Ninth Life

The Ballad of Halo Jones meets Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers by way of 3:10 to Yuma; a clash of law and lawlessness, storytelling and truth in a headlong romp across the stars. After fifty years of wreaking havoc across the galaxy, the outlaw Nine Lives – aka Former General Gabi Ortiz – has finally met her match. Outgunned at the system’s edge, she surrenders to the implacable Inter-Planetary Marshal Dao Prynne, on one condition: she will go quietly if, during the long journey to back to Prosper, she is allowed to tell her story once and in full to the known worlds, to ensure she is never forgotten. As Ortiz’s story unfolds, Prynne realises she is no longer certain of anything, least of all Ortiz’s guilt. And worse, powerful forces are determined that the former General will not reach Prosper alive. Soon Prynne finds herself protecting the very woman she intended to deliver to justice. But unbeknownst to her, Ortiz has an ace up her sleeve, and help – in the form of old friends – can arrive in the most unexpected of ways…