The Pirate Princess (Patreon)

Jill Vosloo is the unplanned daughter of a prostitute and a pirate leader. She was born on the Katanga space station, orbiting in no-man's land, and lived there until she was 16. Her mother wanted her to join the 'business' at the age of seven, so that she could get a commission from the madam on her daughter's earnings, but Jill found out this and ran away.

Living on the street, she befriended an elderly homeless man who looked after her. He taught her how to read and write, how to handle a knife and how to look after herself. They lived in one of the station's disused dry docks, where Jill spent her spare time repairing one of the terminals, hoping to gain access to its contents so she could learn how to build a spaceship and then maybe leave Katanga with her friend. Finally, she succeeded, accessed the database, where she found not only the technical specifications and blueprints for the space station, but also for many spacecraft. Jill has been studying them for years.

But she could never build a spaceship. Unbeknownst to Jill, her father returned to the station and her mother accidentally told him of Jill's existence. In a rage, the pirate leader killed her and then sought out his daughter to kill her too. But in the end he didn't kill Jill because he thought she was too beautiful and would be worth more in the slave market. They were on their way to one of these markets when Jill escaped from her cell and quickly repaired a faulty escape pod. But she didn't get very far. She did, however, impress her father, who decided to spare her and even take her under his protection. In return, Jill had to maintain the gang's ships and other equipment.