''Rimrunners'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel by American writer

C. J. Cherryh Carolyn Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942), better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has written more than 80 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award-winning novels '' Downbelo ...

, set in her Alliance-Union universe, in which humanity has split into three major power blocs: Union, the Merchanter's Alliance and Earth. Chronologically, the book follows immediately after the author's ''

Downbelow Station ''Downbelow Station'' is a science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh, published in 1981 by DAW Books. It won the Hugo Award in 1982, was shortlisted for a Locus Award that same year, and was named by ''Locus'' magazine as one of ...

'' and is one of Cherryh's series of "Merchanter" novels. The book was nominated for a Locus Award, and the cover art, by Don Maitz, won the 1990

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

for Best Original Artwork.

Plot summary

The long, bitterly fought Company War between Earth and Union had ended – for everyone, except Conrad Mazian, commander of the Earth Company Fleet. By refusing to accept the peace, he and his loyal Mazianni became outlaws, hunted by all sides. Elizabeth 'Bet' Yeager had been one of Mazian's

marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

, a twenty-year veteran. Stranded on Pell Station when the Fleet was forced to pull out abruptly (as told in ''

''), she managed to blend in with the many displaced war refugees. Since then, she survived by taking whatever starship berths she could find. Her luck begins to run out when her latest ship, the freighter ''Ernestine'', is forced to return to Pell for major repairs, a destination too fraught with danger for her. She stays behind on the decrepit, dying Thule Station. Day after day, she goes to the employment office, but there is little work. Few starships call and the ones that do, do not need the skills she can admit to possessing. Late one night, while trying to sleep in a dockside washroom, she is attacked by a man and, weak from hunger, barely manages to kill him. In desperation, she moves in with a lowlife bartender. When he tries to control her, with threats to go to the authorities about his suspicions about her, she dispatches him too. With time running out before his body is discovered, she signs up with the ship ''Loki'', a barely legitimate 'spook' that survives by gathering intelligence and selling it. ''Loki'' is not a typical merchanter ship; instead of a close-knit family, the crew consists of unrelated hire-ons. As a result, various competing cliques have formed aboard and Bet has to navigate her way among them. She becomes friends with Musa, a universally respected crewman who claims to have served on one of the ancient sublighters, the original nine vessels that predated faster-than-light ships. She is also strongly attracted to Ramey, an ex-merchanter and surly outcast with a nickname of NG (no good). She gradually makes a place for herself and even manages to get the reluctant NG tentatively readmitted back into shipboard society. Things get complicated when she is forced to reveal her past, especially since ''Loki'' is currently hunting a Mazianni ship. Long overdue for a major overhaul, ''Loki'' limps into Thule, hooks up to the sole starship fuel pump and takes on all the available fuel. While there, the ship they were searching for (Keu's ''India'') shows up. The Mazianni ship had been harried and hunted by Alliance and Union forces to the point that it was blocked from its regular supply bases and is desperately low on fuel. Keu needs to take the precious pump and fuel intact, so he can not just blow ''Loki'' up. Instead, he sends boarding parties of armored marines, but Bet and Fitch between them manage to hold them off. Then the Alliance warship ''Norway'' arrives to close the trap and administer the coup de grâce. Bet's actions during the battle prove to her crewmates that she can be trusted; she has found a (relatively) safe haven.

Characters

;Thule Station personnel *Don Ely – Thule Registry, befriends Yeager *Nan Jodree – Thule Registry ;''Loki'' crew *Wolfe – captain *Fitch – first officer (mainday) *Orsini – first officer (alterday) *Ramey (NG) – systems engineer *Elizabeth Yeager (Bet) – ex-''Africa'' tac-squad sergeant

References

Sources

*Cherryh, C. J. ''Rimrunners'', Warner Aspect, 1989.

External links

*
''Rimrunners''
at Worlds Without End {{C. J. Cherryh 1989 American novels 1989 science fiction novels Science fiction novels by C. J. Cherryh Military science fiction novels Alliance–Union universe Novels set in the future Hugo Award-winning works Books with cover art by Don Maitz