship (except when they are being nasty) and we see the story from Bet's eyes. So we learn things about the ship when she does, we think about them in the way she does. And she is just a grunt - a machinist on paper who has very little former training. She is not looking for a family or love but that is what she finds on the ship - albeit in an unusual way.

It's a story of redemption and a story about people. Because for all the space around them, the characters we get to see and love are the ones that keep the whole story together - to the final chapter where things finally get clarified, we finally get our answers... and then we need to leave Bet and NG and the rest of the guys behind. But none of them is the same person they were at the start of the novel. And we have yet another piece from the puzzle that is the Alliance.

The book can be read as a standalone - as usual Cherryh starts with the pseudo-document that gives you the basic outline of where are and then Bet supplies all other needed details. But it works better as a continuation of "Downbelow Station" and "Merchanter's Luck" - not because of the story line but because of the details - they give you background that makes it easier to understand some choices (and the treatment of the drugs during jump tie with the Chanur novels - as usual adding to the pieces from there so between the two, you get a better idea of how that works. And that is not unusual for Cherryh's writing in this series). ( )

This is a fun return to the Alliance-Union universe. Not as good as Downbelow station but still well worth reading.

I like this rating system by ashleytylerjohn of LibraryThing (https://www.librarything.com/profile/ashleytylerjohn) that I have also adopted:
(Note: 5 stars = rare and amazing, 4 = quite good book, 3 = a decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful.) ( )

Need to re-read, but definitely good. ( )