The Impossible Pirate

Lieutenant Jeffries, a seasoned officer of the Solar Police, is handed an unusual “vacation”—six months of unattached duty with a single, seemingly impossible mission: track down the legendary space pirate known only as Black Morgan. His superiors admit even they have failed, but they hope the chase will keep his mind sharp while giving him a break from routine paperwork.

Armed with a modest ship, a cargo of high‑value radiosodium, and the backing of a curious news editor, Jeffries sets out into the far reaches of the solar system. Along the way he balances careful surveillance of his passengers with the ever‑present question of how piracy could ever work at 2,500 miles per second.

The story blends crisp, hard‑science speculation with a wry, almost bureaucratic humor, as Jeffries navigates bureaucracy, physics, and the mystery of a criminal who seems to defy the very laws of space travel.