Now Holly was in trouble – deep water trouble! She had hidden aboard one of the ships, had fallen asleep in a lifeboat, and now she was a stowaway.

And not just any ship. A peek at the flagstaff showed the black banner with the white skull that marked the ship as a pirate vessel. If the pink bow had been on the side of the skull’s dome, Holly would have been somewhat comforted by knowing the captain was a woman, but the bow was at the skull’s throat; the captain was a man.

Contact with Earth had brought with it a fashion for Earth things, particularly books of that strange planet. Wealthy families hired people to memorize Earth texts and recite them – they were known as Living Books. FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury had been the first, if she recalled her History of Library Science correctly.