Dean Dean finds himself adrift in deep space after an unfortunate collision on the fold space highway. A chance discovery of an unusual artifact brings him to the attention of the feared Dedan Empire.
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"What'sss thisssss? Break time?" Bob's voice sounded as weak and broken as his body looked but, despite all his injuries, he still appeared to be in a healthier state than everyone else. "On your knees? Have you ssssuddenly found religion Dean? If ssssso your prayerssss have been ansssswered, here I am."
Looking up at his erstwhile brother in crime Dean realised that he was making Bob look good, or at least better than he was, so quickly got to his feet. "Bob, being glad to see you is getting to be a habit."
"Ssssstop it, you'll be wanting to take warm ssssshowerssss with me and then anointing my body with ssssenssssual oilssss next."
"Not enough Quilgian ale in the galaxy for that Bob but you can dream."
Grath simply shrugged as he joined in the conversation. "I must admit that I thought you'd be dead by now but I am glad to be proven wrong. It seems you are a sturdier creature than I thought. And as much as your banter with Dean might be mildly amusing can I suggest that your love fest is saved for another time in another place, which is many light years away from this death trap. Without the egg to maintain equilibrium, I suspect that those two black holes will finally win the eternal battle to tear this planet to pieces. It might be a spectacular occurrence but not for those stuck on it at the time. I suggest we get to your ship and get out of here as quickly as possible."
"Ah! That issss a good point, well made. But there is one sssslight problem with your plan. My ship might be in better sssshape than yourssss and Dean'sss but if it issss ever to fly again it needs lotssss of ssspare partsss. I could have canibalissssed them from your craft but alassss your pilesss of... well, I can't even call them wreckage, wouldn't provide me with a spare bolt never mind a quantum ssseven boossster coil. It ssseems that your former guessst hasss no longer any need for the Miceand Robotssss ssso they have been deactivated and might provide a few bitssss and piecessss but even if I utilisssse their jet thrustersss I doubt they'd give me enough thrusssst to get off thiss rock."
There was a weak laugh that made everyone turn their attention to Miss Yadnee who was standing but, thanks to the blast burns and deep holes on her chest, look like she was doing an impression of a corpse that had refused to accept simple facts about being dead. "Such irony."
Dean, Grath, and Bob looked at each other as they waited for her to elaborate but she remained silent as if the two simple words were sufficient to explain everything."
"And?" Dean was the first to ask what each of them were thinking.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to say that out loud, but my current state is making me feel weak and disorientated. I will be... or should I say I would be all right in a few weeks, given time to recover and regenerate. I've had worse injuries but adding being pulled apart by two black holes to the equation will probably stop me from getting over this."
"Okay, all right, you are hurt but what did you mean by 'ssssuch irony'?" His voice was full of impatience. Bob would normally have kept calm in the face of death, but usually he had the chance of surviving. Now that he knew there was no escape any attempts at sangfroid seemed pointless.
