Background: during his deportation to a penal colony, computer criminal Lucas has planned a one-man mutiny and has taken over the transport ship by assuming control of its mainframe (and thereby the cut-throat human crew, who have neural implants linked to the mainframe to ensure they behave). Hounded by the Imperial fleet, Lucas has had no choice but to turn to piracy to survive and at one point his crew capture a small space cruiser, thereby unwittingly creating a major political incident. It turns out that his hostages include some of the royal heirs and other high rankers, all cadets returning from their military training school. He successfully held the court to ransom for the return of their sons, but when the same was attempted for the females, the negotiators double-crossed the pirates and simply attempted to blow the starship away. Now they are on the run again, this time saddled with the High Princess and several other noblewomen from her entourage.
The idea is that these scenes should be read in sequence. Each one contains a link to the next.