Sliding Void Series by Stephen Hunt

Captain Lana Fiveworlds has a hell of a lot of problems. She's sliding void in an ageing seven-hundred-year-old space ship, scrabbling around the edges of civilised space trying to find a cargo lucrative enough to pay her bills without proving so risky that it'll kill her. She's got an alien religious freak for a navigator, an untrustworthy android for a first mate, a disgraced lizard for a trade negotiator and a deserter from the fleet acting as her chief engineer... moreCaptain Lana Fiveworlds has a hell of a lot of problems. She's sliding void in an ageing seven-hundred-year-old space ship, scrabbling around the edges of civilised space trying to find a cargo lucrative enough to pay her bills without proving so risky that it'll kill her. She's got an alien religious freak for a navigator, an untrustworthy android for a first mate, a disgraced lizard for a trade negotiator and a deserter from the fleet acting as her chief engineer. And that was well before an ex-crewman turns up wanting Lana to rescue a barbarian prince from a long-failed colony world. An alien romance? Well, they never work out.Unfortunately, for Lana, the problems she doesn't know about are even more dangerous. In fact, they just might be enough to destroy Lana's rickety but much-loved vessel, the Gravity Rose, and jettison her and her crew into the void without a spacesuit.But there's one thing you can never tell an independent space trader. That's the odds... less

TRANSFERENCE STATION (Book two in the 'Sliding Void' series)DESCRIPTIONAre things finally looking up for Captain Lana Fiveworlds? She's managed to reach what passes for civilization in the wild border systems of the Edge - Transference Station - the largest trading hub in the free worlds. With her ramshackle starship, the Gravity Rose, safely docked, she's now desperately searching for a cargo to stave off bankruptcy... moreTRANSFERENCE STATION (Book two in the 'Sliding Void' series)DESCRIPTIONAre things finally looking up for Captain Lana Fiveworlds? She's managed to reach what passes for civilization in the wild border systems of the Edge - Transference Station - the largest trading hub in the free worlds. With her ramshackle starship, the Gravity Rose, safely docked, she's now desperately searching for a cargo to stave off bankruptcy.Lana's crew needs paying - including the amorous barbarian prince she rescued from a failed colony world. But her crew have other priorities: the ship's android, Zeno, is distracted by terrible secrets from his past, while her alien navigator, Polter, runs into trouble indulging his religious fervor.If that wasn't enough, there's a deal available... but only from the dodgiest broker in a thousand planets. With rival starship captains looking to sabotage Lana for good, and a dangerous mission to a mysterious planet which is far more than the lies she's been spun, things can only get worse from here on in.Lana Fiveworlds and her crew of misfits are still sliding void, just, but for how much longer?Sometimes, the brown stuff piles up so high you need antigravity thrusters to fly over it. less

It should have all been so easy for Captain Lana Fiveworlds, owner of Fiveworlds Shipping and master of the free trader starship ‘Gravity Rose’. A simple supply run to a mining operation in deep space on a world called Abracadabra. Alright, so the mining operation was illegal and the world unclaimed… that’s why the job paid so damn well. But now she’s stuck on a hothouse jungle planet, sweltering under the light of a dying red sun with not only oddly missing miners, but vanished crewmen too... moreIt should have all been so easy for Captain Lana Fiveworlds, owner of Fiveworlds Shipping and master of the free trader starship ‘Gravity Rose’. A simple supply run to a mining operation in deep space on a world called Abracadabra. Alright, so the mining operation was illegal and the world unclaimed… that’s why the job paid so damn well. But now she’s stuck on a hothouse jungle planet, sweltering under the light of a dying red sun with not only oddly missing miners, but vanished crewmen too. The exiled barbarian prince Calder Durk had disappeared, presumed dragged over the mining camp’s laser fence by one of the not-so-pleasant local predators. The skipper may or may not be in love with him, but you can never leave one of your own behind. Lana’s android has a bad feeling about the place, and she also has to contend with an arrogant mission leader who is part of humanity’s near immortal super-rich ruling class.Things are looking bad, and that was before the space pirates her rivals have paid to put her out of business jumped in-system looking to hijack her ship.Sadly for the crew of the Gravity Rose, matters can get even worse when they discover why nobody’s ever survived Abracadabra long enough to put it on the charts. For this is one world with a terrible secret. And it just might be the last one for everyone trapped down on the planet. less